Mesa Verde, CO                     
 

Dr. James J. Sheehy
Office Phone (University Park): (814) 865-1142
Voice Mailbox (Altoona): 949-5300, ext. 6094
E-mail: jjs1@psu.edu

109 Birch Complex. I will generally be available from approximately 10:30 AM to 1:30 P.M. on Tuesday and Thursday.

The Hoe and the Horse on the Plains by Preston Holder (PH)
Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest by Stephen Plog (SP)
Native Americans before 1492 by Lynda Norene Shaffer (LNS)

1. The Origin and Development of the Pueblo Katsina Cult by E. Charles Adams
2. The Iroquois by Dean R. Snow
3. Ancient People of the Arctic by Robert McGhee
4. Commoners, Tribute, and Chiefs: The Development of Algonquian Culture by Stephen R. Potter
5. Florida's Indians from Ancient Times to the Present by Jerald Milanich

This course is intended to expose students to the basic methods and theories of anthropological archaeology and to the developmental histories of the several sub-areas of North America. Emphasis is placed on the role of archaeology as a source of information on prehistoric behavior systems and on the contributions North American archaeology can make in advancing our knowledge of cultural evolution.

1. Relate the study of Archaeology to the broader field of Anthropology.
2. Describe the original peopling of the New World with special emphasis on North America.
3. Identify the important regional cultures that developed in North America.
4. Demonstrate the important relationships existing between human cultural systems and the environment.
5. Describe the social, religious, economic and political systems of the Pre-Columbian cultures of North America.
6. Specify the cultural evolutionary importance of the Hunting-Foraging-Collecting adaptation in Pre-Columbian North American cultures.
7. Outline the evidence for the origins of agriculture in North America.
8. Define the conditions that led to the development of complex Chiefdoms in North America
9. Summarize the effects of initial contacts between native North American populations and European explorers

Looking at the course as a whole, and using the syllabus as a guide, you can see that the course material is roughly divided into sections corresponding to different geographical or cultural regions of North America. The first few lectures will provide an overview of archaeology of North America with regard to theory, methodology, chronology, terminology and a broad overview of the various geographical and cultural regions that we will cover during the course. The next section deals with the early peopling of the New World and Paleo-Indian adaptations. Following the discussion on the Paleo-Indian period, I will describe the cultural developments within each geographical/cultural region, beginning with earliest adaptations and continuing up to the initial European intrusions. The first sub-area that I will discuss is the Arctic. I then will work southward into the Plains and the Pacific Coastal regions. I then will lecture on the important cultures found in the interior West (Great Basin) and in the Southwest, with a brief overview of cultural development in Mexico. The remainder of the course will deal with cultures that occupy the eastern Woodlands, including the Mississippi drainage, the Great Lakes area, southeastern North America , the Atlantic coast, and finally, New England.

Reading assignments are outlined in the syllabus presented below.

Although the lectures generally follow the flow of the material in the required texts, there will be additional materials that are presented in the lectures. Students are responsible for all materials. For this reason, it is important that you attend lectures and take notes. Also, it is advisable that students read the assigned material prior to coming to class. I also plan to place several articles on reserve in the library to provide some reading on several topics not covered in the required texts, including the peopling of the New World, the Arctic cultures, the Pacific Coast, and the Great Basin.

In the past, numerous students have asked how to best study for the course. The best answer that I can give is that in the long run it would be advisable to read the assignments several times. A technique that I find helpful for better reading comprehension is to pre-read the assignment. For example, first page through the chapter that is assigned, noting the subdivisions of the chapter. Second, go back and study the diagrams and figures that are found in that chapter. Frequently much of the most important information is summarized in these diagrams and figures. Third, then go back to the beginning of the chapter and read the first sentence of each paragraph. A good author will frequently provide a good bit of information in the very first sentence in order to attract the attention of the reader. Finally, go back and read the entire chapter. If you know how the chapter is divided, are familiar with the diagrams and figures referenced in the text, you will have better comprehension when you ultimately read the entire chapter word for word. You should also be aware of the procedures for ordering books via LIAS from the main campus at University Park. I urge you to visit the library and become familiar with LIAS, especially with the procedures for getting books from the main campus library at University Park.

