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PREHISTORIC CULTURES OF NORTH AMERICA |
| S. Crouthamel, American Indian Studies/Anthropology, Palomar College |
ASSIGNMENTS
Test 1 & Test 2: Two tests will be give over the term with Test #1 covering the first half through Far Western Traditions (I-VI) and Test #2 will cover the second half (VII-IX). There will not be a comprehensive final exam in this course. See assignments and work schedule for the due dates for these tests. The tests themselves will be a combination of short answer or fill in and essay.
Data Interpretation Practicum: This will be an exercise in identification or differentiation of artifacts and non-artifacts. An object can be one of the following:
I. NATUREFACT: an object that has been formed by natural
forces only; it may look like an artifact, but it is not; usually a portable
object
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| II. ARTIFACT: an object/naturefact or synthetic that has been modified by humans | |||
The difficulty is that objects are formed by complex processes such that a biofact, such as an animal bone can be preserved after the animals death and be permineralized or fossilized to become a geofact. Humans in turn can use innumerable objects (naturefacts), including fossils. The difficulty is demonstrating that humans modified an object, especially with naturefacts that become garbage and were never used as a specific tool. This is one of the reasons that careful/ scientific excavation provides much more information than antiquarian digging or pot hunting. However, differentiating human effected fire affected rock (f.a.r.) vs. natural brush fire affected rock is not easy. Furthermore, herds of large animals can bang around river cobbles enough where the resultant chipped stone may appear to be rudimentary tools that most early hunters and gathers produced. Most of these objects in the practicum will be rather easy to differentiate.
Once you have determined the object to be an artifact you need to identify the culture area of North America and the tradition it is from. You are not required to give any more specifics like use or date. During the semester try the practice examples.
Archaeological site assessment: This is a 7-10 page paper in which you will choose an archaeological site and write a research paper to assess the site for the following:
| I. History | summarize the history of this particular site's activities, to include archaeological excavation, pot hunting and even purposeful/accidental destruction |
| II. Cultural Significance | identify the cultural area first, then determine what has been learned about cultural traditions at this site; some sites will have a long sequence of human occupation; some may represent one tradition |
| III. Contemporary | discuss the status of this site today; is it well preserved or threatened or destroyed? is current research being conducted? |
If you are currently in other archaeological programs or doing contract work, note that this paper is not an EIR type of site report and should not list data, artifacts, etc. Also, you may choose any site in the Americas. Some of the links and the text will help you identify sites, however you must have sources outside of just internet/urls. The paper is to be double-spaced and have at least a reference page at the end. You may include a few maps or pictures.