ANTHROPOLOGY 210 - ARCHAEOLOGY OF EARLY CITIES

Preliminary Syllabus Fall 2018

(September 4, 2018 version; some assigned readings may change)

Course Instructor:
Prof. Nicole C. Couture
Office: Leacock 737
Phone: 398-4296
E-Mail: nicole.c.couture@mcgill.ca
Office Hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays 4:10-5:00 pm (by appointment only; please use the sign-up sheet
posted on my office door)

Teaching Assistants:
Alexis Lemonde Vachon: alexis.lemonde-vachon@mail.mcgill.ca
Daniel Whittle: daniel.whittle@mail.mcgill.ca

T.A. office hours and locations TBA

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides an introduction to the field of archaeology through the lens of early urbanism. The
course is structured around a series of case studies from different time periods and parts of the world.
These range from the principal cities of “great civilizations” (e.g. Egypt & Mesopotamia) to the lesser-
known cities of Great Zimbabwe in sub-Saharan Africa and Cahokia in the Mississippi Valley. Through
these case studies students will learn about the research methods and theoretical approaches used by
archaeologists to address questions relating to urban organization, social diversity, power relations,
monumental architecture, residential space, ritual practices, food consumption, settlement patterns, and
urban-rural relations in the past.

REQUIRED READINGS:
There is no required textbook for this course; instead students are assigned a series of required weekly
readings (e.g. journal articles and book chapters) made available online though the course website on
myCourses. The readings are organized into a series of modules by topic.

QUIZZES, ASSIGNMENTS, AND GRADING:

Students will be assessed according to their performance on four quizzes (totalling 65% of their final
grade) and one written research assignment (worth 35% of the final grade). There is no formal final exam.

Annotated Bibliography (35%)

Students are required to write an “annotated bibliography” in which they summarize four scholarly
publications (in French or English) on a single urban archaeological site. Detailed instructions and a list
of possible case studies will be posted on myCourses. In addition, a mandatory information session on
doing research in archaeology is scheduled for October 9. The assignment is due on Thursday
November 22 (both in class and online). The penalty for late assignments is 10% per day. Students
requiring special accommodations due to extraordinary circumstances should contact the course instructor
directly.

Important notice: This assignment takes significantly more time and effort than most students
anticipate. Plan accordingly. By mid-late October you should have identified a suitable case study and
put together a preliminary list of 6-9 viable publications. (This means you will have read more than their

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titles and abstracts). By November 1, should have decided on your final list of four publications and be
well into the analysis and writing stage.

Four Quizzes: 2 in class and 2 online (65%):

Students will be given four quizzes over the course of the semester. Each quiz will cover material from
two modules, including both class lectures and required readings. Two quizzes are scheduled to take place
in class (Sept. 27 & Nov. 13); the other two will be administered online through myCourses (on Oct.
23/24 and Nov. 29/30). Students may write an online quiz at any time within its scheduled 24 hour
window, but once they start a quiz they have only 40 minutes to complete it.

% OF COURSE LOCATION DATE(S) MATERIAL COVERED

GRADE

QUIZ 1 (15%) IN CLASS SEPT. 27 MODULE 2 (METHODS)

MODULE 3 (CONCEPTS & THEORY )

QUIZ 2 (20%) ONLINE NOON OCT. 23 TO MODULE 4 (TIWANAKU)

NOON OCT. 24
MODULE 5 (EGYPT)

QUIZ 3 (20%) IN CLASS NOV. 13 MODULE 6 (TEOTIHUACAN)

MODULE 7 (UR MESOPOTAMIA)

QUIZ 4 (10%) ONLINE NOON NOV. 29 TO MODULE 8 (CAHOKIA)

NOON NOV. 30
MODULE 9 (GREAT ZIMBABWE)

Important Note: Students requiring special accommodation should make arrangements through
the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD).

NOTE-TAKING AND AND USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES.

