700-level courses
GRS AR701 Intellectual History of Archaeology ♣
Prereq: graduate standing and at least two prior courses in sociocultural anthropology.
The historical development of archaeological methods and theory from the Renaissance to the present day, including consideration of major developments in Western Europe and the Americas, with comparative developments in other regions. Basic concepts in archaeological record and society. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR702 Contemporary Theory in Archaeology ♣
Prereq: GRS AR701.
Explore aspects of contemporary theory in archaeology, including post-modern critiques of contemporary practice, new approaches to archaeology of ritual, personhood, identity, and the body; indigenous and public archaeology; politics and archaeology. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR703 Materials in Ancient Society ♣
Seminar. Topic to be announced. Offered through the Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology. (VAR/Lecture)
GRS AR704 Materials in Ancient Society ♣
Seminar. Topic to be announced. Offered through the Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology. (VAR/Lecture)
GRS AR705 Pre-Urban Development ♣
Cultural development from the origins of humankind through the establishment of food production, with emphasis on models for reconstructing successive changes in adaptation among early populations. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR706 Archaeology of Complex Societies ♣
Core concepts of archaeological research on the formation, cultural development, and decay of complex societies as well as their introduction into other cultures. Coverage emphasizes research design rather than simply survey. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR707 Natural Sciences in Archaeology ♣
Introduces some of the pressing issues archaeology recognizes and deals with as an anthropological science. Stresses the natural science and engineering methods archaeologists use in tackling such problems and how those methods have become part of the archaeological tool kit. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR708 Processes in the Formation of Archaeological Sites ♣
Considers in detail geological, biological and anthropogenic depositional and post-depositional processes that result in formation of archaeological sites. Initial focus on basic principles/processes, then their application to site-evaluation in New and Old World. Field trips in area. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR709 Research Methods in Geoarchaeology ♣
This seminar deals with a variety of topics concerned with the earth and archaeological sciences. Such themes are related to quaternary environments; methods of studying archaeological sediments and materials; scientific methods in the study of archaeological sites. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR712 Seminar in Old World Prehistory ♣
Selected problems or topics in prehistoric archaeology of the Old World. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR727 Archaeology and Colonialism ♣
Theoretical and methodological approaches to the comparative archaeology of colonialism in ancient and early modern worlds; considers case studies from ancient Greece, Roman Empire, & European colonial projects in South Africa, Australia, and the Americas.
GRS AR730 Seminar: Old World Historical Archaeology ♣
Selected problems or topics in historical archaeology of the Old World. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR731 Seminar: Greek Archaeology ♣
Topics vary. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR734 Seminar: Archaeology of the Roman Provinces ♣
Topics vary. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR741 Archaeology of Mesopotamia ♣
Seminar. Studies this core area of the ancient Near East, from the introduction of agriculture to the Hellenistic era. Examines the genesis of the first urban society and its transformation under the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR742 Syro-Palestinian Archaeology ♣
A survey of the archaeology of ancient Israel, Lebanon, and Syria from the Stone Age to the late Roman Empire, with emphasis on the material remains of the second and first millennia BC. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR743 Anatolian Archaeology ♣
A historically oriented survey of the material remains of the ancient cultures of Turkey and northwest Iran from the Neolithic to the Hellenistic period. Emphasis is on the Hittite Empire and civilizations that succeeded it in the first millennium. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR746 Archaeology of Ancient Egypt ♣
Seminar. Survey and analysis of sites from Egypt’s prehistory and the major periods of Pharaonic civilizations. Problems such as changing social and political organization, demography, and the economic system will be studied, as interpreted from the archaeological evidence. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR751 New World Prehistoric Archaeology ♣
Selected problems or topics in the prehistoric archaeology of the New World. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR770 New World Historical Archaeology: Colonial America ♣
Seminar. Material culture of the people who colonized North America. Architecture, artifacts, and a variety of sites – domestic, military, commercial, sepulchral – are studied. Uses of archival evidence as factual and ethnographic documentation for archaeological interpretation are discussed. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR771 New World Historical Archaeology: Post-Colonial America ♣
Seminar. The archaeological study of America since the Revolution. Focus is on the archaeological and artifactual evidence for the development of plantation systems and slavery, industrial and urban centers, ethnicity, and modern popular culture. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR772 Archaeology of Boston ♣
Boston’s buried history revealed through excavated artifacts and features. Tours of archaeological laboratories, Boston’s neighborhoods, burying grounds, waterfront, and Harbor Islands. “Big Dig” finds in Charlestown, Mill Pond, North End; Fanueil Hall, Blackstone Block, Boston Common, and Paul Revere House.
GRS AR775 Oral History and Written Records in Archaeology ♣
Comprehensive survey of use of oral and written documentary history by archaeologists. Specific topics, sources, techniques of recording and analysis. Special attention to archaeological applications of African and American oral history projects; case studies involving documentation in New World historical archaeology. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR780 Archaeological Ethics and the Law ♣
In this course students examine archaeology and professional ethics; archaeology as a public interest; legal organization of archaeology; international approaches to heritage management; looting, collecting, and the antiquities market; maritime law and underwater archaeology; cultural resource management in the United States. (4.0/Lecture)
GRS AR790 The Archaeology of Southeast Asia ♣
Examines the prehistoric and historic cultures of Southeast Asia, including the first arrival of humans, regional neolithic and Bronze Age communities, early states, maritime trading networks, as well as political motivations in archaeology and the illicit Asian antiquities trade. Meets with AR390.
GRS AR795 Politics, Nationalism, and Archaeology ♣
Explores how archaeology is shaped by and manipulated for political purposes. Case studies from Asia and around the world trace the development of archaeology during colonial empire-building and post-colonial nationalism, and the importance of archaeological heritage in regional politics.