Archaeology Courses

[Ben Ruset]

I spoke to someone yesterday who took some Archaeology courses at college. He said that they were extremely boring, mostly centering on past digs and what was done right and wrong -- almost like a "Theory of Archaeology" course.

For those who have had these sorts of courses, what was your experience in college coursework?

 

[Piney Boy]

In undergrad at the University of Delaware I took a few arch. classes and found them a great supplement for my career in History. The U.D. professors, as a whole, were not only knowledgable, but arranged for classes to get involved in dig and lab work. They also helped direct me to a summer position in the Paolo Alto Mts working on a Native American dig, a difficult but wonderful experience.
Introductory courses on a whole usually are a bit less attractive because topic matter has to include theory and basic practice, but once you get beyond this, work varies in difficulty and can include hands on learning skills.
For those interested, physical & cultural anthropolgy offer another way to experience lab and field work, giving the student an idea of what goes into these professions.

 

[Ariadne]

I'm not impartial of course, but I enjoyed the courses in both undergraduate and graduate school. Then again, I think the theory is interesting too, so I'm not a good barometer I guess.

 

[Piney Boy]

No, I think your a fine barometer Ariadne. Who can better critique important aspects of a field than someone working in it. I find most folks with careers in history, anthro., or arch. are fascinated by the basics, thats why they precede on in certain fields. Even for the non-professional but enthusiast a strong background in theory and fundamentals is important for that eventual jump into the field many want to make.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

When I was in college (UConn), I took an archaeology class of the Connecticut River Valley, and I loved every minute of it. It was mostly all about the history of the people who lived there, what has been found on digs, and what is important in the findings.
We only did one day of digging, and it was really amazing to uncover a trash midden and discover what the Pequot people had thrown away thousands of years ago. I totally dug it.

 

[WAMBA]

I just took a physical anthropology course last semester and really liked it. not much hands-on experience or anything, but just really interesting subject matter. I'm definitely going to take cultural too andpossibly do some more advanced stuff after that. i'd love to do one of those summer internships someplace crazy like a monkey colony in costa rica (i think we saw one of those in a video we watched in class).

 

[diggersw]

As another archaeologist, I have to say that the courses are interesting. Though, I can understand that where a person takes the class expecting to go out into the field but merely sits in class with lecture could be a real disappointment. However, history of or theory of archaeology classes can be like that. All in all, though, the classes are still interesting, especially when you learn about early "archaeologists" who excavated with dynamite and destroyed human remains. I think it possible that your friend was just really turned off by the history of the field, and disappointed that it was not a field school.
Just a thought
Scott W.

 

[Stu]

I've always had an interest in archaeology, and reading Gods, Graves, and Scholars has increased that interest. Unfortunately none of the nearby colleges have any courses for it. Oh well, maybe when I move.

 

[diggersw]

Actually, there area nearby courses. Monmouth U. has archaeology classes, Brookdale has them, Rutgers has them, Stockton has them; and I have been known to adjunct at OCC and was close to getting one of the ground in 2003.

Scott W.