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MATRIX Principles in Modules for
North American Archaeology
Anthropology 3320, Hamline
University
"Stewardship, Diverse Pasts, Social Relevance, Ethics and Values, Written and Oral Communication
and Basic Archaeological Skills: these issues are at the very core of archaeology as the evolving,
dynamic discipline that it is, and must be, in order to understand, interpret, manage, and protect the past."
Following the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) statement on ethics above, this course will encourage students to
not only learn the basic content involved in North American ancient culture histories, but will seek to understand how the
archaeological approach reflects and implements the SAA Seven Principles as indicated:
1. Stewardship
2. Diverse Interests
3. Social Relevance
4. Ethics and Values
5. Written and Oral Communication Skills
6. Basic Archaeological Skills
7. Real World Problem Solving
Principle 1: Stewardship - "We are stewards, not plunderers, of the legacies of ancient people." Principle 2: Diverse Interests - "We should not only think of "the Past," but recognize that there are many;
that they reflect a varied cultural constituency." Principle 3: Social Relevance - "Lessons from the Past" - "There are legitimate lessons to be learned through
archaeological work; that various peoples' cultural identities are intimately related to what these endeavors have
to tell us." Principle 4: Ethics and Values - "As stewards and interpreters of ancient peoples' legacies, fundamental ethics
and values must be understood and implemented through practice." Principle 5: Written and Oral Communication Skills - "Archaeologists, as stewards, interpreters, and often
creators of histories of ancient peoples, must develop communication skills-written and oral-for a variety of
constituencies ranging from the general public to the professional community of scholars." Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology must also understand the epistemological
ramifications of the discipline - how they come to know what they know about ancient peoples' life ways -ranging
from understanding the basic skills archaeologists employ in the field to varied ways they understand and interpret
what they encounter under the ground." Principle 7: Real World Problem Solving - "Connect the classroom world and the real world" . . ."Students
can be exposed to problem solving through classroom examples and observations of real situations."
The following diagram illustrates the interrelatedness inherent in the MATRIX's Seven Principles. In describing how
individual principles were presented in each module, choices were often made that in effect "labeled" them in ways that
can be understood as arbitrary. Please be advised that "Professional Values & Ethics" often dovetails with "Diverse
Interests" and so on.
What follows is a breakdown of the individual modules and where the Seven Principles are highlighted as appropriate to
individual course topics. This is then followed by a brief synopsis of the rationale for each of the individual principles
indicated.
1. Introduction to Class and Making the Instructor a Known Commodity (Module 01) (Module 01 Overview)
a. Principle 1: Stewardship - ". . . archaeological resources are nonrenewable and finite"
i. Discussion - Early in this class, we begin to note the fragility inherent in the archaeological record;
that, unlike experimentation in the biological and physical sciences, there is only one opportunity to
excavate a site; that the process of excavation itself is inherently destructive; and that hence, we must
be aware that we cannot repeat the excavation process. This heightens the importance of care in
excavation and the need to preserve what has been excavated as well as what has yet to be. b. Principle 2: Diverse Interests - "Relationships can be enhanced through the development of partnerships with
these diverse groups."
i. Discussion - In this case, students are told about how Puleston worked with Maya people as
sources of information (gardening practices, etc.) as well as local people who participated in the
experimental reconstruction and management of a "new" ancient raised field - people who saw to
benefit from the redevelopment of ancient productive systems of wetland food production. This situation
is analogous to one found in the Bolivian Highlands Tiwanaku project between Alan Kolata and the
indigenous Aymara people who were both workers on his project as well as beneficiaries of sustainable
agricultural knowledge revealed through excavation.
c. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies
i. Discussion - As part of my showing my own background, and as a metaphor for how archaeology
helps us understand past successful adaptations to environmental circumstance, I bring into discussion
how Dennis Puleston brought about a re-evaluation of ancient Maya subsistence (questioning maize and
slash-and-burn practices because of implications of extremely high house mound counts suggesting that
this alone would not have worked considering ecological parameters. This brought questioning resulted in
additional shifts in the Mayanist paradigms for the time.
d. Principle 4: Ethics and Values - ". . . how archeologists conduct themselves in relation to the resources,
their data, their colleagues, and the public"
i. Discussion - In a personal autobiographical way I present my childhood on a farm in northeast
Ohio - a physical and cultural place where there was little to acknowledge the major accomplishments
of Native American people - and how I felt that archaeology at that time did little to minimize the
marginalization of Native people.
e. Principle 7: Real World Problem Solving - how archaeological techniques can be applied directly in matters of
public policy
i. Discussion - Discussed Puleston's concept of "applied archaeology" (the first time I had heard
the expression!) - How can we use archaeological technique to learn from the experiences of
peoples in the past things and strategies that will be of direct benefit to present-day peoples? In
particular, this discussion relates how Puleston's work on raised-field systems as viable, renewable
systems of food production for peoples in tropical wetland ecosystems.
2. Contemporary Archaeology and the Importance of Writing Skills (Module 02) (Module 02 Overview)
a. Principle 2: Diverse Interests - Descendant communities and the scientific community compete for and have
vested interests interests in the nonrenewable resources of the past.
i. Discussion - Fiction writing utilizes a popular public venue (one seldom employed by professional
archaeologists) to present grounded, accountable (with endnotes) accounts of past human life as
grounded and accountable through archaeological, ethnohistoric, ethnographic sources (with
endnotes). b. Principle 4: Ethics and Values - ". . . how archeologists conduct themselves in relation to the resources,
their data, their colleagues, and the public"
i. Discussion - The BACAB CAAS assignment personalizes those indigenous Americans who have
often been marginalized politically, economically, and socially, assisting the reader with an ability to
vicariously share the Native American ancient past.
c. Principle 5: Written and Oral Communication Skills - ". . . archaeologists must communicate their goals, results,
and their recommendations clearly and effectively. Archaeology education must incorporate frequent training and
practice in logical thinking as well as written and oral presentation. For any non-specialist audience, jargon inhibits
understanding and makes it less likely that archaeological goals will be understood and supported. An archaeologist
must be able to make a clear and convincing argument in public as well as professional contexts based on the analysis
and interpretation of relevant information."
i. Discussion - Writing accurate and archaeologically well-grounded fictional accounts of a particular
ancient place and time requires that students become familiar with, and be able to understand and
interpret the writings of professional archaeologists. There is no place for jargon in this kind of writing.
The reading public becomes familiar with an educated "best shot" at what ancient life was like.
3. Native Culture Areas - Historical Backdrop to the Discipline (Module 03) (Module 03 Overview)
a. Principle 2: Diverse Interests - Descendant communities and the scientific community compete for and have
vested interests in the nonrenewable resources of the past.
i. Discussion - This discussion focuses on the ways early museology in the United States tried to establish
that Native cultures were responses to local environmental circumstances ("food areas") and that these led
to the formation of the concept of "culture areas." Much early archaeology tended to perceive Native cultures
as if governed by natural laws, leading to environmentally-deterministic explanations. Emphases upon
assembling trait lists, description and classification - things that were useful in the life sciences of the time -
was applied to archaeological explanation, leading to a "genus-is-to-species" as "type-is-to-variety" approach -
something that contributed to a "specimenization" approach in archaeology. This emphasis upon "scientific
method" was, I contest, ultimately dehumanizing and fundamentally eliminated the valuation of the Native
perspective.
4. Setting the Environmental Scene - The Pleistocene Scene (Module 04) (Module 04 Overview)
a. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies
i. Discussion - Geological and biotic transformations that characterized the Pleistocene (i.e. glacial
advances and recessions, changes in sea level, transformations and shifting of biotic patterns) all produced
an extreme variety of environmental scenarios that posed both opportunities and threats to ancient human
beings. This approach is focused on the regions adjacent to the northern Pacific rim (i.e., both Asia, from
Southeast to Northeast, and the Americas). To better understand the circumstances attending the movement
of peoples out of the Asian continent, students are encouraged to understand the scenarios and how we have
scientifically come to develop them, and then situate human beings within those scenarios.
b. Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology must also understand the epistemological
ramifications of the discipline - how they come to know what they know about ancient peoples' life ways . . . they
understand and interpret what they encounter under the ground.""
i. Discussion - The issue of the Pleistocene extinctions is a potentially contentious one and discussion of
the phenomena open the door to a whole host of "teachable moments." The "Paul S. Martin Hypothesis"
would have a pre-human Western Hemisphere populated by a variety of Pleistocene fauna living a blissful
existence without a hint of fear of humans. Then, when Post-Pleistocene conditions give a "greening" light,
various groups of seasoned hunters descend through the Ice-Free Corridor, find animal prey having no
inherent fear of humans, and then begin their carnivorous rampage, leading to the ultimate complete
distinction of creatures like the mammoth, mastodon, and others. Ethologically (behaviorally), do we have
historical accounts of analogous events? The question needs to be raised because it does seem strange
that animals that formed herds (as probably was the case with the extinct probiscidians as well as with
Bison antiquus) tend to learn quickly about predatory threats, making hunting them more difficult.