1) Students are strongly encouraged to write lecture notes by hand. To learn more about the benefits of
writing vs. typing class notes, please read the articles by Meyer (2014) and Mueller & Oppenheimer
(2014) located in the “Tips for ANTH 210” folder in myCourses.

2) PDF copies of the lecture slides will be uploaded onto myCourses following each class.

3) The lectures are not recorded. Students registered with OSD can request for a note-taker.

4) Students are allowed to use laptops and tablets to take notes. They will, however, be asked to sit in a
designated section of the lecture hall in order not to disturb other students.

5) Cell phones must be turned off and put away before class starts. If you need to keep your phone on due
to special circumstances, please let the instructor know in writing.

6) Please do not put your instructor or TA in the unpleasant position of having to ask you to put away
your phone or get off social media.

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 CLASS SCHEDULE AND REQUIRED READINGS

MODULE 1 INTRODUCTION
September 4

MODULE 2 RESEARCH METHODS IN ARCHAEOLOGY

September 6, 11, & 13 Required Readings:
Fagan, Brian 2009 Archaeology: A Brief Introduction. Read Chapter 6 only “They Sought it There:
Finding Archaeological Sites.” pp. 109-130. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Feder, Kenneth L. 2008 Linking to the Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology. Read Chapter 1 only
“How I spent my Summer Vacation: Finding, Excavating, and Interpreting the Wood Lily Site in North
Central Connecticut”, pp. 9-39. Oxford University Press.

MODULE 3 KEY CONCEPTS AND THEORETICAL APPROACHES

September 18, 20, 25 Required Readings:
Childe, V.G 1950 The Urban Revolution. Town Planning Review 21:3-17.

Wheatley, Paul 1969. “The City as Symbol”. Inaugural Lecture delivered at University College, London,
November 20, 1967.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27 – QUIZ #1 (IN CLASS)

Note: We will move onto Tiwanaku during the second part of the class period.

MODULE 4: TIWANAKU
September 27, October 2, and October 4 Required Readings:

Kolata, Alan and Carlos Ponce Sanginés 1992 Tiwanaku: The City at the Center. In
The Ancient Americas: Art from Sacred Landscapes, edited by Richard F. Townsend, pp. 317-333.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL.

Couture, Nicole C. 2004 Monumental Space, Courtly Style, and Elite Life at Tiwanaku. In Tiwanaku:
Ancestors of the Inca, edited by Margaret Young-Sanchez, pp. 126-149. Denver Art Museum and the
University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.

Janusek, John 2009 Residence and Ritual in Tiwanaku: Hierarchy, Specialization, Ethnicity, and
Ceremony. In Domestic Life in Prehispanic Capitals: a Study of Specialization, Hierarchy, and
Ethnicity, edited by Linda Manzanilla and Claude Chapdelaine, pp. 149-169. Memoirs of the Museum of
Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Optional Readings:
Vranich, Alexei 2016 Monumental Perceptions of the Tiwanaku Landscape. In Political Landscapes of
Capital Cities, edited by Jessica J. Christie, Jelena Bogdanovic, and Eulogio Guzman, pp. 181-211.
University Press of Colorado.

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 TUESDAY OCTOBER 9 - MANDATORY INFORMATION SESSION
WITH LIBRARIAN EAMON DUFFY
(in relation to the annotated bibliography assignment)

Class attendance will be taken.

MODULE 5: NEW KINGDOM EGYPT (THEBES & DEIR EL MEDINA)

October 11, 16, & 18 Required Readings:
Hikade, Thomas 2008 Egypt, Pharaonic. In Encyclopedia of Archaeology, edited by Deborah M.
Pearsall, pp. 31-45. Elsevier/Academic Press, San Diego, CA. (This publication provides a broad
overview of Ancient Egypt. Pay attention to the sections that focus on the period of the New Kingdom).

