| SES # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | ||
| Lec1 | Introductory Remarks - Overview and Class and Lab Logistics |
|
| Lec2 | Archaeology: Nature and Goals; Historical Development as a Discipline |
|
| Unit 1 - Earlier Prehistory: A Brief Overview | ||
| Lec3 | Becoming Human: Early Hominids and the Earliest Technology | Ambrose, S. H. "Paleolithic Technology and Human Evolution." Science 291 (2001): 1748-1753. Unit 1 Abstracts and Notes for papers #1-6. Optional Readings The complete papers #1-6 cited in Unit 1 Abstracts and Notes. |
| Lec4 | Becoming Human: Early Humans and Emerging Cultural Behavior | Ambrose, S. H. "Paleolithic Technology and Human Evolution." Science 291 (2001):1748-1753. Unit 1 Abstracts and Notes for papers #7-15. Optional Readings The complete papers #7-15 cited in Unit 1 Abstracts and Notes. |
| Lec5 | Becoming Human: Modern Humans and the Advent of Modern Behaviors | Unit 1 Abstracts and Notes for papers #16-17. Optional Readings The complete papers #16-17 cited in Unit 1 Abstracts and Notes. |
| Unit 2 - The Near East Case Study | ||
| Lec6 | Theoretical Perspectives; Variables to be Considered in Comparative Studies. The Environmental Setting for Domestication and the Evolution of Social Complexity in the Near East | LK&S. pp. 1-48 and 341-369. |
| Lec7 | Pre-Neolithic Adaptations and the Natufian in the Near East | LK&S. pp. 49-61. Bar-Yosef, O. "The Natufian Culture in the Levant, Threshold to the Origins of Agriculture." Evolutionary Anthropology 6, no. 5 (1998): 159-177. Henry, D. O. "Preagricultural Sedentism: The Natufian Example." In Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers. Edited by T. D. Price and J. A. Brown. Orlando, FL: Academic Press, 1985, pp. 365-384. McCorriston, J., and F. Hole. "The Ecology of Seasonal Stress and the Origins of Agriculture in the Near East." American Anthropologist 93, no. 1 (1991): 46-69. Unit 2 Abstracts and Notes for papers #1-2. Optional Readings The complete papers #1-2 cited in Unit 2 Abstracts and Notes. |
| Lec8 | Domestication: Recognition, Processes and Impact | Diamond, J. "Evolution, Consequences and Future of Plant and Animal Domestication." Nature 418 (2002): 700-707. Zeder, M. "Central Questions in the Domestication of Plants and Animals." Evolutionary Anthropology 15 (2006): 105-117. Unit 2 Abstracts and Notes for papers #3-6. Optional Readings The complete papers #3-6 cited in Unit 2 Abstracts and Notes. |
| Lec9 | Origins and Expansion of Agriculture and Pastoralism in the Near East Context | LK&S. pp. 61-79. Legge, A. J., and P. Rowley-Conwy. "Gazelle Killing in Stone Age Syria." Scientific American 257, no. 2 (1987): 88-95. |
| Lec10 | Early Village Farming Communities: Geographic Expansion, Emerging Class Stratification and Centralization of Religion | LK&S. pp. 80-115. |
| Lec11 | The Earliest Stages of Urbanization: Ubaid and Eridu | LK&S. pp. 119-151. (skim section on Egypt) |
| Lec12 | Urbanization and City States: Uruk, Civilization and Writing | LK&S. pp. 151-191. |
| Lec13 | Urbanization and City States: Ur Political and Social Environments, Material Achievements, the Critical Factors Interacting in the Development of Stratified Society in the Near East | LK&S. pp. 227-233. |
| Lec14 | Refocusing on the Comparative Theme: Eurasia - The Americas | LK&S. pp. 237-238 and 342-369. |
| Unit 3 - The Mesoamerica Case Study | ||
| Lec15 | Peopling of The Americas. The Mesoamerican Environmental Setting: Lowlands and Highlands | Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes for papers #1-4. Optional Readings The complete papers #1-4 cited in Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes. |
| Lec16 | Plant and Animal Domestication and the Emergence of Settled Village Life: Tehuacan and Oaxaca | LK&S. pp. 239-255. Flannery, K. "Archaeological Systems Theory and Early Mesoamerica." In Anthropological Archaeology in the Americas. Edited by B. J. Meggers. Washington, DC: Anthropological Society of Washington, 1968. Zeder, M. "Central Questions in the Domestication of Plants and Animals." Evolutionary Anthropology 15 (2006): 105-117. (see Required Readings Unit 2, #6). Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes for papers #5-9. Optional Readings The complete papers #5-9 cited in Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes. |
| Lec17 | Plant and Animal Domestication and the Emergence of Settled Village Life: Comparing Processes in Mesoamerica and the Near East | LK&S. pp. 239-255. Flannery, K. "Archaeological Systems Theory and Early Mesoamerica." In Anthropological Archaeology in the Americas. Edited by B. J. Meggers. Washington, DC: Anthropological Society of Washington, 1968. Zeder, M. "Central Questions in the Domestication of Plants and Animals." Evolutionary Anthropology 15 (2006): 105-117. (see Required Readings Unit 2, #6). Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes for papers #5-9. Optional Readings The complete papers #5-9 cited in Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes. |
| Lec18 | The Emergence of the Olmec and Early Lowland Civilization - La Venta | LK&S. pp. 255-276.
Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes for paper #10. Optional Readings The complete paper #10 cited in Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes. |
| Lec19 | Olmec Accomplishments | Hosler, D., S. L. Burkett, and M. J. Tarkanian. "Prehistoric Polymers: Rubber Processing in Ancient Mesoamerica." Science 284 (1999): 1988-1991. |
| Lec20 | The Maya: The Rise of Tropical Rain Forest City-states | LK&S. pp. 276-287.
Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes for paper #11. Optional Readings The complete paper #11 cited in Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes. |
| Lec21 | Maya Achievements and the Decline of the Classic Maya | LK&S. pp. 288-303. Haug, et al. "Climate and the Collapse of Maya Civilization." Science 299 (2003): 1731-1735. |
| Lec22 | Prof. Dorothy Hosler: West Mexican Metallurgy and its Importance in Interregional Contact | LK&S. pp. 304-314. Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes for paper #12. Optional Readings The complete paper #12 cited in Unit 3 Abstracts and Notes. |
| Lec23 | Teotihuacan: The Rise and Fall of a Highland State: its Social Consequences | LK&S. pp. 314-336. |
| Unit 4 - Decline and Collapse | ||
| Lec24 | Decline of Early Civilizations - Social, Political, Economic - An Examination of Potential Causes in Mesopotamia and Mesoamerica | LK&S. pp. 167-169, 288-296, and 313-314. Weiss, H., and R. S. Bradley. "Archaeology: What Drives Societal Collapse?" Science 291, no. 5504 (2001): 609-610. Jacobsen, T., and R. McC. Adams. "Salt and Silt in Ancient Mesopotamian Agriculture." Science 128 (1958): 1251-1258.
Unit 4 Abstracts and Notes for paper #1. Optional Readings The complete paper #1 cited in Unit 4 Abstracts and Notes. |
| Lec25 | Decline of Early Civilizations (cont.) | LK&S. pp. 167-169, 288-296, and 313-314. Weiss, H., and R. S. Bradley. "Archaeology: What Drives Societal Collapse?" Science 291, no. 5504 (2001): 609-610. Jacobsen, T., and R. McC. Adams. "Salt and Silt in Ancient Mesopotamian Agriculture." Science 128 (1958): 1251-1258.
Unit 4 Abstracts and Notes for paper #1. Optional Readings The complete paper #1 cited in Unit 4 Abstracts and Notes. |
Table of Contents
Study Materials
Readings
 Help support MIT OpenCourseWare by shopping at Amazon.com! MIT OpenCourseWare offers direct links to Amazon.com to purchase the books cited in this course. Click on the Amazon logo to the left of any citation and purchase the book from Amazon.com, and MIT OpenCourseWare will receive up to 10% of all purchases you make. Your support will enable MIT to continue offering open access to MIT courses. |
The following table lists readings associated with the lectures, along with a few "extraneous" background readings. Some additional readings are also given on the labs and assignments pages.
Readings for this class fall into two categories, 1) required readings that provide a basic framework for and amplification of the lecture materials, and 2) optional supplemental readings which provide direct exposure to the primary specialist research that archaeologists undertake or utilize in their research. The required readings include a textbook, a modest number of journal articles/papers and a larger number of abstracts from scientific papers.
The optional supplemental readings are, for the most part, the original scientific papers from which the abstracts were derived.
Textbook
LK&S = Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C., and J. A. Sabloff. Ancient Civilizations: The Near East and Mesoamerica. 2nd ed. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1995. ISBN: 9780881338348.
Unit Abstracts and Notes (with Citations)
These files are referenced in the following table. The abstracts are required readings, while reading the complete papers are optional.
Unit 1 - Early Prehistory (PDF)
Unit 2 - The Near East Case Study (PDF)
Unit 3 - The Mesoamerican Case Study (PDF)
Unit 4 - Societal Collapse (PDF)
Assigned Readings for Lectures
Optional "Extraneous" Background Readings
Waal, F. de, "Bonobo Sex and Society." Scientific American 272, no. 3 (March 1995): 82-88.
Wynn, T., and F. Coolidge. "The Expert Neandertal Mind." Journal of Human Evolution 46 (2004): 467-487.
Molleson, Theya. "The Eloquent Bones of Abu Hureyra." Scientific American 271, no. 4 (1994): 70-75.
Tiesler, Vera. "Head Shaping and Dental Decoration Among the Ancient Maya." Proceedings of the 64th meeting of the Society of American Archaeology, Chicago 1999.