What archaeological evidence do we have to support the Martin Hypothesis? What alternative explanations
do we have for the disappearance of Pleistocene fauna?
5. Theories on the Earliest Colonists (Module 05) (Module 05 Overview)
a. Principle 2: Diverse Interests - Descendant communities and the scientific community compete for and have
vested interests in the nonrenewable resources of the past.
i. Discussion - Anthropologists recognize that there are a multitude of "ways of knowing." This discussion
presents some of the scientific (i.e., archaeological) explanations of how and when the ancestors of the
American Indian came into the New World. At the same time, students are encouraged to be aware that
there are Native peoples who contest such explanations, preferring to offer their own accounts of how their
ancestors came to be here. Students come to realize that there are diverse interests in this regard, but that
it is not an "Indian versus archaeologist" explanation dichotomy is overly simplistic; that there is not "monolithic"
Indian explanation, but that as among archaeologists, even within the Indian community, a diversity of opinions
exist; that the question is not a trivial "science versus tradition" one. Discussions of "Kennewick Man" and
what it means to be Indian are brought up.
b. Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology must also understand the epistemological
ramifications of the discipline - how they come to know what they know about ancient peoples' life ways . . . they
understand and interpret what they encounter under the ground.""
i. Discussion 1 - Alternative routes for earliest colonization? - Until quite recently there seemed almost
an air of "political correctness" to the notion that the earliest migrants into the New World were pedestrians,
that is, that the most ancestral Native Americans came walking from Asia across the Bering Land Bridge and
then, after spending some time locked by ice and snow from moving out of Alaska, that they finally moved
down into North America via the newly-opened "Ice Free Corridor." This has always seemed a bit strange,
especially considering evidence that quite early on people were taking advantage of the ecological richness
provided by the coastal northern Pacific Rim. We also know that early East and Southeast Asians were
successfully traveling across open water to places like Australia, Okinawa and parts of the Philippines;
that they most probably were doing this as cultures already familiar with coastal travel in some kind of crafts.
Even if such early peoples had lacked water craft, it is hard to conceive of them having avoided travel along
the Pleistocene coasts, gathering shellfish, fishing, maybe occasionally hunting sea mammals - and perhaps
doing so just a bit farther along the coasts than had their parents. Even accepting that parts of the Pleistocene
coastline may have offered little land before one encountered massive mountain glaciers on their way to the
sea, still, people could have slowly worked their way north, east, and then south to what is now British
Columbia and then further south.
Happily, such scenarios are now being formally entertained and there exist examples of
archaeological testing to see if there are indications of such alternate coastal movements of peoples out of
Asia into the Americas.
ii. Discussion 2 - Monte Verde - The archaeological site of Monte Verde in Chile, while nominally
geographically outside the bounds of a class in North American archaeology, nonetheless is relevant as a site
that appears pivotal in our reassessment of the chronology of early migration into the New World. Finds
there furthermore bring into question the notion of what I often call in class the "Paleo-Macho-Carnivorous-
Big-Game Hunter." How do we integrate the notions of the Clovis hunters decimating the unwitting
Pleistocene fauna with the idea that already (around at least 12,000 B.C.) there were people living in rather
stable, albeit small, communities clear at the southern extremes of the Western Hemisphere; that they were
at that time taking advantage of a "broad spectrum" of resources - hunting and gathering for food, for
pharmacological reasons, and as well for materials to build their huts?
6. Early Arctic and Subarctic (Module 06) (Module 06 Overview)
a. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies
i. Discussion - The Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems both have presented opportunities and constraints
to ancient human cultural development. This section looks at the ancient cultural trajectories that have been
reconstructed for these broad environmental zones and then focuses in on sub-regions within them
(especially with regard to the Subarctic cultural area). That these regions were not climatologically static is
also discussed, in particular with regard to the movements of the Thule peoples in the ancient Arctic during
times of supposed global warming.
7. Early Pacific Northwest (Module 07) (Module 07 Overview)
a. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies
i. Discussion - While one might argue that there exist some environmental constraints, much of the
anthropological literature emphasizes the advantages found in the Pacific Northwest ecosystem. A
remarkable degree of sedentism developed there without true food production (i.e., without horticulture
or agriculture). That this was accompanied by a florescence in the arts, both portable and monumental,
has been attributed to the extremely benign and rich coastal and riverine ecosystems. It almost seems "inevitable,"
but this is questioned by considering analogous ecosystems in other parts of the world where similar cultural
florescences are not indicated.
b. Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology must also understand the epistemological
ramifications of the discipline - how they come to know what they know about ancient peoples' life ways . . ."
ii. Discussion - Discussion of the archaeology of the archaeology of the Pacific Northwest Coast has tended
in the past to focus on the region as part of a uniquely North American prehistory phenomena. With the
exception of Franz Boas and the Jessup North Pacific Expedition, and Chester Chard who worked in
parts of Soviet eastern Siberia, relatively little had been done to look at the northern Pacific Rim as both a
cultural staging area and as very much of a potential cultural continuum stretching from the Russian
Maritimes through the American Pacific Northwest. Research of this kind was, for the most part, a
casualty of the Cold War. A discussion of the implications of political influences of this kind upon our
archaeological epistemology provides an important historical lesson. Note, this also could easily have
been a Principle utilized in discussions of the Arctic and Subarctic areas as well. This discussion allows
students to grapple with the epistemological complexities of such archaeological questions.
8. The Plateau (Module 08) (Module 08 Overview)
a. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies
i. Discussion 1 - Defining "the Plateau" - The logic of having a distinct Plateau culture area itself can be
perceived as having adaptive strategies characteristic of it, while at the same time, the area can be described as
in many ways "mega-ecotonal" - a transitional zone between the boreal forested Western Subarctic, the coastal
and riverine Pacific Northwest, the arid Great Basin, and the grassland prairies of the Great Plains. It is bisected
by spurs of the Rocky Mountains, while at the same time, providing a communication conduit between east and
west via the Columbia River and its tributaries. Thus, to understand the life ways of indigenous peoples there,
one must consider the great complexities of environmental diversity characteristic of this area.
ii. Discussion 2 - The Geological History of the Scablands - The ferocity and magnitude of events surrounding
the draining of Glacial Lake Missoula has implications that extend far beyond understanding the geology of the
Plateau area. Had there been human witnesses, it must have appeared terrifying. Anyone who was in the lowlands
of the Columbia River basin would surely have perished. While the archaeological evidence of people having been
there is uncertain, it is proposed that people surely had been around. What would the Columbia Valley have been
like prior to this event? Surely there would have been a richness of exploitable wildlife (salmon, migratory fowl,
etc.) and I suspect the area would have been populated by successful groups of hunters and gatherers. What
would have happened to any sites located on and slightly above the river lowlands? Given the power of the flood,
surely the living areas and most of the underlying soils would have been washed out into the Pacific Ocean. I
further suspect that in the immediate aftermath of this flood, anyone coming from the north and looking down on
the Columbia Valley would have considered it a menacing wasteland - perhaps even a barrier. This discussion
presents an opportunity to consider the implications of such geological events upon landscapes and people who
may have inhabited them. It is an extreme example of the fragility of the archaeological record.
9. Prehistoric Peoples of California (Module 09) (Module 09 Overview)
a. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies
i. Discussion - While the California cultural area comprises a diversity of ecosystems (coastal, mountainous, inland
valley, etc.) much of what is discussed in this section relates to the Central Valley of California and the cultural
mosaic that characterized the area, but with a strong focus on acorn exploitation. Questions arise and are discussed
trying to understand how such an environmentally rich ecosystem could exist without the kinds of cultural complexity
that characterized other "optimum habitats" such as the Pacific Northwest and the Eastern Woodlands.
10. Peoples of the Ancient - Great Plains (Module10) (Module 10 Overview)
a. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies
i. Discussion - Understanding the emergent cultural trajectories of peoples of the Great Plains must involve
consideration of the ecological peculiarities of the immense prairie grasslands of the American Midwest.
