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Mar 19, 2026
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Undergraduate Catalog 2026-2027
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ANT 154 World Archaeology Credits: (3)
This introductory course discusses the basic philosophy and methods of archaeology, and provides an introductory survey of archaeological excavations and discoveries in the Near East, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, with an emphasis on understanding how societies changed and developed during the unwritten periods of human history. Beginning with the evolution of the first human ancestors nearly seven million years ago, topics will include the evolution of the earliest human societies, the development of lifeways based on domesticated plants and animals, and the emergence of complex societies. Along the way, students will also have a chance to use archaeological methods to make sense of material remains in their own society.
SUNY Gen Ed Area(s): Humanities, Social Sciences, World History & Global Awareness
Designation(s): Liberal Arts
Learning Outcomes
- Define the nature of archaeology as a social science and as a sub-discipline of anthropology.
- Describe some of the major archaeological sites from around the world that have changed our knowledge about the human past (e.g. Olduvai, Swartkrans, Zhoukoudian, Star Carr, Lascaux, Abu Hureyra, Tehuacan, Stonehenge, Teotihuacan, Tikal, Catal Huyuk, Chavin de Huantar, Moche, Tiwanaku, Cahokia, Jenne-Jeno, Great Zimbabwe, Giza, Mohenjo Daro, and Xianyang).
- Describe and contrast different approaches to the study of archaeology (e.g. culture history, processual archaeology, post-processual archaeologies).
- Describe the purpose and process of archaeological research and data acquisition from site surveys and excavations to dating methods, seriation, and artifact analysis.
- Apply the methods archaeologists use to reconstruct human behavior from material remains using data derived from the contemporary United States.
- Define the relevancy of archaeology in today’s society in terms of contemporary political, religious, ethical, and environmental debates.
- Identify major human cultural and biological changes which have occurred over time in different regions of the world (e.g. the origins of bipedalism, radiation and extinction of hominids, the development of stone tool technologies and art, the great human diasporas, the domestication of plants and animals, and emergence of complex societies featuring greater amounts of social inequality).
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