Archaeological Studies

51 Hillhouse, 432.3772
M.A.

Chair and Director of Graduate Studies
Frank Hole (Anthropology)

Professors
Richard Burger (Anthropology), Edward Cooke, Jr. (History of Art), Robert Gordon (Geology & Geophysics), Andrew Hill (Anthropology), Frank Hole (Anthropology), Diana Kleiner (Classics), Mary Miller (History of Art), William Simpson (Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations), Karl Turekian (Geology & Geophysics), Harvey Weiss (Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations)

Assistant Professors
Marcello Canuto (Anthropology), John Darnell (Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations), Thomas Tartaron (Anthropology)

The aims of the program are to give students the academic background needed for careers in the conservation of archaeological resources, to prepare students to teach in community colleges and secondary schools, and to provide the opportunity for teachers, curators, and administrators to refresh themselves on recent developments in archaeology. The program is administered by Yale's Council on Archaeological Studies, with faculty from the departments of Anthropology, Classics, Geology & Geophysics, History of Art, and Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations.

Special Admissions Requirements
The GRE General Test; applicants need not have an archaeology background, but a strong grounding in the social sciences or history is recommended.

Special Requirements for the M.A. Degree
Courses are drawn from the graduate programs of the participating departments and from those undergraduate courses that are also open to graduate students. Eight courses are required. Unless previously taken for credit, these will include: Field Techniques; World Prehistory, Origins of Western Civilizations, or Introduction to Archaeology; at least one laboratory course; a course related to archaeology in each of the following groups: Anthropology; Classics, History of Art, or Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations; Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Forestry & Environmental Studies, or Geology & Geophysics; and two electives. In addition, each student will write a master's thesis. Degree candidates are required to pay a minimum of one year of full tuition. Full-time students can complete the course requirements in one academic year, and all students are expected to complete the program within a maximum period of three academic years.

Program materials are available upon request to the Director of Graduate Studies, Archaeological Studies, Department of Anthropology, Yale University, PO Box 208277, New Haven CT 06520-8277.

Courses
ARCG 705Lbu, Archaeology Laboratory II. Thomas Tartaron. Thursday 1-4
Practical experience in preparation, analysis, and interpretation of artifacts and nonartificial archaeological data. Students undertake term projects. Also ANTH 705Lbu.

ARCG 712au, Ancient Civilizations of Mesoamerica. Marcello Canuto. Tues/Thurs 11.30-12.45
The Indian civilizations of Mexico and Central America from earliest times through the Spanish conquest. Also ANTH 712au.

ARCG 716bu, Neanderthals and Wise Men. Frank Hole. Tues/Thurs 1-2.15
Examines popular and scientific views concerning the archaic hominids known as neanderthals and their role in the cultural and biological evolution of modern Homo sapiens. Also ANTH 716bu.

ARCG 719au, Ethnohistory and Archaeology. Roderick McIntosh. Thursday 2.30-4.20
Review of the major problems and methodologies associated with use of ethnohistory by archaeologists. How do archaeologists construct an historical imagination? Looks at a variety of sources: colonial and "visitor" documents, peoples' written description of themselves, oral traditions, classic ethnographies, and art history. Also ANTH 719au.

ARCG 726au, Practicum in Archaeology. Frank Hole. Monday 1.30-3.20
Hands-on experience in the study of archaeological artifacts, utilizing collections from the Near East and America. Students develop skill in attribute analysis, classification, illustration, and cultural and chronological interpretation. Also ANTH 726au.

ARCG 732au and 733Lau, Archaeological Field Techniques and Archaeology Lab I. Thomas Tartaron. Tues/Thurs 9-10.15, Lab sa 9-5
An introduction to the practice and techniques of modern archaeology, including methods of excavation, recording, mapping, dating, and ecological analysis. The lab offers instruction in the field at an archaeological site in Connecticut in stratigraphy, mapping, artifact recovery, and excavation strategy. The courses must be taken concurrently and are counted together as 1 credit. Also ANTH 732au and ANTH 733Lau.

ARCG 737bu, Archaeological Research Design. Frank Hole. Mon/Wed 1-2.15
Various approaches to designing archaeological research are presented and discussed through the use of case studies. As final projects students design and present their own research proposals. Also ANTH 737bu.

ARCG 740au, Maya Archaeology. Marcello Canuto. Wednesday 2.30-4.20
Examination of current problems in Maya archaeology, epigraphy, iconography, and ethnohistory. Topics include the preclassic, classic, and postclassic periods, the development and collapse of classic Maya civilization, economic and political organization, warfare, and external relations. Also ANTH 740au.

ARCG 741bu, Archaeology of Communities. Marcello Canuto. Thursday 2.30-4.20
An examination of households and of their integration into communities in ancient complex societies. Heavily emphasizing theoretical perspectives from cultural anthropology, this course studies archaeological approaches to a holistic study of everyday life in ancient societies. Reading is drawn from diverse fields of ethnography, ethnoarchaeology, ethnohistory, and archaeology. Also ANTH 741bu.

ARCG 745au, Human Landscapes of the Past: A Landscape Archaeology Approach. Thomas Tartaron. Tues/Thurs 11.30-12.45
Examination of landscape as a powerful concept in archaeology, and the basis of a thriving research agenda within the discipline. This course traces the intellectual development of landscape perspectives in archaeology, from a primary concern with adaptive and economic aspects of human-environment interactions to more recent interst in cognitive and culturally constructed landscapes. Case studies reveal a multiplicity of archaeological approaches. Permission from instructor required for non-archaeology/anthropology undergraduates. Also ANTH 745au.

ARCG 753au, Early Prehistory. Frank Hole. Tues/Thurs 1-2.15
The formation of modern society began with the beginning of food production and the establishment of permanent settlements. Triggered by climatic and environmental factors, the Neolithic Revolution led to innovations in architecture, art, metallurgy, religion, diet, technology, trade, and social organization that provided the foundations for the earliest civilizations. This course focuses on the Neolithic period in the region including the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey, Iraq, and western Iran. Also ANTH 753au.

ARCG 953a or b, Directed Research in Archaeology and Prehistory. Faculty.
By arrangement.

Related courses:

HSAR 740b, Pre-Columbian Art in the Yale University Art Gallery. Mary Miller.

HSAR 746a, Mexican Art of the Sixteenth Century. Mary Miller, Jaime Lara.

NELC 510au, Conflicts that Shaped Pharaonic Egypt. John Darnell.

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