There will be a web page for this course. The world wide web provides a rich source of information on a wide variety of topics related to North American archaeology and the ethnography of Native American cultures. The Internet can be very important as a study aide, especially given the fact that the library on the Altoona campus is not very large and has a narrow selection of texts dealing with North American archaeology. I urge everyone to become familiar with using the Internet. If you do not have a current access account that would permit you to utilize the web, I urge you to go to the computer center in the first week and obtain an access account. If you are not familiar with procedures for using the Internet, you can obtain the necessary information from the staff in the computer center.

There will be three exams in the course. Each exam comes at the end of one of the sections mentioned above. The third exam is in fact the Final exam. Each exam will be worth 100 points.

Each exam will generally cover only the material presented in the texts and lectures up to the date of the exam. The second and third (final) exam may include some material from earlier sections. Some material and some exam questions cannot be understood without reference to earlier material.

The format of the three exams will be varied. There will be some short answer questions, several multiple choice questions, some true and false, some identifications or comparisons, and an essay. The object of this type of exam is to test you employing a variety of different formats.

Additionally, there will be 5 short quizzes on the geography of the main cultural areas we will be covering in the class--Arctic, Pacific Coast, Southwest, Plains, Southeastern Woodlands, and the Northeastern Woodlands. Each quiz will consist of identifying items on a map. Each quiz will be worth 20 points for a total of 100 points. Students will also be required to write a book review. I will hand out a circular in the first few weeks of the class that will provide detailed information on the book review. You may write the book review on that supplementary text you choose to purchase. The book review will be worth 100 points. The total number of points that you can accumulate for the course, including both exams and quizzes is 500 points.

Since I am commuting from State College, it is difficult to arrange make-up exams. Therefore, I stress that each student should be sure to take each exam. I will give a make-up exam only for compelling documented medical or legitimate religious events. If one knows ahead of time that he or she will not be able to take an exam on its scheduled date, than you must inform me before the scheduled exam in order to set up a time for the make-up. For those students who fail to take an exam, and have not arranged a make-up before hand, they will receive no points for that exam. There will be no make-up for the quizzes.

Students frequently ask me at the end of the course "what can I do to improve my grade?", the response is simple and will be: "nothing"; The point is that the time to improve is while you are taking the course. If there are concepts or aspects of the lectures or assigned readings that you don’t understand, then use the class or office hours to clarify what you don’t understand before you take the exam.

EXTRA CREDIT: Students may pick up extra credit in the course by doing a voluntary research paper that should be 15 pages long, at minimum. If you choose to do the extra-credit research paper, you will have to adhere to a schedule of deadlines concerning the selection of topic, paper outline, development of a bibliography, and submission of the finished paper. I will provide a handout in the first few weeks that contains the relevant information concerning the possible topics, paper outline and deadlines.

As noted above in the section on exams, each student can accumulate a total of 500 points. The final grade for the class will be based on the percentage of 500 points obtained. For example, A =450-500 points; B = 400-450 points; C = 350-400; D = 300-350; F = less than 300. Depending on the distribution of total points after the final exam, I might use a curve in which I will take the highest grade in the course and base the percentage breakdown on that grade. I will use the curve only if the final distribution of grades are widely scattered. I also will made adjustments for dramatic improvements in a student’s performance.

Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception and is an educational objective of this institution. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, fabrication of information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, unauthorized prior possession of examinations, submitting work of another person or work previously used without informing the instructor, or tampering with the academic work of other students." (Policies and Rules for Students, Section 49-29.)

The penalty for academic dishonesty in less serious cases consists of a failing grade for the work or test where this misconduct occurred. This decision is made by the instructor and could result in a failing grade for the course. In more serious cases of academic dishonesty, the penalties are more severe (including automatic failure for the course, probation, suspension, or expulsion from the University), the formal due process procedures are available for the students and faculty involved. Section 49-20 of the Policies and Rules for Students provides the details on these procedures.