Understanding the opportunity-to-constraint spectrum involves looking at how differing adaptive strategies have
been applied over time. Mobile bands of hunters tend to adapt well to grassland environments. Prairie grasslands
have proven difficult for horticulturalists, especially those using hoes tipped with bison scapula? Throughout the
world, agricultural exploitation of grassland ecosystems has been constrained until the invention of the steel-tipped
plow. Archaeologically, sedentary communities existed, but tended to locate in wooded riverine valleys, where soils
could be worked with horticultural implements. River systems, as "ribbons" of woodlands, furthermore provided
conduits for exchange of materials and ideologies that archaeologically link disparate cultures from the western Great
Plains to the Hopewell heartland of the east. b. Principle 2: Diverse Interests - Descendant communities and the scientific community compete for and have
vested interests
i. Discussion - Stereotypes abound in popular culture about what the cultures of the Great Plains were like. The
most characteristic "pop culture" icon of the American Indian shows a "warrior" ("brave" or "chief") wearing a "war
bonnet" astride a horse. Most people have no idea that the origins of their popular icon is relatively recent and that
the cultural trajectories of modern Indian peoples there are quite complex; that the horse was not always present;
and that many of the ancestral peoples to modern American Indians were farmers living in settled villages raising
crops. Using the archaeological record from Pleistocene to recent times to dispel such stereotypes is a major
mandate of this part of this class.
11. Oneota - Midwestern Mississippian (Module 11) (Module 11 Overview)
a. Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology must also understand the epistemological
ramifications of the discipline - how they come to know what they know about ancient peoples' life ways . . ."
i. Discussion - Discussion of the archaeology of the Oneota presents opportunities to question the premise of using
culture areas as ways of organizing discussions of prehistory. In this section what is archaeologically known of
what we call Oneota is presented. Where do they fit? Should they be discussed under "Great Plains archaeology"
or under the "Eastern Woodlands?" Do they constitute an "intrusive" culture (a northern and western extension of
Mississippian life ways), or are they Woodlands (or Plains?) people trying to emulate the life styles of Mississippian
peoples? Perhaps they are Woodland Culture peoples who acquired (or who were forced to have) Mississippian
elites? This discussion allows students to grapple with the epistemological complexities of such archaeological
questions.
12. Eastern Woodlands - Northeastern Archaic Cultures (Module 12A) (Module 12A Overview)
a. Principle 2: Diverse Interests - Descendant communities and the scientific community compete for and have
vested interests
i. Discussion - With reference to the "Red Paint People" - Perhaps the origin of the Euro-American notion of the
"red man" comes from early contacts with groups like the Beothuk, one of many who sometimes employed red
ochre in body painting. Because of the presence of red ochre use by roughly contemporaneous cultures in western
Europe, this has led some to suggest that there may have been some form of early European involvement in the
region. What is the evidence, pro and con? What kinds of implications would there be for identity issues for the
Native American descendent communities?
b. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies
i. Discussion - The resource richness of the natural environment of Eastern Woodlands has been described as an
essential factor in understanding the dynamics of early emergence of "successful" sedentary hunting-and-gathering
societies there (some referring to the Eastern Archaic in terms of their having been "professional-hunter/gatherers-
in-forests"). Of particular relevance is the discussion of places like the Boyleston Fish Weir site, where
archaeological evidence of systematic sophisticated harvesting of river fish is indicated. In this discussion of the
Archaic, concepts such as "Primary Forest Efficiency" are introduced along with an understanding of the complexities
of the "Mast System" of resources and associated exploitive strategies.
c. Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology must also understand the epistemological
ramifications of the discipline - how they come to know what they know about ancient peoples' life ways . . ."
i. Discussion - With reference to the "Mast System" - Students are presented with the epistemological
quandary of trying to explain why some Woodland sites (not only Archaic ones) have remarkably high frequencies
of squirrel bones in archaeological middens. Energetic cost/benefit analysis would suggest that the energy
harvested per squirrel is less than what would be expended hunting them. Is it possible that squirrels were seen
as something to hunt because they also competed with humans who were harvesting nuts?
13. Eastern Woodlands - Early Woodland Through the Adena (Module 12B) (Module 12B Overview)
a. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies
i. Discussion - Following from the discussions of the Woodland Archaic, the dynamics of early emergence of
increasingly complex sedentary hunting-and-gathering societies is presented, with special reference to traditional
foraging subsistence strategies, now beginning to be augmented by the presence of some cultigens.
b. Principle 4: Ethics and Values - ". . . how archeologists conduct themselves in relation to the resources, their data, their
colleagues, and the public"
i. Discussion - Discussion blends in concepts that archaeological sources for information on much of what we
interpret about the Adena belief system is derived from excavations of burials. The ethics are complex. If it was
only now that we were looking at Adena sites for the first time, we would most likely not be able to excavate
burials there. We would not know about much of their art and iconography and thus, would not be able to make
the kinds of interpretive leaps that together have resulted in our understanding of what was involved in the
"Adena Cult." Note, this is not a question unique to Adena archaeology, but to much of the early archaeology
done in North America. With respect to the Adena, who might their descendent communities be? Discussions
often follow concerning how this is, or is not, analogous to situations in other countries. My work in Mexico and
Honduras suggests that it may not be.
c. Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology must also understand the epistemological
ramifications of the discipline - how they come to know what they know about ancient peoples' life ways . . ."
i. Discussion - With reference to the implications of the use of terms like "style," "cult," and "culture," part of this
discussion revolves around questioning their use in archaeological interpretation. What does it mean archaeologically
when a considerable geographical area exhibits stylistic and technological commonalities? Does that mean that we
should talk of a particular "culture?" How might the above discussion relate to our understanding - our
epistemology - of the "Adena Cult?"
14. Eastern Woodlands - Middle and Late Woodland Cultures the Hopewell (Module 12C) (Module 12C Overview)
a. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies
i. Discussion - Middle and Late Woodland times witnessed an explosion of activity, ranging from the construction
of monumental geometric earthworks to the fashioning of small delicate artifacts of stone, clay, mica, shell, and
so forth. As of yet, there is no evidence suggesting that monumental mound builders such as the Hopewell were
dependent upon crops. The absence of indicators for a reliance upon domesticates has suggested that the
Hopewell provide us with yet another, quite dramatic example of an "intensive-foraging society" that had successfully
adapted to their "optimum habitat" exhibiting what Joseph Caldwell referred to as an example of "Primary Forest
Efficiency." This is not the first instance of this idea being put forth in this class (see also discussions of the Pacific
Northwest, Poverty Point, and the Archaic and Early Woodland periods in the Eastern Woodlands). Yet here, the
scale and magnitude of earth-moving activities goes beyond earlier examples.
b. Principle 4: Ethics and Values - ". . . how archeologists conduct themselves in relation to the resources, their data,
their colleagues, and the public"
i. Discussion - As with the Adena, discussion here blends in concepts that archaeological sources for information
on much of what we interpret about the Hopewell belief system is derived from excavations of burials. The
ethics are complex. If it was only now that we were looking at Hopewell sites for the first time, we would
most likely not be able to excavate burials there. We would not know about much of their art and iconography
and thus, would not be able to make the kinds of interpretive leaps that together have resulted in our understanding
of what was involved in the "Hopewell Cult."
c. Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology must also understand the epistemological
ramifications of the discipline - how they come to know what they know about ancient peoples' life ways . . ."
i. Discussion 1 - The "Hopewell Cult" - With reference to the implications of the use of terms like "style," "cult,"
and "culture," part of this discussion revolves around questioning their use in archaeological interpretation. What
does it mean archaeologically when a considerable geographical area exhibits stylistic and technological
commonalities? Does that mean that we should talk of a particular "culture?" How might the above discussion
relate to our understanding - our epistemology - of the "Hopewell Cult?" In this case, what might be the
implications of talking instead about a "Hopewell Interaction Sphere?"
ii. Discussion 2 - Hopewell Exchange - This discussion returns to the deconstruction of the concept of Culture
Area. With the Hopewell, we have evidence of considerable long-distance trading in both resources and
fashioned artifacts. What does this mean archaeologically? What is the nature of the evidence for this
trade (i.e., examples)?
15. Eastern Woodlands - Later Peoples Peoples of the Long House and Wigwam (Module 12D) (Module 12D Overview)
a. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies
i. Discussion - From the Late Woodland into the Protohistoric period there exists evidence for increasing
dependence upon crops. Much of what was learned by Native peoples in the area was applied to
horticultural adaptive strategies later by Europeans.
b. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The history and role of warfare in relation to politics, economy, and other
historical circumstances
i. Discussion - There are indications of trends toward increasing population densities in Late Woodland
into Protohistoric times. There also appears to be a marked locational preference for defensible
locations as well as stockaded villages from Ohio (Fort Ancient) through the Northeast (Owasco).
