Course Descriptions

This is a fourth-year capstone course that integrates archaeology and anthropology in a weekly seminar focusing on contemporary (i.e., 21st century) issues spanning the two sub-disciplines. Students will engage in a variety of contemporary readings and discussions and will be required to produce an original research paper that integrates archaeological and anthropological literature in a (previously-approved) topic of their choice. While weekly topics will vary from year to year, they will be grouped under one or more of five broad themes: Power, Identity, Community, Conflict, and Body. Topics covered will be timely and responsive to current events. This course will require active engagement by students, rather than passive absorption of lecture material. Assessment will be based on class participation, presentation, and an iterative series of writing assignments (a research paper proposal, annotated bibliography, and original research paper). This is a required course for the BA and BA Hons degrees in Archaeology and Anthropology.

Weekly hours: 3 Seminar/Discussion hours
Prerequisite(s): 24 credit units ANTH or ARCH courses; and permission of the department.

Students will undertake a project involving original research or a review essay under the direction of a faculty member. An oral presentation and written report submitted at the end of the project will be evaluated by a faculty committee. Topics are open within the field of Anthropology, subject to the availability of a faculty advisor. An outline of the project must be submitted to the course coordinator in the term preceding registration and be approved before Departmental permission will be granted.

Prerequisite(s): Admission to Honours program in Anthropology; and permission of the department.

Independent study of a particular cultural artifact or artifact type, culminating in the public presentation of an exhibit in the Museum of Antiquities. Includes practical experience as a volunteer in the Museum.

Weekly hours: 4 Practicum/Lab hours and .5 Tutorial hours
Permission of the head of ARCH and ANTH required.
Prerequisite(s): 60 credit units at the university.
Note: Students with credit for CMRS 403 or ARCH 403 cannot take this course for credit.

This course consists of a broad survey of the development of contemporary concepts and theories in anthropology and related fields. Special emphasis will be given to the evolution of such terms and ideas as ethnography, culture, subjectivity, and the shifting models of the relationship between individual and group in contemporary theory.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): 3 credit units 300-level ANTH or permission of instructor.
Note: Students with credit for ANTH 420 may not take this course for credit.

This course examines the role food has played in creating and shaping ancient societies. It focuses on understanding how our bodies and different types of archaeological materials, including artefacts and plant and animal remains, can be used to reconstruct ancient diets and food practices. It also explores social aspects of how ancient food choices relate to identity, gender, economics, power, status, trade, and their roles in daily lives and ceremonies. This course integrates various case studies ranging from analyses of the diets of Neanderthals, Holocene hunter-gatherers, and early farmers to the impacts of ancient food on globalization, sustainability, modern cuisines, daily meals, and other food practices.

Weekly hours: 3 Seminar/Discussion hours
Prerequisite(s): ANTH 250.3 or ANTH 251.3; and at least one 300-level ANTH or ARCH course.
Note: Students with credit for ARCH 498.3 Archaeology of Food may not take this course for credit.

This course is designed to expose you to advanced issues and discourses in the field of zooarchaeology related to contemporary methods and theoretical approaches. It will address a range of topics that cover different aspects of human-animal studies including subsistence, foraging strategies, domestication, bone chemistry, use of biometrics, animal life histories, integration of Indigenous knowledge, and other contemporary techniques and approaches applied in the discipline. The presentation of course material is based on lectures, laboratory activities with a sample faunal assemblage, and discussions of methods, theoretical approaches, and case studies. A heavy emphasis is placed on learning through hands-on experience and developing practical skills in working with large faunal assemblages.

Weekly hours: 1.5 Lecture hours and 1.5 Practicum/Lab hours
Prerequisite(s): ANTH 358.3.
Note: Students with credit for ARCH 458.6 may not take this course for credit. This course was formerly half of ARCH 458.6. There will be costs in addition to tuition fees.

Detailed survey of the basic concepts and schools of thought in contemporary archaeology considered on a world-wide basis, with emphasis on Canada and the United States. Theoretical models relating to culture history, settlement, ecological and other approaches are discussed.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): ANTH 251.3 and 3 senior credit units in archaeology.
Note: Students with credit for ANTH 451.3 may not take this course for credit.
Note: Students with credit for ARCH 462 may not receive credit for this course.

Concerned with the analysis of human skeletal materials and specifically the identification of age, sex, stature, race and other features. Laboratory sessions supplement lectures.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours and 3 Practicum/Lab hours
Prerequisite(s): ANTH 470.3.
Note: Students with credit for ARCH 471 may not receive credit for this course.

The diagnosis and interpretation of disease in antiquity and the overall health status of earlier human populations. Although skeletal pathology will be emphasized, analysis of mummified tissues and ancient DNA will be included.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): ANTH 370.3.
Note: Students with credit for ARCH 472 or ARCH 872 may not receive credit for this course.

Bioarchaeology is the study of human remains from archaeological contexts in order to reconstruct past lifeways. In this course, students will become familiar with the history and development of bioarchaeology, the nature and recovery of ancient human remains, and the various applications and interpretive frameworks employed by bioarchaeologists. Course material will be contextualize within some of the broader sociocultural and political processes that have characterized more recent human history.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): ANTH 270.3 or permission of instructor
Note: Students with credit for ARCH 475 may not receive credit for this course.

Offered occasionally by visiting faculty and in other special situations to cover, in depth, topics that are not thoroughly covered in regularly offered courses.

Weekly hours: 3 Seminar/Discussion hours

Offered occasionally by visiting faculty and in other special situations to cover, in depth, topics that are not thoroughly covered in regularly offered courses.

Weekly hours: 3 Seminar/Discussion hours