Courses

  • CAS AR 240: Archaeology of Ancient China
    Examines the archaeology of ancient China from the Neolithic through the Bronze Age (7000 to 221 B.C.) with particular attention to the interactions between technology and the acquisiion of political, religious, and social power.
  • CAS AR 250: Ancient Mesoamerican Civilization
    Analysis of major events and processes of the Mesoamerican area. Topics include the arrival of man; development of regional patterns; origin of food production; the rise of towns, temples, and urbanism; origin of the state; and development of the empires. Cannot be taken for credit in addition to CAS AR 351.
  • CAS AR 251: Ancient Maya Civilization
    A survey of current knowledge and scholarship about the Maya civilization, which flourished in Central America between 250-900 A.D., its earlier beginnings and subsequent collapse, and aspects of its economic and social basis and artistic and intellectual achievements.
  • CAS AR 261: Asia's Ancient Cultures and Civilizations
    Study of Asia's ancient civilizations known as the Indus, Oxus, Khmer, and Shang. Outstanding cities; sacred Buddhist, Jain, Hindu, and Judeo-Christian/Islamic centers; elaborate caves; unique burial sites like the Taj Mahal and royal tombs; historic gardens symbolizing "Paradise on Earth"; and architectural marvels like the Great Wall.
  • CAS AR 262: Asian Gods and Goddesses
    Representation, meaning, and mystery of gods and goddesses of South and East Asian cultures, from prehistory to the present. Mother, fertility, and tree goddesses; deities of Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. Evidence from archaeology, rock engravings, religious shrines, and other sources.
  • CAS AR 270: New World Rediscovery: Archaeology of the Age of Exploration
    Archaeological evidence for Columbus's voyage and its aftermath. Topics include coastal exploration, early settlement, and cultural contacts between Europeans and native Americans. Evidence from both land and underwater excavations.
  • CAS AR 273: Archaeology of the Viking Age
    Archaeological evidence of Viking life and culture. Topics include home life, ships and shipbuilding, trade, warfare, religion, art, colonization; detailed examination of major terrestrial and underwater archaeological excavations in Europe, Greenland, and North America.
  • CAS AR 280: Food, Diet, and Ancient People
    A survey of the archaeological evidence of the food, diet, and nutrition of hunter/gatherers and the changes brought about by the development of farming. Emphasis on the remains of plants, animals, and humans and what they tell us about ancient food.
  • CAS AR 307: Archaeological Science
    Application of natural sciences, as an integral part of modern archaeology, to issues of dating, reconstructing past environments and diets, and analysis of mineral and biological remains. Laboratories concentrate on biological, geological, physical, and chemical approaches.
  • CAS AR 322: Ancient Aztec and Inca Civilizations
    The conquests, trade, society, history, religion, art, and architecture of the Aztec and Inca Empires in Mexico and Peru, as revealed archaeologically and in the accounts of their Spanish conquerors. Also offered as CAS AH 322.
  • CAS AR 330: Greek Archaeology
    Archaeology in Greek lands from the Iron Age to the first century BC; aims and methods of Classical archaeology; correlations with anthropology, art history, history, and literature.
  • CAS AR 331: Etruscan and Roman Archaeology
    Cultural evolution on the Italian peninsula from the early Iron Age to the fall of Rome (1100 BC to AD 476). Origins and developments of Etruscan civilization; Italic peoples and the rise of Rome; Roman religion, economy, arts, architecture, and social and civic institutions.
  • CAS AR 332: Greek and Roman Cities
    Follows the development of urban centers in the Greco-Roman world from the Late Bronze Age through the Roman period. Topics include state formation, urban architecture and infrastructure, public and private buildings and monuments, and social dynamics of urban culture.
  • CAS AR 335: Mystery Cults in the Graeco-Roman World
    Evolution and nature of Graeco-Roman mystery cults from seventh century B.C. to Late Antiquity. Rituals, belief systems, iconography, and sanctuaries of select cults, including Demeter and Kore, Dionysus, Cybele, Isis, and Mithras. Evidence from archaeology, art history, literature, and inscriptions. Also offered as CAS CL 335.
  • CAS AR 341: Archaeology of Mesopotamia
    An overview of the core area of the ancient Near East from the introduction of agriculture to the Hellenistic era. Emphasis on the genesis of urban society and its transformation under the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians.
  • CAS AR 342: Syrio-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 millennium B.C.
  • CAS AR 343: 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.
  • CAS AR 347: Egypt and Northeast Africa: Early States in Egypt, Nubia, and Eritrea/Ethiopia
    Focuses on early states in northeast Africa, in Egypt, Nubia, and Eritrea/Ethiopia. Comparative analyses include socioeconomic institutions, kingship, burial practices, and religions of these early states, concentrating on archaeological as well as textual evidence.
  • CAS AR 352: South American Archaeology
    Topics include origins of early man in Latin America, development of regional cultural patterns, evolution of prehistoric food producing technology and its relationship to settlement patterns, social organization and development of regional states and an empire in the central Andean area.
  • CAS AR 353: Maya Cities
    Ancient Maya cities from Preclassic through Postclassic times (200 BC-1400 AD); their varying dynastic histories and characteristic ideologies and styles of planning, architecture, sculpture, painting and inscriptions, and their embodiment of principles of Maya cosmology.

Note that this information may change at any time.

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