While all assignments will be graded on a point scale (ie. 15/20) and the running tally of the semester grade on ANGEL will be displayed as percent, final grades will be given on a 4.0 scale. The final grade will be calculated using the following scale:
- 90 – 100 = 4.0
- 85 – 89.99 = 3.5
- 80 – 84.99 = 3.0
- 75 – 79.99 = 2.5
- 70 – 74.99 – 2.0
- 65 – 69.99 = 1.5
- 60 – 64.99 = 1.0
- <60 = 0
Your final grade will be based on the following criteria:
Midterm (25%) – will include true/false, multiple choice, fill in the blank, and short answer questions. The material covered in the midterm exam will be based on the class discussions, lectures, class videos (if any) and required reading from weeks 1-7.
Final Exam (35%) – will include true/false, multiple choice, fill in the blank, and short answer questions. The material covered in the final exam will be based on the class discussions, lectures, class videos (if any) and required reading from weeks 8-16. This exam isn’t cumulative. However, it will be a little larger/longer than the midterm exam (mostly because there is a little more material covered).
Blog Post/Responses (20%) – throughout the semester, students will be required to write a series of 4 posts to the course blog. The subject of each Blog Post should be a thoughtful commentary on an issue, article (online or physical), or lecture topic of the student’s choosing (relating to archaeological research and discoveries). Students are welcome to (thoughtfully) reflect on that week’s reading if they wish. In some cases, your professor will challenge you with specific questions or issues that you will need to address in your Blog Post. In these cases, the prompt/question will appear on the relevant week in the Schedule or be discussed in class .
Each Blog Post must be at least 400 words in length (though students are welcome to write more than that if they want). In addition to the posts, students are expected to respond to at least one post made by their fellow students. The responses must be at least 250 words. Posts are (usually) due by 5pm on Thursday, and the responses are due by 5pm on Sunday. Students must complete both the entry and response in order to get credit for the assignment. If students meet all of the requirements for the assignment (due date, length requirement, entry + response), they will receive full credit. If students don’t meet all of the requirements, they will not receive credit at all. No partial credit is given for partially complete Blog Posts/Responses.
Archaeological Discovery Project (20%) – In this assignment, students will choose a site (or a specific archaeological discovery) and write about it. Instead of being physically handed in, students will put their Archaeological Discovery Project on the class wiki (refer to the Resources section of the course website for a video tutorial on working with the course wiki). The Archaeological Discovery Project must be at least 1600 words in length (more is perfectly fine).
Students will select a site/discovery from a list that will be made available later in the semester. Upon choosing a site/discovery, students must email the Adam (course TA) immediately to claim their choice (so that two students don’t write on the same site). If students write on a site/discovery that they didn’t claim beforehand, they will not receive credit. Students can choose to write on a site/discovery that isn’t on the list – they just need to get it approved by Ethan beforehand.
The Archaeological Discovery Project should address the following questions/issues
- What is the site/discovery?
- What is the context in which it was found/excavated/etc?
- Why is it important?
- What did the discovery contribute to our overall understanding of the past and culture (either specifically – within the region or time period – or broadly)
This translates (roughy) into:
- introduce the site/discovery
- discuss the history of the discovery/excavation
- discuss why the site/discovery is important/meaningful.
Some guidelines/things to think about with the Archaeological Discovery Project:
- Some of the required features of APA style and formatting conflict with the fact that the articles are living on a wiki, and not on sheets of paper. So, there are some features (like title page, page numbers, etc.) that simply don’t work with the online format – don’t worry at all about including those. When it comes to citation, you are going to have to go either with end notes or inline parenthetical citation (with a works cited/bibliography list at the end) – footnotes won’t work (obviously) because there aren’t any discreet pages in the week (at the bottom of which you would put your footnotes).
- No, an abstract isn’t required
- Meeting the minimum word count is a requirement of the assignment. If students don’t meet that minimum word count, they will be docked significantly.
- APA style and formatting (taking into account what was said above) is a requirement for the assignment. Students who don’t meet this requirement will be docked significantly.
- Students must have at least 5 sources/references (this doesn’t count any cited images). More sources is, of course, perfectly fine. The sources can be digital or physical. However, they have to be scholarly in nature. If you are confused as to what constitutes “scholarly in nature,” ask. Here is a really good source for determining the quality of an online source: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
- All images must be referenced as properly. Try to use Creative Commons licensed works. Here is a hint to find creative commons licensed images – use the CC Search engine. Also, for specific archaeological images that are creative commons licensed, you should look at the ISAW Ancient World Image Bank.
- Wikipedia (and similar sites like dictionary.com, Encyclopedia Britannic etc.) are absolutely acceptable sources. Remember, Wikipedia is a great place to start, but it shouldn’t be something you cite as a source on a piece of work.
- Check out digital archaeology repositories such as tDAR and ADS. You might also want to check out Open Context – which is a publication platform for primary archaeological data.
