Overview
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In this class, we will ask and answer a series of questionsabout the role and practice of archaeology in the world today. If archaeologistsare trained to investigate the past, what is left for us to study? Who gets to be an archaeologist? How and why do archaeologists hunt for“treasures”, and what do we do once we’ve discovered them? What can we know, and not know, about peoplein the past? What do archaeologists knowabout the past that most people would never guess – and why aren’t we tellingyou? Why are people entirely willing tomurder each other over the fate of archaeological sites? Are Real Men alone capable of discovering thetruth behind all this?
Archaeology famously involves getting dirty inthe line of duty. Students willexperience its hands-on nature, through the use of numerous exercises and archaeologicalcase studies. But there are other ‘dirtylittle secrets’ to learn about the field: not least how the storiesarchaeologists tell about the past have been used and abused, for purposes bothgood and bad. Our goal by the end of thecourse is to have you ‘thinking like an archaeologist’ and fully aware of the often-fraughtpolitics of doing archaeology around the globe.
