Course will provide an overview of hunter-gatherer archaeology, focusing on the history of hunter-gatherer archaeology in North America and Britian; long-term changes in hunter-gatherer subsistence, settlement, mortuary/ceremonial practices and crafts/trade; social archaeology of hunter-gatherers including studies of gender, cognition, and cultural landscapes; and discussions of the relevance of hunter-gatherer studies in the context of world archaeology.

Modern Humans evolved over three hundred thousand years ago, and during the vast majority of those intervening years we have lived by hunting, gathering, and fishing. For that reason alone, it is worthwhile and important to study the archaeology of hunter-gatherer societies. But in addition to that, both the analyses and the assumptions underlying hunter-gatherer archaeology have played an outsized (and not always positive) role in the assessment of human history and the understanding of human nature more broadly. In this course we will examine hunter-gatherer archaeology in the context of both its unique and fascinating history and the development of the science of archaeology more generally. We will consider various approaches taken to understand hunting, gathering, and fishing peoples throughout prehistory and modern times, and we will critique those approaches in light of current archaeological thinking and perspectives, including indigenous perspectives and the perspective of gender. We will link those discussions to issues of today, such as the origins of social inequality and climate change. At all times we will seek to bear in mind issues of epistemology, how we as archaeologists come to understand the past, the knowledge that archaeology alone can offer, and the limits to that knowledge. The geographic scope of the course will be worldwide, including studies from Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

Course Instructor: Tim GiIl

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills