ARCG 6232a, Ancient Civilizations of the Andes  Richard Burger

Survey of the archaeological cultures of Peru and Bolivia from the earliest settlement through the late Inca state.
HTBA

ARCG 6255a / NELC 7680a, Egyptian Archaeology in the Digital Age: Recording, Mapping & Imaging  Gregory Marouard

Over the past decade the field of archaeology and the methodology in recording practices have seen major transformations with the development of new digital resources for mapping, recording spatial data, and modeling features with user-friendly, affordable digital tools, often available as open-source software, to produce rapid and extremely accurate results. Egyptian archaeology became relatively early a leading field in the use of such equipment and software for recording archaeological and architectural remains, epigraphic data, and cultural heritage. The aim of this course is to provide students a comprehensive understanding and training of these digital recording systems and methods in archaeology taking advantage of the most recent technologies. This course includes theoretical overviews of those highly multidisciplinary activities as well as practical training in the use of modern mapping tools for topography, photography, photogrammetry, digital drawing and RTI, post-processing and immersive virtual reality. This course includes lectures and seminars by guest speakers with extensive experience and practice of several techniques in Egypt, workshop sessions, and some lab activities. Students are engaged in the use of real archaeological data coming from excavation sites in Egypt and are able to practice in person some of the methods seen in class on physical structures on Yale campus. Permission from the instructor to confirm that the student has a general background in Archeology or Ancient Near East or Egyptology is required.
Th 1:30pm-3:25pm

ARCG 6258a / ANTH 6258a, Archaeology of China  Anne Underhill

In this course, we use the lens of archaeology to explore life in early China from the Neolithic through the Han Dynasty. Drawing on all available lines of evidence, we examine important themes, such as the rise of social complexity, ritual and religious practices, urbanism, and the development of writing. Finally, we outline the history of archaeology in China and situate new finds and research within the larger global context.
HTBA

ARCG 6260a, Age of Empires: Archaeology of Ancient Powers  Piphal Heng

Empire is one of the most complex political forms in human history, reshaping landscapes, economies, technologies, and ideologies across vast territories. This seminar examines premodern empires prior to European colonialism through their material signatures: cities, agrarian systems, craft production, infrastructure, ritual landscapes, and provincial integration. Using comparative case studies from Qin/Han China, Angkor, the Aztec and Inka, Achaemenid Persia, Egypt, Vijayanagara, Mongol polities, and others, students analyze how imperial centers projected authority across diverse geographies and how provincial communities negotiated autonomy. The course concludes with examination of imperial fragility, environmental stress, transformation, and memory. We adopt a comparative anthropological archaeology framework and emphasize material evidence—settlement archaeology, bioarchaeology, geospatial analysis, archaeometry, and production systems—as the primary basis for interpretation. The course complements existing Yale offerings on empire and social complexities by foregrounding archaeological method and non-European case studies within a global comparative framework.
HTBA

ARCG 6665b / ANTH 6665b, Evolution of Human Diet  Jessica Thompson

This course examines human nutrition and subsistence behavior from an evolutionary perspective. It begins with human nutritional literature and discussions of our biological requirements, then moves into comparison of modern human dietary ecology with those of other primates, especially our closest living relatives, the great apes. We then turn to literature that demonstrates the methods and theoretical approaches that are currently used to reconstruct past diets. As we begin to follow the evidence for changes in subsistence in the hominin lineage, case studies using these methods are integrated into discussions of how we know what we do about past nutrition. The course spends time on key issues and debates such as changes from closed-habitat to open-habitat foraging, the origins of meat-eating, the role of extractive foraging in human social systems, variation in hunter-forager subsistence systems, the origins of domestication, and the phenomenon of fad diets in industrialized nations. The course is delivered in a seminar-style format, with key readings each week that follow topical themes, with assessment based on in-class participation, critical essays, and a final research project.
W 1:30pm-3:25pm

ARCG 7101b / ANTH 7101b, Foundations of Modern Archaeology  Richard Burger

How method, theory, and social policy have influenced the development of archaeology as a set of methods, an academic discipline, and a political tool. Prerequisite: a background in the basics of archaeology equivalent to one of the introductory courses.
W 11:35am-12:50pm

