This course provides a contemporary understanding of the pre-Columbian and historic-era cultural histories and social landscapes north of Mesoamerica. The course readings, activities, and discussions will review all portions of the continent from early Paleoindians to later sedentary, warring, and agricultural peoples. Particular regions and time periods contribute to an understanding of theoretical issues concerning the timing and process of the initial peopling of the Americas, food production and the origins of domestication, regional systems of exchange, development of social hierarchies, the rise and fall of chiefdoms, colonial encounters between Europeans and Native Americans, and the historical archaeology of Europeans and Africans in colonial America. These subjects present us with whole chapters of the human experience brought into view through archaeology. Class evaluation will be based on active participation in class discussions, two mid-term exams, and a final seminar paper (15-20 pages in length).

Your course grade will be determined from the grades you receive on two mid-term exams (each counting for 25% of your course grade), a final paper (40%), and a presentation on the topic of your final paper (10%). A brief abstract and outline of your final paper topic is due in class on Nov. 17. Your presentations on the topic of your final paper will be scheduled for the last week of class (Dec. 6-10), and will address the scope of your subject and your plan of analysis, so you can receive feedback and comments from your classmates. The mid-term exams will be in a format of take-home essay exams, for which your completed essays should be 8-10 pages in length (due on Oct. 4 and Nov. 8). Your final papers should be 15-20 pages in length and are due in the Anthropology Department, 109 Davenport Hall, by 12pm on Friday, Dec. 17. All exam essays and final papers should be double spaced, with 10-12 point font and one inch margins.

Your regular attendance and active participation are of central importance for this course to provide you with both a fun and satisfying educational experience. I reserve the right to lower the course grade (by one letter grade) of any student who fails to regularly attend class during the semester.

Additional internet resources on anthropology and archaeology, which are suggested only and not required reading for this course, are available at: http://www.anthro.uiuc.edu/faculty/cfennell/bookmark2.html.

Additional internet resources on African and African-American archaeology, cultures, and history, which are suggested only and not required reading for this course, are available at: http://www.diaspora.uiuc.edu/bookmark3.html.