Students can choose one of the following sites or suggest their own:
- Alexandria (Underwater Archaeology) – Austin Lo
- Valley of the Kings (Amenhotep II, Horemheb and Seti I) – Emma Greene
- Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump – Marshall Cartwright
- El Zotz –Dejonia Mitchell
- Skellig Michael – Daniel O’Rourke
- Clonmacnoise – Jennifer Jones
- Brooman Point Village
- Troy – Mack Sims
- Inuksuk Point – Evan Wahl
- Keatley Creek Archaeological Site – Madison Wallock
- L’Anse aux Meadows – Ashley Stradinger
- Port au Choix Archaeological Site
- Ratcliff Site, Wendat (Huron) Ancestral Village
- Southwold Earthworks
- Moose Mountain Medicine Wheel – Emily Seekell
- Wanuskewin
- Angel Mounds – Caroline Voisine
- Aztalan – Mark Mangliers
- Caddo Mounds
- Dickson Mounds
- Emerald Mound Site
- Etowah Mounds
- Holly Bluff Site – Glen Gruber
- Kincaid Mounds
- Moundville – Curtis Punches
- Ocmulgee
- Parkin Site
- Spiro Mounds
- Canyon De Chelly
- Casa Grande
- Homolovi Ruins
- Pueblo Grande – Justin Mrkva
- Crow Canyon
- Mesa Verde – Meghan Faught
- Chaco Canyon – Brian Wyss
- Pueblo Bonita – Danielle Heger
- Calakmul – Kathryn Richards
- Chichen Itza – Megan Reed
- Copán – Chelsea Hull
- Dos Pilas – Kelsey Roseman
- Mayapan – Anna Boucard
- El Mirador – Jane Katze
- Palenque – Nathan Santoscoy
- Uxmal – Clayton Batko
- Yaxchilan – Tessa Biallas
- Chavín de Huantar – Jack Miller
- Chan Chan – Sean Weston
- Nazca- Allie Richardson
- Huaca del Sol/Huaca del Sol
- Tiwanaku – Keenan Noyes
- Blackwater Draw – Kailei Trykowski
- Cueva de las Manos – Shelby Bishop
- Mummy Cave – Kelsey Baker
- Lehner Mammoth-Kill Site – Aaron Johnson
- Monte Verde – Danny Gallagher
- Avebury – Alison Hamilton
- Sutton Hoo – Sean Weston
- Flag Fen – Jonathan DiClemente
- Skara Brae – Dannielle Lyttle
- Duggleby Howe
- Pentre Ifan
- Fairy Toot
- Cissbury Ring
- Offa’s Dyke
- Wroxeter Roman City – Hunter Sarah
- Old Sarum – Ben Peck
- Petra – Andrea Cohn
- Pompeii – Justin Kenton
- Ajanta Caves – Brian Chivers
- Harrapa – John Lynch
- Mohenjo Daro – Brad Yurgens
- Persepolis – Nick Tower
- Le Moustier – Michelle St. Cyr
- Uruk – Jennings Jin
- Çatalhöyük – Dan Lewandowski
- Knosos – Jonathon Bauman
- Göbekli Tepe – Madison Ahmad
- Newgrange – Jennifer Fisher
- Ostia Antica – Kelsey Sloan
- Hierakonpolis
- Buto
- Butrint
- Palmyra – Erica Plotas
- Mycenae – Sam Rothwell
- Goree Island- Kathryn Jercich
- Tyre – Lindsay Brubaker
- Byblos – John Conte
- Ballbek
- Hattusha – Yi Kang
- Delos – José Garza
- Gebel Barkal
- Cyrene – Mat Wroby
- Delphi – Alexandra Roach
- Olympia – Nathan Mrozek
- Siwa Oasis – Keila Fitzpatrick
- Bahariya Oasis
- Barbar Temple – Erik Joergens-Kokate
- Bat
- Nicopolis ad Istrum – Ryan Monahan
- Angkor Wat – Tommy Vento
- Angkor Tom – Kimberly Schreiber
- Easter Island – Nico Kennedy
- Banpo – He Xin
- Zhoukoudian – Jackie Gagie
- Bashidang
- Amarna – Tessa McManus
- Grotte du Vallonnet
- Glanum
- Isthmia
- Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb
- Lothal – Sammy Kramer
- Dholavira
- Susa
- Shanidar – Dmitriy Lavender
- Jarmo
- Nimrud – Mitchell Reddan
- Ur – Dylan Hawthorne
- Sannai-Maruyama
- ‘Ain Ghazal
- Gerasa (Jerash)
- Volubilis – Matthew Volchoff
- Borre Mound Cemetery
- Gokstad Ship Burial – Alan Wolfe
- Oseberg Ship Burial – Johanna McKenzie
- Histria – Jacob Diljak
- Arkaim – Travis Brenner
- Pazyryk Burials – Erica Bingham
- Sintashta
- Gamla Uppsala
- Vendel – Kevin Crimmins
- Ebla
- Carthage – Chris Hunt
- Burton Fleming
- Calleva Atrebatum/Silchester
- Star Carr – Zachary Haar
- Zafar
- Terracotta Army – Alek Guettler