What is the relationship between population growth, increased emphasis upon crop raising, and the
archaeological indicators suggestive of increasing insecurity?
c. Principle 4: Ethics and Values - ". . . how archeologists conduct themselves in relation to the resources, their data,
their colleagues, and the public"
i. Discussion - There are archaeological indicators suggesting that one crop, tobacco - a plant long-known
as a significant part in socio-religious occasions - was becoming increasingly utilized in the Protohistoric
Northeast. Increasing numbers of pipes may indicate a "secularization of smoking" that contributed to
its widespread "recreational" use in later times. This is presented as information, but is also provided as
a way of considering how paleoanthropologists might have something to say about osteological and
otherwise indicators of the effects of smoking on aboriginal populations.
16. Southeastern Woodlands - the Archaic Poverty Point (Module 13A) (Module 13A Overview)
a. Principle 2: Diverse Interests - Descendant communities and the scientific community compete for and have
vested interests
i. Discussion - With reference to the local development of "great traditions" (in this case leading ultimately
toward the Mississippian Tradition), there exist differing views about the early development of cultural
trajectories leading to later Mississippian developments. North American archaeologists often find
themselves in a situation where they are expected to acknowledge the primacy of Mesoamerica
(and sometimes even South America) as the source of cultural and technological "breakthroughs." These
would include such things as: (1) pottery (from northern South America), (2) cultigens such as maize,
beans, and squash (Mesoamerica), (3) cults (the iconography and temple forms of the later "Southeastern
Ceremonial Complex"-the Southern Death Cult" often seen as originating in Mesoamerica, etc.
Poverty Point, in particular, has been represented as possibly having been stimulated by the Olmec of the
Mesoamerican Formative period. Both Poverty Point and the Olmec existed at roughly the same time.
Both cultures produced monumental earthworks. What other similarities exist? What are the
dissimilarities? What are the arguments, and what are their pros and cons? What are the implications for
descendent communities of Native Peoples today in the Southeast if their distant past traditions are
portrayed as having played a passive cultural role - as recipients of cultural stimuli originating outside
of their homeland?
b. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies
i. Discussion 1 - Poverty Point as an example of "Primary Forest Efficiency - The archaeological
evidence of Poverty Point culture suggests a remarkable ecological "fit" with the Southeastern
Woodland natural environment. Often it has been assumed that the presence of such large-scale
constructions indicates a society whose nutritional needs were underwritten by the presence of,
and primary reliance upon, domesticated crops. Poverty Point people seems to not have sustained
themselves by raising crops (even though there are indications that some cultigens were at least known).
ii. Discussion 2 - "Poverty Point Objects" - The grandiose, but without stone? - Much has been said
about the uniquely-Poverty Point clay objects that have come to be referred to as "Poverty Point
Objects." Showing evidence of possible reheating, some have suggested that, in the absence of
readily-available stones, they were heated in fires and then employed in cooking as a sort of surrogate
"stone boiler." Others suggest that they may have been more ornamental. Much of these kinds of
discussions have related to the geological parameters characteristic of this locality. What are the
arguments, and what are their pros and cons?
c. Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology must also understand the epistemological
ramifications of the discipline - how they come to know what they know about ancient peoples' life ways . . ."
(Note, this also applies to Principle 3: Social Relevance - The history of cities and urban life)
i. Discussion - As with the Archaic in other parts of the entire Eastern Woodlands area, this period also
sees a remarkable series of cultural developments, with Poverty Point being one of the most striking!
While as yet there are no archaeological indicators of urbanism associated with this site, the presence
of such geometrically well-coordinated, large-scale, "public works" such as are found at Poverty Point
have often been used to suggest the presence of cultural complexity. It is precisely the concept of
"cultural complexity" that can be discussed vis-˜-vis what we know about Poverty Point. Are there
"necessary" concomitants to evidence of the results of such coordinated human constructions?
Surely, one cannot help but be impressed by the sheer size of the earthworks; their remarkable design
and symmetry; and the probability that at least one function of them reflected a sophisticated
understanding of astronomy! What are the paleodemographic implications of such kinds of massive
landscape modifications? How can they be "translated" into human effort (i.e. human "work hours,"
kilocalories expended, etc.)? When we look comparatively at Poverty Point and cultures from other
areas, can we generalize about the cultural implications of similar construction projects? Do such
analogous constructions imply high population densities? Are towns, villages, and perhaps cities
associated with them? In short, Poverty Point provides a "springboard" into "teachable moments"
relative to such questions.
17. Southeastern Woodlands - the Sedentary Period Marksville (Module 13B) (Module 13B Overview)
a. Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology must also understand the epistemological
ramifications of the discipline - how they come to know what they know about ancient peoples' life ways . . ."
i. Discussion 1 - Sites such as Marksville present opportunities for a variety of archaeological interpretations.
Marksville, in particular, is a site that allows us to debate issues related to whether or not this site
represents an intrusion by Hopewellian culture into the ancient Southeast. Marksville exhibits some of
the site organizational features of "classic" Hopewell sites as found in Ohio (linear mounds, mounds
enclosing central spaces, etc.). At the same time, there are flat-topped mounds that appear as if
anticipating the later Mississippian temple mounds. It is known that some of the "exotics" found at
northern Hopewell sites came from the Gulf of Mexico area and places such as Marksville may
therefore been a part of some greater "Hopewell Interaction Sphere" as well. Some have furthermore
suggested that the decline of the Hopewell in the north was systemically related to the decline of
"Hopewell-esque" sites such as Marksville. Others see Marksville as more of a local florescence
with its relationships to the northern Hopewell as relatively insignificant. Marksville poses such
interesting archaeological questions. What are the arguments for and against Marksville having
been integral to, or separate from, events and dynamics in the Hopewell heartland? What are their
pros and cons?
ii. Discussion 2 - There exists some disagreement about the origins of the Mississippian culture that follows
the Sedentary Period. Some would argue that the presence of truncated pyramids, albeit of earth, arranged
around open plazas; the increasing emphasis upon social ranking; and the iconography surrounding what has
been called the "Southeastern Ceremonial Complex," as well as a maize-centered agricultural base — all
is suggestive of profound cultural influences emanating from Mesoamerica. Others see the Southeastern
cultural trajectory as more purely "autochthonous" —with sufficient archaeological evidence right within the
Southeastern Woodland cultures, especially within those of the Sedentary Period (i.e., increasing population
growth with status differentiation, monumental earthworks, cultigens present, etc.) — sufficient to provide
cultural "precedent" for subsequent Mississippian cultural developments. What is the nature of the
archaeological evidence pro and con for suggesting either autochthonous or external (Mesoamerican)
cultural stimulus?
18. Southeastern Woodlands - Mississippian Late Prehistoric Cultural Developments (Module 13C)
(Module 13C Overview)
a. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies (Note,
both Discussion 1 and 2 also apply to Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology
must also understand the epistemological ramifications of the discipline - how they come to know what
they know about ancient peoples' life ways . . .")
i. Discussion 1 - Mississippian culture as a classic food-producing society - With the emergence
of the Mississippian cultural tradition, we are provided with an example of a society now increasingly
dependent upon crop management. What do we know about the kinds of cultigens raised by ancient
Mississippian peoples? What were the agricultural practices that they employed? What kinds of
technologies were available for crop management, harvesting, storage, and subsequent culinary processing?
ii. Discussion 2 - Mississippian culture as responsive to climatic change? - For the most part
food-producing societies tend to exhibit a "narrow-spectrum approach" usually with a fairly short list of
primary cultigens that they depend upon. Dependence upon horticulture or agriculture involves strategic
scheduling tied to the predictability of the annual round. Climatically, when what is considered as
predictable and "normal" becomes in doubt, this is of great concern to agriculturalists who are often the
most vulnerable to such changes. Archaeologically, we can trace the trajectories of Mississippian rise,
florescence, and decline. We can understand the dynamic variables for such changes as being considerable
(invasion, pathological, cultural trends, etc.). Focusing on climatic change, what would one expect that
would make Mississippian adaptive strategies most vulnerable? If climatic change had played some part
in Mississippian florescence and/or decline, what kinds of evidence would one expect?
b. Principle 3: Social Relevance - the history of cities and urban life
i. Discussion - Many would argue that with the emergence of the Mississippian cultural tradition, ancient
North America witnesses one of its greatest achievements in cultural complexity. One finds repeated
examples of monumental architecture in the form of truncated, flat-topped earthen pyramids that were
platforms for structures. Often these are arranged around large, open plazas. One finds evidence of
sizeable populations, in some instances grouped in densities that were undeniably "urban" in character.
