Looking for a course? Prof. Anu Sharma, chair of Anthropology, wants to bring to your attention African Archaelogy, taught by Professor Sarah Croucher, which is open for first-years and sophomores and meets at 9 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
| ANTH 256 Spring 2014 |
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| Crosslisting: ARCP 256 | ||
| Course Cluster: African Studies | ||
| Africa’s past is too often written about in clichés, with the darkness of prehistory presumed to shroud most of that which archaeologists study. This course will take a different approach through the archaeology of Africa’s historic past, which includes those centuries of prehistory that are historical in Africa by merit of their ties to oral histories of contemporary societies.Chronologically, we will begin with the origins of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, moving on to ironworking, complex societies, urbanism, and the archaeology of the recent and contemporary past. Topics of study will include archaeological approaches to social identities and gender; ethnoarchaeology (the study of contemporary material culture to inform the past) including studies of potters, ironworkers, housing, and cuisine; the archaeology of Islam and Christianity in Africa; studies of the African diaspora through material approaches; and contemporary heritage issues on the continent. | ||