Bard, Kathryn 2008 Royal Cities and Cult Centers, Administrative Towns, and Workmen’s Settlements
in Ancient Egypt. In The Ancient City: New Perspectives on Urbanism in the Old and New World, edited
by Joyce Marcus and Jeremy A. Sabloff, pp. 165-182. School For Advanced Research Resident Scholar
Book, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Meskell, Lynn 1998 An Archaeology of Social Relations in an Egyptian Village. Journal of

Archaeological Method and Theory 5(3):209-243.

Optional Readings
Friedman, Florence D. 1994 Aspects of Domestic Life and Religion. In Pharaoh’s Workers: the Village
of Deir el Medina, edited by Leonard H. Lesko, pp. 95-117. Cornell University Press, Ithaca.

Lesko, Barbara S. 1994 Ranks, Roles, and Rights. In Pharaoh’s Workers: the Village of Deir el Medina,
edited by Leonard H. Lesko, pp. 15-39. Cornell University Press, Ithaca.

Magli, Giulio 2014 Some Cognitive Aspects of the Luxor-Karnak Relationship. Time and Mind 7(1):33-
45.

OCTOBER 23/24 – QUIZ # 2 (ONLINE)

Note: Class will meet at the regular time on the morning of October 23.

MODULE 6: TEOTIHUACAN
October 23, 25, 30 Required Readings:
Cowgill, George L. 2003 Teotihuacan: Cosmic Glories and Mundane Needs. In The Social Construction
of Ancient Cities, edited by Monica Smith, pp. 37-55. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.

Headrick, Annabeth 2002 Gardening with the Great Goddess at Teotihuacan. In Heart of Creation: The
Mesoamerican World and the Legacy of Linda Schele, edited by Andrea Stone, pp. 83-100. University of
Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.

Manzanilla, Linda 1996 Corporate Groups and Domestic Activities at Teotihuacan. Latin American
Antiquity 7(3):228-246.

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Optional Reading:
De Lucia, Kristin 2008 Looking Beyond Gender Hierarchy: Rethinking Gender at Teotihuacan, Mexico.
In Gender, Households, and Society: Unraveling the Threads of the Past and the Present, edited by
Cynthia Robin and Elizabeth Brumfiel, pp. 17-36. Archaeological Papers of the American
Anthropological Association, Number 18. Blackwell Publishing.

Mandell, Elisa C. 2015 A New Analysis of the Gender Attribution of the “Great Goddess” of
Teotihuacan. Ancient Mesoamerica 26:29-49.

MODULE 7: UR (MESOPOTAMIA)
November 1, 6, and (8) Required Readings:
McMahon, Augusta 2008 Mesopotamia, Sumer, and Akkad. In Encyclopedia of Archaeology, edited by
Deborah M. Pearsall, pp. 854-865. Elsevier/Academic Press, San Diego, CA. (for BACKGROUND
only; focus on Early Dynastic and Akkadian Periods)

Pollock, Susan 1991a Of Priestesses, Princes, and Poor Relations: the Dead in the Royal Cemetery of
Ur. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 1(2):171-189.

Stone, Elizabeth 2005 Mesopotamian Cities and Countryside. In A Companion to the Ancient Near East,
edited by D.C. Snell, pp. 141-154. Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA.

Optional readings:
Pollock, Susan 1991b Women in a Men’s World: Images of Sumerian Women. In Engendering
Archaeology: Women and Prehistory, edited by Joan M. Gero and Margaret W. Conkey, pp. 366-387.
Blackwell Publishers.

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 13 – QUIZ #3 IN CLASS

Note: We will move onto Cahokia during the second part of the class period.

MODULE 8 CAHOKIA AND THE MISSISSIPIAN WORLD

November (8), 13, 15 Required Readings:
Pauketat, Timothy R. 2004 Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippians. Chapter 4 “Early Cahokia”, pp. 67-
95. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge MA.

Zimmerman Holt, Julie 2009 Rethinking the Ramey State: was Cahokia the Center of a Theater State?
American Antiquity 74(2): 231-254.