They were sustained primarily by agriculture, involving their domestication of the "holy triumvirate" of
maize, beans, and squash, as well as additional local domesticates. Social stratification archaeologically
is clearly present in the form of elaborate burials, complete with large quantities of finely-crafted objects
as well as in some cases, retainers. Social distinction is also indicated ethnohistorically, as is attested by
the use of comparative terminology like "Suns" and "Stinkards" by early French visitors in the Southeast.
c. Principle 4: Ethics and Values - ". . . how archeologists conduct themselves in relation to the resources, their
data, their colleagues, and the public"
i. Discussion - Just as with discussions of our archaeological interpretations of ancient belief systems in
other cultures in ancient North America, much of what we understand about Mississippian social hierarchy
and belief is derived from the excavation of burials. As such, the ethics are complex. If it was only now
that we were looking at Mississippian sites for the first time, we would most likely not be able to excavate
burials there. We would not be in a position to talk about powerful elites - their rich inventories of finely-
crafted objects that were placed with them; the presence of retainers whose lives were sacrificed so that
they could accompany them in death. Following the same line of inquiry, we would not be able to compare
Mississippian culture with that of ancient Shang China or ancient Ur of the Chaldees. We would not know
about much of their art and iconography and thus, would not be able to make the kinds of interpretive
leaps that together have resulted in our understanding of what was involved in the "Southeastern Ceremonial
Complex" - the "Southern Cult." At the same time, the very fact that these tombs have been excavated is
viewed as acts of desecration by communities of Native Americans claiming ancestral ties and prerogatives.
d. Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology must also understand the epistemological
ramifications of the discipline - how they come to know what they know about ancient peoples' life ways . . ."
(Note this discussion also dovetails with: Principle 1: Stewardship - "We are stewards, not plunderers, of the legacies
of ancient people" and the implications of NAGPRA.)
i. Discussion - When people first learn about Mississippian culture, what do they find as most impressive?
Clearly, anyone who has visited a cleared Mississippian site, complete with the grass having been mowed
and with its own interpretive visitor's center, one is first impressed by the scale of and organization of its
mounds, and then often by the skill and artistry represented in the objects displayed. Much of the art and
iconography that grabs public fascination has come from the excavation of burials. What is the
archaeological epistemology of Mississippian culture? What would our archaeological knowledge of ancient
Mississippian culture have been if NAGPRA had been national legislation beginning in the 1920s?
Discussion of this topic must be managed with great sensitivity, otherwise it becomes easy to
"blame" American Indian descendent communities for wanting to withhold knowledge; to obstruct scientific
inquiry. Discussion should seek avoiding an "either-or" conclusion with an "us-versus-them" tone. Had
NAGPRA been present earlier in the twentieth century, how might collaboration have developed in other
ways? Note that this kind of discussion need not be limited to Mississippian culture alone.
19. Southeastern Woodlands - Mississippian Cahokia Late Prehistoric Metropolis on the Mississippi (Module 13D)
(Module 13D Overview)
a. Principle 2: Diverse Interest - "We should not only think of "the Past," but recognize that there are many;
that they reflect a varied cultural constituency."
i. Discussion - Alternative "culturally-sensitive" understandings of Cahokia's "Woodhenge" -
The scale of Cahokia, relative to other sites in ancient North America, sets it apart. It seems logical that it
must have served multiple functions, with it's having been a ritual center as one of them. How might ancient
people in the area have thought about the "Woodhenges?" "We," in the scientific tradition, have tended
to use a comparative approach, noting certain formal similarities between the large, circular arrays of what
must have been wooden upright poles and the circular arrangement of stones in Megalithic England - the
famous Stonehenge. The alleged ritual/astronomical function of Stonehenge has been suggested as a viable
analog to what people in ancient Cahokia might have had in mind for their woodhenges. Even the use of
the word "henge" implies a Eurocentric interpretation. In this class, instead of only looking at the
astronomical interpretation, we consider other more local cultural analogs. Are there traditional, American
Indian, ritual structures right here in North America that involve circular patterns of wooden uprights?
What are the linguistic affiliations of those who employ them today? What might have characterized the
linguistic mosaic in the area of the Mississippi Bottoms in ancient times? We discuss these things and
consider the pros and cons of the idea that the Woodhenges of Cahokia might have been, albeit on a
"mega-scale," Sun Dance circles.
b. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies (also applies directly
to Principle 3: Social Relevance - the history of cities and urban life)
i. Discussion 1 - Supporting an ancient city in the Mississippi Bottoms - The site of Cahokia provides
a case study of a foremost Mississippian center. As it appears to be the largest urban site in ancient
North America, with a population peak having been possibly as high as ten thousand people, we consider
this site in relation to the ecological parameters characteristic of the nearby Mississippi Bottoms area.
What would have been the resources available to the ancient people of Cahokia? In particular, what are
those resources that would have been of direct relevance to meeting the needs of such a populous food-
producing society?
ii. Discussion 2 - Cahokia's florescence: Locational geographic considerations - Locational geographers
have developed ways to looking at landscapes as being sources of particular kinds of exploitable resources,
but also as exhibiting landscape features and patterning that can play an active part in how communities
develop within them. To a locational geographer, the fact that the Mississippi Bottoms came to, and
continues to be, a nexus of trade and communication comes as no surprise. How can we look "locationally"
at the Cahokia area? What can we say "strategically" about why the region would have been a preferred
one? How can terms like "central place" and "site catchment" be applied to such discussions?
c. Principle 5: Written and Oral Communication Skills - ". . . archaeologists must communicate their goals, results,
and their recommendations clearly and effectively. Archaeology education must incorporate frequent training and
practice in logical thinking as well as written and oral presentation. For any non-specialist audience, jargon inhibits
understanding and makes it less likely that archaeological goals will be understood and supported. An archaeologist
must be able to make a clear and convincing argument in public as well as professional contexts based on the
analysis and interpretation of relevant information."
i. Discussion - Students in North American Archaeology were required to have read a fictional narrative
account presenting ancient Mississippian life and times. For this class, the book chosen was
People of the River by Michael and Kathleen O'Neil Gear (1992, Tor, New York). In the past, students
have read another book focusing on Cahokia, Cricket Sings: A Novel of Pre-Columbian Cahokia
by Kathleen King (1983, Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio) as well as the novel about the greater
Southeast, Tatham Mound by Piers Anthony (1991, Avon Books, New York). In this class, we critically
consider such works of fiction as forms of media that present reconstructions of ancient life ways - a task
that us usually left to archaeologists. Based upon our archaeological understanding, how accurate are
such accounts? How much archaeologically-grounded detail is presented? If you were an American Indian
person, how would you feel about how your ancestors were portrayed? What kinds of lessons can you
learn from reading such accounts - lessons for what kinds of things to avoid as well as include in your
own writing of representational creative "historical fiction?"
20. Prehistoric Peoples of the Great Basin (Module 14) (Module 14 Overview)
a. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies
i. Discussion - Julian Steward gave us his classic study of the Shoshone culture as exhibiting
a remarkable "ecological fit" within the environmental parameters of the Great Basin. For him, cultures
were the way they were because culture itself was primarily an adaptive process. Following Steward's
argument, the environmental conditions of the Great Basin could have provided a sort of "ceiling" for
cultural complexity, provided such conditions persisted over time. What then, do we do with the
Fremont Culture? Historical Particularists could explain the "Fremont Interlude" as resulting from the
diffusion of cultural elements from the nearby Anasazi lands of the Southwest. This kind of approach
seems overly fortuitous and overly-simplistic. One response is to consider the dynamic interplay
between local Great Basin cultures and climatic modifications that lead to increasingly moister
conditions for the area. In this class we discuss the nature of the evidence for climatic change in the
Great Basin and its reconstructed history. We then look at the chronological match between moister,
more benign conditions (for agriculture) that appear to have prevailed during Fremont times. Is this
an example of environmental determinism, for environmental possibilism? Students are encouraged
to weigh the pros and cons of this argument.
