PAPVB_28 Ethnoarchaeological studies with relevance to the archaeology of Mesopotamia

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2018
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Dr. phil. Maximilian Wilding (lecturer)
Mgr. Lucia Miškolciová (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Nicole Votavová Sumelidisová, Ph.D. (assistant)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jarmila Bednaříková, CSc.
Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jitka Erlebachová
Supplier department: Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Wed 14:10–17:25 U23; and Wed 18. 4. 14:10–17:25 U23
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
The capacity limit for the course is 15 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/15, only registered: 0/15, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/15
Course objectives
Although radical changes in the life-circumstances have occurred in SW-Asia in the recent decades, the excavator staying in or near villages is still to some extend ‘immersed’ in the use of some of the more traditional techniques, the local exploitation of raw materials and specific spatial patterns that are influenced by production, use and the final disposal of domestic products. Hardly any scientific contributions by field excavators will be found, therefore, that do not in one way or another contain allusions to rural or small-town life and some of the ‘older crafts’. The course serves as introduction to ethnoarchaeology as a method of research.
Learning outcomes
The student will get an understanding of the components of an ethnoarchaeology that yields representative results.
Syllabus
  • PART I ETHNOARCHAEOLOGICAL THEORY (Maximilian Wilding, MU): Via a detailed study of the first chapters of N. David & C. Kramer’s milestone ‘Ethnoarchaeology in Action’ of 2001 the student will get insights in the principle, possibilities and limits of ethnoarchaeology. Part II ETHNOARCHAEOLOGICAL PRACTICE (Füsun Ertuğ, independant researcher, Turkey; https://wustl.academia.edu/FüsunERTUG): PLANTS in archaeological context (ethno-archaeo-botanical focus) a) Methodological tools of ethnobotany, ethnology, archaeobotany b) Plants for Food & Feed: What do we eat and what do we find in the archaeological contexts? Food preparation, cooking, and storage: tools & techniques. What do we feed to animals, and what do we find in barns, yards, pens, sheds, and kraals? Dung studies, heating, firing etc. c) Medicine & Health & Healing: How do we keep ourselves healthy? Methods of healing etc. What do we find in prehistoric contexts related to medicine-health-healing? d) Tools & Materials (incl. shelter-housing-furniture-art). Wooden tools, plants for dying, fiber plants, textiles-clothing, baskets, mats etc. GENDER Roles in archaeological context (gender focus) a) Considering, thinking, imagining faces & sexes: Besides burials, skeletons where and how do we consider gender? b) Division of labor c) Space division/ ownership / possessions
Literature
    required literature
  • David, Nicholas & Carol Kramer, Ethnoarchaeology in Action, Cambridge: University Press, 2001.
    recommended literature
  • Watson. P. J., The Theory and Practice of Ethnoarchaeology with Special Reference to the Near East, Paléorient, Vol. 6, Paris: CNRS Éditions,1980, pp. 55-64.
  • Yoffee. Norman. The Decline and Rise of Mesopotamian Civilization: an Ethnoarchaeological Perspective on the Evolution of Social Complexity. American Antiquity 44. 1979.
  • Kimbrough, Christine. Spindle Whorls, Ethnoarchaeology, and the Study of Textile Production in Third Millennium BCE Northern Mesopotamia: A Methodological Approach. New York: 2006.
Teaching methods
Part I (lecture), Part II: (lecture + seminar). Partly co-moderated.
Assessment methods
Part I: Contribution to discussion (in-class). Final oral exam. Part II: Each student has to prepare a seminar work (presentation up to 10 min.) from both topics below (seminar #1, seminar #2). Every student is going to have two presentations (max.20 min) in the class at different sessions and each presentation will be discussed among students. Sources: Archaeobotanical database of the Near East (for references, projects, open databases). ++++For seminar #1 “Archaeobotanical methods applied in modern excavations for finding plant remains: flotation, phytolith, pollen, starch, wood charcoal, identification: lab process”: http://www.ademnes.de/ http://archaeobotany.dept.shef.ac.uk/wiki/index.php/Main_Page (Online tutorial 2009) http://www.crowcanyon.org/ResearchReports/Archaeobotanical/Principles_and_Methods/principles_methods.asp (2004). Near Eastern Archaeobotany: http://g.willcox.pagesperso-orange.fr/index.htm +++++ For seminar #2 “Coprolite (feces and dung) studies for diet, gender, disease and pathogens”: https://www.thoughtco.com/coprolite-human-fossil-feces-170564 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5217961/ https://www.nature.com/articles/511008c https://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/SilkRoadDisease [http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/anthpubs/ucb/text/arfs014-001.pdf]
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2014, Spring 2016.
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