ANTHRO 1060: Introduction to Archaeological Science
Instructor: Prof. Christina Warinner, 570 Peabody Museum, warinner@fas.harvard.edu
TF: Percy Hei Chun Ho, 571 Peabody Museum, heichunho@fas.harvard.edu
Course Meets:
- Lecture: M/W, 3:00-4:15pm in Peabody 561
- Section: F, 1:30 PM-2:45pm in Peabody 561
Office Hours, Prof. Warinner: M, 4:15-5:30pm
Office Hours, TF Percy Ho: M, 2-3pm
Textbooks:
- Archaeology, by Renfrew and Bahn (editions 2016 and later are okay)
- A Consumer's Guide to Archaeological Science, by Mary Malainy
Course Summary:
Archaeological science is the application of scientific techniques to study the human past. Methods in archaeological science build upon core concepts and methods in the biological, chemical, and physical sciences and use them in surprising and exciting ways to answer a wide range of questions, including:
- How do we measure time? How do you date a stone tool? a bone? a pot?
- Who were the Neanderthals? When were they last alive, and what happened to them?
- What did the earliest farmers eat? How do we know?
- Where was maize domesticated and how did it spread throughout the Americas?
- Where did dairying begin and how did it transform Bronze Age Eurasia?
- What caused the Black Death? Where did it come from? Did it exist in prehistory? How do pathogens emerge and evolve?
- How does our knowledge of the past inform our future?
This course offers an introduction to eight major areas of archaeological science: (1) relative and absolute dating, (2) human osteology, (3) paleoethnobotany and micro remains, (4) stable isotopes, (5) organic residue analysis, (6) zooarchaeology and ZooMS, (7) proteomics, and (8) paleogenomics. Students will gain an understanding of the history of the field and its future directions, the method and theory behind how different tools and techniques work, and how archaeological science is transforming archaeology today. During the laboratory sections students will have practical session on each topic and engage in a semester long experiment determining taxonomic identifications and stable isotope values from archaeological animal bones.
Class Schedule:
Week 1: Welcome and why archaeological science?
Monday, 1/27 Welcome and overview: What is archaeological science?
Wednesday, 1/29 Archaeology in the news – the breadth of archaeological science
Week 2: Time and order
Monday, 2/3 Geological and anthropological time
Wednesday, 2/5 Prehistory, palimpsests, and provenience
Friday Lab, 2/7 Laboratory section 1: Lab introduction and EH&S training
Week 3: Radiocarbon dating
Monday, 2/10 Radiocarbon principles
Wednesday, 2/12 Calibration and complications
Friday Lab, 2/14 Laboratory section 2: Measuring time, with OxCal calibration
Week 4: Human Osteology and Bioarchaeology
Monday, 2/17 President's Day - NO CLASS
Wednesday, 2/19 Human skeletal anatomy and development
Friday Lab, 2/21 Laboratory section 3: Introduction to analytical sampling
Week 5: Paleopathology and mobility
Monday, 2/24 Skeletal pathology
Wednesday, 2/26 Mobility and Trade
Friday Lab, 2/28 Laboratory section 4: Human osteology
Week 6: Paleoethnobotany and Paleodietary Isotope Analysis
Monday, 3/3 Microbotanical and macrobotanica analysis
Wednesday, 3/5 Light stable isotopes and the diets of Neanderthals
Friday Lab, 3/7 Laboratory section 5: Microscopy lab
Week 7: Stable isotopes and paleodietary reconstruction
Monday, 3/10 Isotope applications and new directions in dietary isotope research
Wednesday, 3/12 Guest lecture by researchers from Te Papa and Otago; Final Project topic due
Friday Lab, 3/14 Laboratory section 6: Tour of the EPS stable isotope facility
Week 8: No class
Monday, 3/17 Spring Break - NO CLASS
Wednesday, 3/19 Spring Break - NO CLASS
Week 9: Midterm
Monday, 3/24 Mobility: Strontium and Oxygen isotope analysis
Wednesday, 3/26 Midterm due at (released on Wednesday at 12pm, due Thursday at midnight)
Friday Lab, 3/28 Laboratory section 7: Interpreting C, N, O, and Sr isotopes
Week 10: Organic residues
Monday, 3/31 Organic residue analysis and the earliest chocolate
Wednesday, 4/2 Dairy lipids – a case study
Friday Lab, 4/4 Laboratory section 8: Tour of Harvard Center for Mass Spectrometry
Week 11: Zooarchaeology
Monday, 4/7 Introduction to Zooarchaeology
Wednesday, 4/9 Principles of mass spectrometry and peptide mass fingerprinting
Friday Lab, 4/11 Laboratory section 9: MALDI-ToF data generation
Week 12: Paleoproteomics
Monday, 4/14 Proteomics
Wednesday, 4/16 Applications of shotgun proteomics
Friday Lab, 4/18 Laboratory section 10: ZooMS data analysis
Week 13: Ancient DNA
Monday, 4/21 Ancient DNA
Wednesday, 4/23 Visit to the Warinner Ancient Biomolecules Laboratory - Guest activity with Dr. Ashley Scott
Friday Lab, 4/25 Laboratory section 11: Tour of the Harvard Bauer Core Genomics Facility
Week 14: Ancient DNA
Monday, 4/28 Dairy Cultures Ancient Livestock Project - Guest lecture by Percy Hei Chun Ho
Wednesday, 4/30 Applications in archaeogenetics
Reading period: 5/1 to 5/7
Exam period: 5/8 to 5/17
Grades:
Your grade is based on the 1000 points available for the course. 900 points and above = A, 800 points and above = B, etc. A curve may be applied.