21. Southwest Region - Archaic (Module 15A) (Module 15A Overview)
a. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies
i. Discussion - In ecological terms, the environmental history of the Southwest develops in similar ways
to that found in the Great Basin. During Pleistocene times the area was generally moister than at
present times. The Post-Pleistocene period was ecologically one whereby the present, more-arid
environmental parameters came to predominate in the region. The Archaic in the Southwest, as with
the other "archaics" elsewhere in the Americas, was a period of gradual, incremental adjustment to
current climate and biota. Some would see the Archaic in the Southwest as a period when we
begin to more clearly archaeologically discern the emergence of local cultural traditions - as with
what some say about the Formative period in Mesoamerica - when the Southwest "identifies itself."
What are the indicators of an emergent distinct Southwestern Tradition? Just how does this process
occur in the Southwest? How is our understanding of these processes enhanced by our knowledge
of the paleoecology of the region?
22. Southwest Region - The Hohokam (Module 15B) (Module 15B Overview)
a. Principle 2: Diverse Interests - Descendant communities and the scientific community compete for and
have vested interests (Note, this also applies to Principle 4: Ethics and Values - ". . . how archeologists
conduct themselves in relation to the resources, their data, their colleagues, and the public")
i. Discussion - One unanticipated outcome of showing the film Snaketown is that it highlights the
structural hierarchical relationships between the primarily white archaeological staff and their
primarily Pima and Papago labor force. While it seems clear that Emil Haury has a deep affection
for those working for him, symbols of cultural distance and ranking abound in the film. This is
evident in the old and tattered clothing of the work force as compared with the that worn by the
professional archaeologists. A special ceremony establishing Snaketown's being placed on the
National Registry is preceded by paychecks being issued from an almost podium-like table.
The U.S. military comes in on a military helicopter. Praise is offered to the gathered descendent
community because of their having produced a World War II hero. Virtually nothing is said to
praise them, and their ancestors, for having created the ancient Hohokam structures and art
portrayed earlier in the film. I, for one, could not help but wonder how a modern Pima or Papago
person would feel watching a film like this. This film therefore does provide an insight into the how
such media presentations can produce quite different alternate messages to varied constituencies.
b. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies
i. Discussion - When one thinks of the Hohokam one thinks of the desert and of the presence of
a vast system of irrigation canals. The Hohokam constitute one of the most "hydraulic" of cultures
in ancient North America. At this point in this class it seems appropriate to bring up the
discussion of Karl Wittfogel and his interpretations of the unique "socio-genic" features of humans
in arid environments. For Wittfogel, such human-land relationships lead toward the emergence
of "hydraulic societies" eventually characterized by autocratic and despotic forms of government.
Is this the case for the Hohokam? The archaeological evidence suggests otherwise, at least for
this case. In fact, we have relatively little to suggest the exercise of autocratic, despotic power
in ancient Hohokam times. We do, however, have evidence of a culture that appears to have
been "successful" in the sense that it was able to sustain numerous communities within an area
that, without being underwritten by modern infrastructural support, appears hostile to human
settlement. Furthermore, we have archaeological evidence that the Hohokam, and their cultural
relatives, the Trincheras people, came to intensively modify their landscape with canals in the
lowlands and hill-slope terracing in adjacent upland areas. We see evidence of pulsations in
settlement and land use over time. Eventually, we see the disappearance of the archaeological
Hohokam, being replaced by a more "Archaic," less-infrastructurally-intensive form of
adaptation as characterized by Ootam descendent communities (the Pima and Papago peoples).
What do we know of the nature of the ancient environments of the Hohokam homeland?
How has the region changed ecologically? What might account for the changes in subsistence
strategies over time?
c. Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology must also understand the epistemological
ramifications of the discipline - how they come to know what they know about ancient peoples' life ways . . ."
i. Discussion - The Hohokam and Mesoamerica? - During discussion of the Hohokam the
film Snaketown is shown. The primary purpose of showing it is to provide students with a sense of
the layout and stratigraphic complexity of this major Hohokam settlement, as well as to give them a
sense of general Hohokam cultural trajectory as seen in changing artifact form, design, and decoration.
An unintended outcome of showing the film has been that the film itself is an "artifact" - representative
of a particular time in the history of North American archaeology. We hear repeated references to the
appearance of traits whose origins were in Mexico and, as one whose specialty has been Mesoamerican
archaeology, I have found such references often problematic. The mounds of Snaketown are described
as being inspired from Mesoamerican cultures, but I see little formally or functionally that looks
Mesoamerican in them. They are not truncated platforms and I know of no evidence of their having
had temples on their summits. Some of the small stone sculptures shown in the film also would be
quite alien in a Mesoamerican collection. At the same time, one cannot deny the Mesoamerican
inspiration for the ball courts, the latex balls themselves, and assumably, the game that employed them.
This film, as much the historical document that it is, provides a springboard to entertain a variety of
questions. What precisely could, and should not, be considered "Mesoamerican" in the Hohokam area?
23. Southwest Region - The Mogollon and Mimbres (Module 15C) (Module 15C Overview)
a. Principle 1: Stewardship - "We are stewards, not plunderers, of the legacies of ancient people."
i. Discussion - Mimbres Culture is perhaps most widely-known outside of the archeological community
because of its beautiful ceramics bearing narrative design. Sadly, this contributes to the commodization
of such objects in the antiquities market. This demand has led to the looting and pillaging of archaeological
sites in the Mimbres area. This provides one bit of "common ground" between archaeologists and the
Native American community - both want the wanton destruction of Mimbres sites stopped.
b. Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology must also understand the epistemological
ramifications of the discipline - how they come to know what they know about ancient peoples' life ways . . .
understanding the basic skills archaeologists employ . . ."
i. Discussion - Source analysis and the turquoise trade - What do we know archaeologically about
the turquoise trade? We know quite a bit because we know the geological spectrographic "signature"
for various naturally-occurring sources of turquoise. We also have turquoise that is found in geographically-
disparate archaeological contexts. Put the two together and we can analyze a turquoise artifact from, say
ChichÁn Itz– in the Northern Maya Lowlands, and then determine where it came from. We know that there
were turquoise "consumers" from as far away as distant Yucat–n; that it was highly valued in the Mexican
Highlands; and that it was also prized in much of the American Southwest. We also know that there were
a number of turquoise sources in the area adjacent to the Mimbres region. In particular, we can now point
to one location, the Cerillos Mine near Chaco Canyon, as a major source of turquoise; that its mineralogical
"signature" is identifiable; and that Cerillos Mine turquoise made it as far as the Maya area. Discussions
such as this bring home to students the importance of the diversity of disciplines that are relevant to
answering basic archaeological questions.
c. Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology must also understand the epistemological
ramifications of the discipline - how they come to know what they know about ancient peoples' life ways . . . they
understand and interpret what they encounter under the ground."
i. Discussion - The socio-cultural implications of the turquoise trade - Given archaeological indicators of
substantial, long-distance trade in the particular commodity, turquoise, what does it "mean?" Within the
social sciences there exists a considerable body of literature on "trade" and "exchange." It is a convenient
preoccupation for archaeologists because it is one thing that we can document. We also have a host of
cross-cultural examples of exchange systems to look at as models to help us explain particular resource
and product spatial distribution patterns. Such models have often been used to explain how trade has
played an active part in ancient cultural dynamics and trajectories. We also live within our own current
economic systems and I feel, even for culturally relative anthropologists, we often find it difficult to
"think outside the box."
In this section of the class we discuss the pros and cons of the hypothesis that the turquoise
trade somehow stimulated the Mogollon peoples, in particular the Mimbres, leading toward their
florescence - the "Classic Mimbres Phase." Basically, we see archaeological evidence for a number of
synchronicities. Increased trade in turquoise is co-incident with: population growth, increased amounts
of architecture - general tendencies toward "cultural complexity." This is not only true in the Mimbres
area but also in the nearby Anasazi areas of the San Juan drainage. The question now becomes, what is
the relationship between these factors? Does the turquoise trade somehow "enrich" the peoples and
cultures of the area? Did the Mimbres play a key economic role as a primary trading intermediary
between the Anasazi turquoise source and eventual markets to the south in Mesoamerica. Do we see
an example of trade stimulating culture? It all sounds so correct! After all, today many would see one
way to stimulate a "depressed" economy is to stimulate trade there (i.e., a rationale for "Most-Favored"
status, the creation of "Special Zones" as in south China, the establishment of "Duty-Free" zones, and so
forth). In this class we consider how such logic works in the absence of cash economies. What might
that tell us about trying to understand the potential impact (or lack thereof) of trade in the ancient
American Southwest?
24. Southwest Region - The Anasazi (Module 15D) (Module 15D Overview)
a. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The role of environment on the development of past societies
i. Discussion - When one thinks of the American Southwest one often first imagines scenes in old
"Westerns" filmed in Monument Valley, or perhaps of a Navajo family herding sheep in Canyon de
Chelly. Those with an archaeological bent might think first of the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde.