ARCG 7116La / ANTH 7116La, Introduction to Archaeological Laboratory Sciences  Ellery Frahm

Introduction to techniques of archaeological laboratory analysis, with quantitative data styles and statistics appropriate to each. Topics include dating of artifacts, sourcing of ancient materials, remote sensing, and microscopic and biochemical analysis. Specific techniques covered vary from year to year.
HTBA

ARCG 7143a / ANTH 7143a, Archaeological Research Design and Proposal Development  William Honeychurch

An effective proposal requires close consideration of all steps of research design, from statement of the problem to data analysis. The course is designed to provide an introduction to the principles by which archaeological research projects are devised and proposed. Students receive intensive training in the preparation of a research proposal with the expectation that the final proposal will be submitted to national and international granting agencies for consideration. The course is structured around the creation of research questions; hypothesis development and statement of expectations; and the explicit linking of expectations to material patterning, field methods, and data analysis. Students review and critique examples of funded and nonfunded research proposals and comment extensively on each other's proposals. In addition to developing one’s own research, learning to constructively critique the work of colleagues is imperative for becoming a responsible anthropological archaeologist.
HTBA

ARCG 7154a / ANTH 7154a, Statistics for Archaeological Analysis  William Honeychurch

An introduction to quantitative data collection, analysis, and argumentation for archaeologists. Lectures, readings, and exercises emphasize the exploration, visualization, and analysis of specifically archaeological data using simple statistical approaches. No prior knowledge of statistics is required.
F 4pm-5:15pm

ARCG 7171a / ANTH 7171a, Early Complex Societies  Anne Underhill

A consideration of theories and methods developed by archaeologists to recognize and understand complex societies in prehistory. Topics include the nature of social differentiation and stratification as applied in archaeological interpretation; emergence of complex societies in human history; case studies of societies known ethnographically and archaeologically.
W 4pm-5:55pm

ARCG 7176b / ANTH 7176b, GIS and Spatial Analysis for Archaeology  William Honeychurch

Introduction to the practice of Geographical Information Systems in anthropology with attention to archaeological applications. The growing use of GIS among anthropologists has transformed the way we carry out research and conceive of space. The course draws on research examples from a range of theoretical, analytical, and geographical contexts and introduces students to current software. Emphasis is placed on understanding how anthropological archaeologists have employed GIS as part of generating evidence to assess their hypotheses.
Th 4pm-5:55pm

ARCG 7185b / ANTH 7185b, Archaeological Ceramics I  Anne Underhill

Ceramics are a rich source of information about a range of topics including ancient technology, cooking practices, craft specialization, regional trade, and religious beliefs. This course provides a foundation for investigating such topics and gaining practical experience in archaeological analysis of ceramics. Students have opportunities to focus on ceramics of particular interest to them, whether these are low-fired earthen wares, or porcelains. We discuss ancient pottery production and use made in diverse contexts ranging from households in villages to workshops in cities. In addition we refer to the abundant ethnoarchaeological data about traditional pottery production.
M 1:30pm-3:25pm

ARCG 7186b / ANTH 7186b, Archaeological Ceramics II  Ellery Frahm

Ceramics are one of the most common archaeological materials. This course introduces students to techniques in the archaeological, geological, and materials sciences (microscopy, analytical chemistry, etc.) for the study of ceramic artifacts. Methods include (1) engaging with and assessing the literature on scientific studies of archaeological ceramics; (2) learning the mechanisms, strengths, and weaknesses of scientific techniques used for such studies (X-ray fluorescence analysis, petrographic and electron microscopy, neutron activation analysis, etc.); and (3) gaining experience in a research project that combines both literature engagement and hands-on experience. Prerequisite: ANTH 785/ARCG 785 (may be taken concurrently), or ANTH 716L/ARCG 716L, or permission of the instructor.
W 9:25am-11:20am

ARCG 7210b / ANTH 7210b, Settlement Patterns and Landscape Archaeology  Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos

An introduction to the archaeological study of ancient settlements and landscapes. Topics include an overview of method and theory in settlement and landscape archaeology; field methods of reconnaissance, survey, and remote sensing; studies of households and communities; studies of ancient agricultural landscapes; regional patterns; roads and networks of communication; urbanism and ancient cities; and symbolic interpretations of ancient landscapes.
Th 1:30pm-3:25pm

ARCG 7226b / ANTH 7226b, Ancient Civilizations of the Eurasian Steppes  William Honeychurch

Peoples of the steppe zone, stretching from Eastern Europe to Mongolia, have played a pivotal role in Old World prehistory, though much about their societies and lifeways is still shrouded in mystery. The archaeology of this macro-region has developed rapidly since the 1990s, and this course presents an overview of major topics and debates in the region based on what archaeologists currently know about Eurasian steppe societies of the past.
F 4pm-5:55pm

ARCG 7236b / ANTH 7236b / NELC 5890b, Archaeologies of Empire  Harvey Weiss

Comparative study of origins, structures, efficiencies, and limitations of imperialism, ancient and modern, in the Old and New World, from Akkad to “Indochine,” and from Wari to Aztec. The contrast between ancient and modern imperialisms examined from the perspectives of nineteenth- and twentieth-century archaeology and political economy.
Th 4pm-5:55pm

ARCG 7255b / ANTH 7255b, Inca Culture and Society  Richard Burger

The history and organization of the Inca empire and its impact on the nations and cultures conquered by it. The role of archaeology in understanding the transformation of Andean lifeways is explored, as is the interplay between ethnohistoric and archaeological approaches to the subject.
TTh 11:35am-12:50pm

ARCG 7256a / ANTH 7256a, The Archaeology of Trade and Exchange  Richard Burger

This seminar focuses on archaeological approaches to exchange and trade. As background, we review some of the principal theories of exchange from anthropology and sociology, such as those of Mauss, Malinowski, and Polanyi. The role of trade and exchange in different kinds of societies is examined by contextualizing these transactions within specific cultural configurations and considering the nature of production and consumption as they relate to movement of goods. We consider methods and models that have been used to analyze regions of interaction at different spatial scales and the theoretical arguments about the social impact of inter-regional and intra-regional interactions involving the transfer of goods, including approaches such as world systems, unequal development, and globalization. In addition, we examine the ways that have been utilized in archaeology to identify different kinds of exchange systems, often through analogies to well-documented ethnographic and historic cases. Finally, we consider the range of techniques that have been employed in order to track the movement of goods across space. These sourcing techniques are evaluated in terms of their advantages and disadvantages from an archaeological perspective, and in terms of how the best technical analyses may vary according to the nature of natural or cultural materials under consideration (ceramics, volcanic stone, metals, etc.). The theme for this year’s seminar is obsidian; students select some aspect of obsidian research for their final paper and presentation.
W 11:35am-12:50pm

ARCG 7269b / AMST 7716b / ANTH 7269b / HSAR 6716b, Landscapes of Meaning: Museums and Their Objects  Anne Underhill

This seminar explores how museums convey various meanings about ethnographic, art, and archaeological objects through the processes of collecting, preparing exhibitions, and conducting research. Participants also discuss broader theoretical and methodological issues such as the roles of museums in society, relationships with source communities, management of cultural heritage, and various specializations valuable for careers in art, natural history, anthropology, history, and other museums.
W 1:30pm-3:25pm

ARCG 8513a or b / ANTH 8513a or b, Human Osteology  Eric Sargis

A lecture and laboratory course focusing on the characteristics of the human skeleton and its use in studies of functional morphology, paleodemography, and paleopathology. Laboratories familiarize students with skeletal parts; lectures focus on the nature of bone tissue, its biomechanical modification, sexing, aging, and interpretation of lesions.
HTBA

ARCG 9053a, Directed Research in Archaeology and Prehistory  William Honeychurch

By arrangement with faculty.
HTBA

ARCG 9900a, Dir Reading  Richard Burger

Direct Reading course for ARCG 
HTBA

ARCG 9901a, Master's Thesis  Richard Burger

Master' thesis course
HTBA

ARCG 9950a, Master's Essay  Richard Burger

Master's Essay for ARCG
HTBA