Optional Reading:
Ambrose, Stanley H. , Jane Buikstra, and Harold W. Krueger 2003 Status and gender differences in diet
at Mound 72, Cahokia, revealed by isotopic analysis of bone. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
22:217-226.

Pauketat, Timothy R. 2008 Eastern Woodlands. In Encyclopedia of Archaeology, edited by Deborah M.

Pearsall, pp. 279-289. Elsevier/Academic Press, San Diego, CA

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 THURSDAY NOVEMBER 22 - ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
** DUE ONLINE AT 9:00 A.M. AND HARDCOPY DUE IN CLASS AT 10:00 A.M.**

MODULE 9 GREAT ZIMBABWE

November 20 & 22 Required Readings
Connah, Graham 2001 African civilizations: An archaeological perspective.. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge. Read Chapter 7 “A question of context: Great Zimbabwe and related sites”, pp. 223-262

Pikirayi, Innocent and Shadreck Chirikure 2008 Zimbabwe Plateau and Surrounding Areas. In
Encyclopedia of Archaeology, edited by Deborah M. Pearsall, pp. 9-13. Elsevier/Academic Press, San
Diego, CA

Optional Readings:
King, Rachel 2011 Archaeological naissance at Mapungubwe. Journal of Social Archaeology
11(3):311-333.

Kuklick, Henrika 1991 Contested Monuments: the Politics of Archaeology in Southern Africa. In
Colonial Situations: Essays on the Contextualization of Ethnographic Knowledge , edited by George W.
Stocking, pp. 135-169. History of Anthropology, Vol. 7. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison.

NOVEMBER 29/30 QUIZ #4 (ONLINE)

Note: Class will meet at the regular time on the morning of November 29.

MODULE 10 MOHENJO DARO (INDUS VALLEY)

November 27 & 29 Required Readings:
Kenoyer, Jonathan M. 2008 Indus Civilization. In Encyclopedia of Archaeology, edited by Deborah M.
Pearsall, pp. 715-733. Elsevier/Academic Press, San Diego, CA (FOR BACKGROUND)

Possehl, Gregory 1998 Sociocultural Complexity Without the State: the Indus Civilization. In
Archaic States, edited by Gary M. Feinman and Joyce Marcus, pp. 261-291. School of American
Research Press, Santa Fe, NM.

Jansen, M. 1989 Water Supply and Sewage Disposal at Mohenjo-Daro. World Archaeology 21(2):177-
192.

Optional Readings:
Lahiri, Nayanjot 2017 Are archaeological discoveries like scientific discoveries? The curious case of the
Indus Valley. World Archaeology 49(2):174-186.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY, STUDENT RIGHTS, AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

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1. McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore, all students must understand the meaning
and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student
Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (see www.mcgill.ca/students/srr/honest/ for more information.

L'université McGill attache une haute importance à l’honnêteté académique. Il incombe par conséquent
à tous les étudiants de comprendre ce que l'on entend par tricherie, plagiat et autres infractions
académiques, ainsi que les conséquences que peuvent avoir de telles actions, selon le Code de conduite
de l'étudiant et des procédures disciplinaires (pour de plus amples renseignements, veuillez consulter le
site www.mcgill.ca/students/srr/honest/)."

2. In accord with McGill University’s Charter of Students’ Rights, students in this course have the
right to submit in English or in French any written work that is to be graded.

Conformément à la Charte des droits de l’étudiant de l’Université McGill, chaque étudiant a le droit de
soumettre en français ou en anglais tout travail écrit devant être noté (sauf dans le cas des cours dont
l’un des objets est la maîtrise d’une langue).

3. Instructor generated course materials (e.g., handouts, notes, summaries, exam questions, etc.) are
protected by law and may not be copied or distributed in any form or in any medium without explicit
permission of the instructor. Note that infringements of copyright can be subject to follow up by the
University under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures.

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