Usually popular images will acknowledge the aridity of the region, often describing the area as the
"Desert Southwest." Such images, while true, are not completely so, and we must recognize that
there exists considerable environmental diversity there. While in many places it can get quite hot and
dry in the summer, many of us now have already linguistically internalized the concept of the
"Southwestern Monsoon" with its welcome rains. Furthermore, we now realize that the climatic, and
biotic, histories of the Southwest are complex; that once water lapped upon what are now dry lake
bed rocky playas. Increasingly, we look to paleoclimatic reconstruction to assist us in understanding
the complex cultural trajectories revealed in the archaeological record. In particular, many have
suggested that the cultural developments in the San Juan drainage, culminating in the florescence
referred to as the "Chaco Phenomena," can in part be better understood if we scrutinize landscape
details such as soil characteristics, relative slope, resource distribution and how this can be interpreted
relative to site catchment, etc. We see here too the existence of synchronicities linking climatic change
variables with population growth and densities, and overall trending toward cultural complexity. As
with the case for the Fremont Culture of the Great Basin, it is hard to ignore that the apparent cultural
florescence in places like Chaco Canyon was chronologically co-incident with a period of increased
precipitation for the area. Likewise, it is hard to eliminate the subsequent drought as having played a
part in the eventual denouement of that culture. In this class we discuss the human/land relationships
as we understand them, as well as the possible dynamic relationships between cultural and climatic
change, while at the same time trying to avoid the pitfalls of environmental determinism.
b. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The history of cities and urban life
i. Discussion - With the ninth century emergence of the "townships" along the Chaco Wash - the
"Chaco Phenomena" - we see yet another variation on the theme of urban genesis in ancient North
America. Paleodemographic reconstructions may vary in reconstructing exact populations for particular
sites, but we do see some clear evidence of increasing regional population size and social complexity.
We see the emergence of numerous large masonry architectural complexes composed of contiguous
rooms. We see the proliferation and increasing monumentality of ritual structures - kivas - tightly
integrated into communities. Along with numerous residential rooms, we see evidence of a concern
for storage of commodities as well. On a broader landscape scale, the numerous "roads" that criss-
cross the San Juan Basin provide suggestive evidence of increasing political integration on a regional
scale, perhaps with some kind of managerial group now able to siphon off resources from productive
areas to other parts needing them. We also see evidence of long-distance commerce, with commodities
such as turquoise being exported as far away as Mesoamerica; with copper bells and ocean shells being
imported from distant Sinaloa on the coast of the Sea of CortÁz.
What we do not see is also interesting! Cooperative work is evident, but we do not see
evidence of the emergence of particular elites. Unlike what one finds in Mesoamerica, the Northwest,
or the Southeast, nowhere do we find evidence of the concentration of privilege - no palaces, no
"cults of personality," no "royal" tombs.
The questions are complex. What factors can account for incipient "urban genesis" in the
Anasazi area? To what extent can trade be considered a stimulating factor (see "The socio-cultural
implications of the turquoise trade" under the discussions on the Mogollon and Mimbres)? How might
trends toward urbanism there have reflected climatic moderations beginning in the ninth century?
Furthermore, how might the Chacoans have perhaps over-extended themselves to not have been able
to "weather" subsequent climatic deterioration? What did they do right? What did they do wrong?
c. Principle 3: Social Relevance - The history and role of warfare in relation to politics, economy, and
other historical circumstances
i. Discussion - When we look comparatively at a number of the world's great civilizations, one is
struck by the evidence of warfare as an instrument of political consolidation. We see indicators of
warfare in a number of ways: iconographic representations of warriors, warrior deities, and combat.
We see direct archaeological evidence in the form of the tools of war: protective gear, javelins,
atl atls, bows and arrows, etc. We also see the infrastructure related to war: fortifications (or at
least a preference for defensible locations), garrisons, road systems (note some examples of these:
the Inca "highways,"the Roman roads, even Eisenhower's interstates). We see celebratory evidence
in the form of captured "booty," trophy heads, skull racks, etc.
Do we see such evidence of warfare in the Anasazi area? While potentially projectile
points could have been used for interpersonal aggression, absent in the Chacoan region are clear
indications of such massive conflicts. This does change radically in the period A.D. 1100-1300 when
we see communities reestablished in clearly defensible locations - the period of the Cliff Dwellers.
We also recently have become aware of instances of cannibalism in the Southwest - a disturbing note!
Clearly, we have evidence of the perceptual transformation of the Southwestern landscape from one
of security to insecurity in the centuries beginning around the twelfth century.
What can account for such transformations? To what extent might the climatic deterioration
following the Chaco Phenomena have resulted in demographic shifts within the Greater Southwest
(and beyond)? It should be noted that global climatic change results in a diversity of local climatic
and biotic responses. With the global cooling of the twelfth century some areas ended up receiving
more rainfall, while other areas began to experience drought. I suspect that some groups moving
into the Southwest - groups who may have posed a threat to Anasazi communities - may have
arrived because population growth in their own homelands may have been stimulated by more benign
environments there. Whatever the case, we have archaeological and ethnohistoric evidence of "new"
peoples coming into the area, most probably creating tensions that resulted in concern for heightened
security and, in some cases, abandonment and out-migration.
d. Principle 3: Social Relevance - "Lessons from the past"
i. Discussion - The experience of the Chaco Phenomena may provide lessons relevant to our
contemporary life in a number of ways. We can marvel at their "success" - the spectacular ruins that
once were the homes of numerous people who apparently were able go beyond mere adaptation to
undertake massive building projects like Pueblo Bonito - and to do so apparently without having to
support the excesses characteristic of dynastic rulers in other cultures! When compared with other
emergent states, such as in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Shang China, Mesoamerica, and the Andes, one is
struck by the apparent egalitarian character of the Chacoan people. In fact, one might conclude that
their "experiment" was not only successful, but benign in character! Given that, we should be
encouraged to study them more fully to learn "what they did right" so that, in some measure, we can
too!
At the same time, we are confronted with the eventual abandonment of the Chacoan
centers. True, their descendants exist in the various native pueblos, but Chacoan culture itself
disappeared in its heartland. In some way, we have to say that the Chacoan effort failed. What did
they do wrong? Did they, as some suggest, over-extend themselves during times of plenty (during
relative moist times) such that they found themselves unable to "weather" the subsequent climatic
deterioration? Shouldn't we today take a lesson from the Chacoan experience and be mindful of
what can happen when people over-extend themselves - especially given the prospect of our own
climatic deterioration in the form of global warming? The answer to this should be obvious!
25. "Discovery?" By Whom? - First Contact with Europeans (And Others?) (Module 16) (Module 16 Overview)
a. Principle 2: Diverse Interests - Descendant communities and the scientific community compete for
and have vested interests
i. Discussion - "Diffusion or Independent Invention, continued" - This discussion will address
some of the allegations that there had been contacts between Native American peoples and the Old
World in Precolumbian times. This is a topic that is potentially volatile—principally with regard to both
the validity and significance of such hypothesized contacts - to a variety of stakeholders! At issue is the
question of "independent invention" ("autochthonous") development for Native American cultures.
In other words—is there evidence of any kind of "cultural debt" owed to the cultures of the Old World
prior to the Columbian adventure? Well into the 19th century there were still those who refused to
credit American Indians with creation of massive ancient constructions, instead looking for Old World
inspiration (i.e., Alexander's lost fleet, "Giant Jewish Toltec Vikings," or the Lost Tribes of Israel).
This seeking of alternate origins continues to this day sometimes in different guises, ranging from the
Mormon belief in ancient Middle Eastern Lamenite and Nephite immigrants; Barry Fell's alleged Celt,
Phoenician, Egyptian, Greek, etc. outposts in ancient New England, to the suggestions of Eric Von Daniken,
that ultimately we must credit extraterrestrial intervention to account for the inventiveness of ancient peoples
(in the Americas as elsewhere)! Clearly, such fringe ideas are still with us and we must be wary of the
popular seduction such explanations can provide to the public. Ultimately, most arguments of this type
continue to deny the innovative capacities of the ancient peoples of this continent.
b. Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology must also understand the epistemological
ramifications of the discipline - how they come to know what they know about ancient peoples' life ways . . .
they understand and interpret what they encounter under the ground."
i. Discussion - Norse in Labrador (and Minnesota?) - Archaeology provides a clear way to test some
of the hypotheses concerning the alleged presence of pre-Columbian non-American Indian peoples in
ancient North America. One example of the sound, well-grounded application of the archaeological
approach is found in Anne Ingstad's excavations at the L'Anse aux Meadows site in Labrador where she
found direct evidence of Norse presence in the form of Viking "Black Houses," a smithy, and assorted
other artifacts that clearly pointed toward a Scandinavian life style. The "evidence" for ancient Norse in
western Minnesota is much more controversial. Doing an archaeological comparison of the nature of the
evidence from the L'Anse aux Meadows site with alleged indicators from western Minnesota is
pedagogically informative for students.
