Field Methods in Archaeology
ARCP 373
Summer 2014
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
ANTH 373, AFAM 327, AMST 258 |
| Course Cluster: Urban Studies |
Buried beneath you as you walk the streets of Middletown is the residue of former residents. Mostly consisting of fragments of ceramics, glass, and other objects, these hold the potential to begin to unlock the day-to-day history of their past owners and users. On the triangle of land between Vine Street, Cross Street, and Knowles Avenue (known as the Beman Triangle), a community of African Americans began to build houses from the mid-19th century on land owned by one of their community, Leveret Beman. Although few above-ground traces now suggest the presence of this community, material about their lives survives in the record of their trash and other archaeological features that remain beneath the backyards of the houses on this land. In this class we will study the archaeology of this site, in partnership with members of the wider Middletown community, particularly from the AME Zion Church.
This class will provide general training in historical archaeological field methods. Students will spend time each day participating in excavations on the Beman Triangle site or working on materials analysis in the Cross Street Archaeology Laboratory. Through practical work, students will learn excavation techniques, field recording, artifact analysis, and how to integrate relevant documentary and oral historical sources into archaeological interpretations. Academic material in the class will cover the archaeology of 19th-century African American communities, archaeological field methods, and studies of how community archaeology projects can be formulated as an equal partnership between community stakeholders and archaeologists. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS ARCP |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (AMST) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 - Summer Session II |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Battle-Baptiste, BLACK FEMINIST ARCHAEOLOGY
Hester, Schafer & Feder, FIELD METHODS IN ARCHAEOLOGY
Mullins, RACE AND AFFLUENCE: AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF AFRICAN AMERICA AND CONSUMER CULTURE
Kipfer, THE ARCHAEOLOGIST'S FIELDWORK COMPANION
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Examinations and Assignments:
Short reading assignments, fieldwork participation, final research project. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Due to the practical nature of this course, on each day the class meets, students will be expected to spend a minimum of two hours outside of scheduled class time in fieldwork participation each weekday. This can be flexible, but owing to field supervision requirements must fit within a 9am-5pm workday (excluding a short lunch break at noon). This class is centered on an on-campus fieldwork component. Students will be required to spend a minimum of two hours per weekday participating in excavations. |
| Instructor(s): Croucher,Sarah Katharine Times: .MTWRF. 09:00AM-10:40AM; Location: ANTH6; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 10 | | SR major: 0 | JR major: 1 | | |
| Seats Available: 8 | GRAD: 0 | SR non-major: 0 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: 4 | FR: 3 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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