26. What the History Books Forgot to Tell Us (Module 17) (Module 17 Overview)
a. Principle 3: Social Relevance - "Lessons from the past" (Note, this also dovetails with Principle 7: Real
World Problem Solving - "Connect the classroom world and the real world")
i. Discussion - Archaeology of the "Melting Pot?" - "Our" identity - as concerns the United States -
has been developed over the years through a process of mythologizing our past. For example, does the
"melting pot" provide a legitimate metaphor for the immigrant experience? The experiences of minorities
has, to a large extent, been invisible to us because of the fact that many of them left no written legacy.
At the present time in our cultural development, those who were disenfranchised in the past now want to
know what part their ancestors played in the evolution of the United States; want their stories told.
What is the nature of the material-cultural evidence for processes of assimilation in American history?
How does this compare with culture contacts as observed archaeologically elsewhere in the world?
How can the process of archaeology help us to empathize more fully with the experiences of those who
left us no written legacy? Can we use archaeological techniques to help us make such large "holes" the
historical record "windows of opportunity?"
b. Principle 6: Basic Archaeological Skills - "Students of archaeology must also understand the epistemological
ramifications of the discipline-how they come to know what they know about ancient peoples' life ways . . .
they understand and interpret what they encounter under the ground.")
i. Discussion - Why do we need Historical Archaeology when we already have history? - While clearly
history provides detailed accounts of the European cultural and military intrusion into the Americas, we
should remember that history is written by those who have the means and ability to write. For most of human
history, writing was a scarce resource and one that was often employed for what we would today consider
propaganda considerations (i.e., for glorification of individuals - kings, priests, etc. - by enumerating their
supernatural origins and documenting their demonstrations of power over others through conquest, sacrifice,
etc.). "History" often cannot be trusted primarily because not all people during "recorded history" recorded
their own history! It is left to archaeology to provide their documentation. This message often comes as a
surprise to students who have been taught that historical documents can provide the answers to their
questions about the past, especially with regard to times when writing was known to have existed. This
discussion provides a sound rationale for doing historical archaeology to "hear the voices" of the
"undocumented" (a rather powerful word in its own sense at this point in our history!). Thus, we need
archaeology to learn about a range of things, from what the actual housing conditions in Colonial times for
Virginia Tidewater slaves were like, to how the kinds of things people discard in Phoenix can tell us about
relative economic privilege in that city in the 1990s.
27. Ethical Dilemmas in North American Archaeology - Emics and Etics ("Ours" and "Theirs"?) - and CRM?
(Module 18) (Module 18 Overview)
a. Principle 1: Stewardship - "We are stewards, not plunderers, of the legacies of ancient people" (Note, this
discussion dovetails with the Principle 2: Diverse Interest discussed below.)
i. Discussion 1 - Archaeological resources today? - While throughout the semester class numerous
examples are presented indicating the current situation at various sites in North America, in this part of
the class, we try to take a look at the broader picture and ask, "What is the current status of the
archaeological resource base?" "Where are archaeological resources most threatened?" "What is the
nature of the threat?" "What is the source of the threat?" "How destructive has this threat been?" "Who
perceives the reality of the threat?" Finally, "What measures have been/are being taken to address such
threats?" In dealing with these questions the importance of Cultural Resource Management (CRM) is
reaffirmed. "Conservation" is presented both as an ethical ideal, but also as something that is practical.
Legislative recognition of this is presented in the form of preservation laws such as in the Archaeological
Resources Protection Act (ARPA) and in the National Historic Preservation Act.
ii. Discussion 2 - When we say "we are stewards . . . of the legacies of ancient people" who does the
"we" imply? For most of the history of archaeology in the United States "we" refers to the
archaeologists. Native peoples, mistrustful of the motives, agenda, and from their perspective,
impersonal and disrespectful practices, have successfully lobbied the United States government and
brought about legislative mandates establishing that, with respect to human remains and sacred objects,
the "we" referred to above is, in fact, "them" (the Native American Indian people). This legislation is
expressed in the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).
b. Principle 2: Diverse Interest - "We should not only think of "the Past," but recognize that there are many;
that they reflect a varied cultural constituency."
i. Discussion 1 - Who are the concerned parties and what are their concerns (i.e. "vested interests")?
We discuss the following varied constituencies: (1) archaeologists and "the archaeological community,"
(2) Native American peoples, (3) the general mainstream public, (4) governments (from local to
national—and maybe even—international and transnational), (5) collectors (private, institutional and "public"
How have the interested parties listed above interacted? What has been the nature of disputes
involving archaeology? What approaches have been taken to resolve such disputes? What measures
can be taken to avoid such future disputes?
Some of the above considerations beg that we—anthropologists and archaeologists—do more
introspective cultural anthropology. This should involve considering the "Culture of anthropologists and
archaeologists" (i.e., how the "culture of archaeologists" interacts with the non-archaeologists from within
and beyond the discipline; the emics of archaeologists vis-˜-vis their intra-disciplinary relationships; how
archaeologists' etic understandings of the significance of their data affects the ways others perceive of
them (in particular how the archaeological approach is ethically perceived by others such as Native
Americans). We should also be aware of the "culture of educators," the "culture of museologists," and,
the "culture of private collectors." How do native peoples perceive their archaeological record (i.e. the
"emics of indigenous material culture") and are there ways we might foster the development of a mutual
agenda with those of archaeologists?
ii. Discussion 2 - Lessons from the archaeological experience of Mexico - Without wanting to
"whitewash" the fact of there having been a history of brutal confrontation and conquest by the Spanish
plus the fact that Mexico has its own history of struggle and repression of its indigenous peoples since the
Conquest, there exist striking differences between the Mexican and North American (United States)
experiences vis-à-vis how archaeology and archaeologists are perceived by native peoples in Mexico.
Most importantly, Mexico appears to have embraced its native heritage in ways different from the U.S.
Mexican nationals, regardless of their personal ancestry (whether their grandparents were Nahuatl,
German, French, Spanish, Maya, or whatever), tend to regard the Indian heritage as "theirs". This is
evident when one watches busloads of school children being taken through the Museo Nacional de
Antropologåa in Mexico City. The message is that "Mexico is great" because of what the ancient
Maya, Zapotec, Totonac, Teotihuacano, and Aztec people did -as part of "their" history - "their"
heritage! This is quite different from watching most Americans walking through a museum or
archaeological interpretive center where people might marvel, but it as at "their" accomplishment, not
"ours." As one who "cut his teeth" archaeologically in Mexico before coming to the United States,
I cannot help but find the Mexican example invigorating! I try in this class to present this as an
attitudinal mind set that "we" (all of us) might aspire to!
c. Principle 3: Social Relevance - "Lessons from the past"
i. Discussion - In this section, the profound legacy of ancient Native American peoples to the rest of
the world is reviewed and reaffirmed. Where would "we" (the contemporary world) be without
maize, the potato, chocolate, vanilla, turkeys? In the popular book, Indian Givers by Jack
Weatherford we even find evidence that Benjamin Franklin's understanding of the Iroquois system
of governance was inspirational in the development of the bicameral system eventually enshrined in
the United States Constitution and emulated world-wide! Students are encouraged to take a
profound look at how the world is a better place because of what we have learned from the Native
American experience; that we stand to learn more through active engagement with them in trying to
more greatly understand the happenings of their past.
d. Principle 4: Ethics and Values - "As stewards and interpreters of ancient peoples' legacies, fundamental
ethics and values must be understood and implemented through practice."
i. Discussion - Throughout the semester examples are presented documenting ethically-questionable
archaeological practices - often in the form of insensitivity to Native American concerns. Private
collecting, looting, and the general destruction of the archaeological record are also discussed at
points throughout the class. In this section there is an opportunity to "bring home" these concepts and
relate them to the specifics of "our" (archaeologists in the United States at least) codes of ethics and
conduct, as explicitly presented in the Society for American Archaeology Eight Principles of
Archeological Practice and the Register of Professional Archaeologists (ROPA) Code of Ethics and
Standards of Research Performance.
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