- Participation, 120 points
- Midterm exam, 150 points
- Short Presentations, 100 points
- Labs, 255 points
- Final Project, 225 points
- Final Exam, 150 points
Participation (120 points)
It is important to come to class and to come to class prepared. Although most of the course material is available online, additional important information will be announced and discussed only in class. We will also have several important class discussions, presentations, and informal debates. Attendance and active participation is expected for full participation credit.
- Missing class: If you can't avoid missing a class, please let me know in advance (if possible) and provide documentation. Excused absences may include illness, university sanctioned travel, documented emergencies, etc. Contacting me in advance does not automatically excuse your absence.
- Negative participation: In addition to positive participation points, you can also earn negative participation points. This refers to anything that is disruptive to the instructor or the other students during class time. Some examples of this would include talking, rudeness to your fellow students, text messaging, inappropriate use of laptop computers, and/or repeatedly coming to class late.
- Religious holidays: It is University policy to excuse the absences of students that result from religious observances and to provide, without penalty, for the rescheduling of examinations and additional required class work that may fall on religious holidays. Please talk with me at least 2 weeks prior to the assignment due date in order for accommodations to be made.
Midterm (take-home) (150 points)
There will be a take-home midterm exam on Wednesday March 26, 2025. The completed exam is due in Canvas no later than 11:59pm on Thursday March 27, 2025. The midterm format will consist of three essays that draw on knowledge gained in the class to solve specific problems. You may consult any available research resource for answering the essay questions, and you are especially encouraged to use the course textbooks, assigned articles, and lecture notes. The work must be your own and original (not directly copied from another source), and collaboration with your classmates or assistance from ChatGPT or another AI service is not allowed.
Short Presentations (100 points, 50 points each)
Each class will include a short presentation by a student on a primary reading of their choice from a selected list. Students will sign up for two presentation dates in class on February 3, 2025. Instructions for the short presentations will be provided on the first day of class. The presentation should be 7-8 minutes long and powerpoint slides are encouraged. After the presentation there will be a 2-3 min Q&A. The presentation should introduce the class to the question the article is trying to address, how the authors approached the problem and which methods they used, what the results were, your thoughts on the overall study, and what the take-home message is. For more detailed information, see the Presentation Instructions page under Assignments.
Labs (255 Points)
Undergraduate Track: There are 11 labs during which you will be able to explore a topic more deeply and engage in hands-on activities. Six of these labs have assigned worksheets or lab notebook assignments worth 30 points each that are due in lecture the following Wednesday. The remaining 5 labs are tours of core facilities on campus; these labs are worth 15 points each and points are based on active participation. For more detailed information, see the Labs section of the Assignments page.
Graduate Student Track: All graduate students should join Section 1 for lab training and are welcome to optionally attend any of the undergraduate labs, and are especially encouraged to join the lab facility tours. Grad students will arrange a separate grad student section time that meets irregularly in longer blocks to complete the ZooMS Project. Grading for the Lab portion of the class for grad students will be based on the completion of lab notebooks and a final Lab Report that presents the findings the ZooMS Project. The Lab Notebook is worth 100 points. The Lab Report is worth 155 points.
Final Project (225 points)
You have three options for your final project:
- Option 1: Research Paper (undergrad and grad)
- Option 2: Grant Application (undergrad and grad)
- Option 3: Creative GCCT Project (undergrad only)
For detailed instructions of each option, see the Final Project section of the Assignments page.
- The final project is due in Canvas on May 6, 2025 at 11:59pm.
- You will also need to submit your final project topic on March 12, 2025 at 3pm.
- For help with writing, please contact the Harvard College Writing Center (https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu) or meet with me during office hours.
Final Exam (150 points)
The final exam will be a take home essay exam made available on May 9, 2025 at 10:00am and is due on May 10, 2025 at 11:59pm. The essay questions will require you to draw upon information covered throughout the course to answer a set of complex, real-world archaeological problems. You may consult any available research resource for answering the essay questions, and you are especially encouraged to use the course textbooks, assigned articles, and lecture notes. The work must be your own and original (not directly copied from another source), and collaboration with your classmates or assistance from ChatGPT or another AI service is not allowed.
Extra Credit (50 points)
Throughout the course you will notice optional readings listed on the Canvas site. You man earn extra credit by writing annotated bibliographies for these optional readings. An annotated bibliography consists of making a bibliographic entry in AJBA style followed by a short paragraph (3-4 sentences) summarizing the most important aspects of the article. I will add 2 points to your final grade for each annotated bibliography entry, up to a maximum of 50 points (25 optional readings). For example, if your final grade is 880 points (B) and you complete annotated bibliographies for 10 optional readings, I will bump up your grade to 900 points (A). It pays to do the readings! Extra credit annotated bibliographies may be submitted any time, but no later than May 7, 2025 at 11:59pm. Note that extra credit for annotating optional readings applies only to scholarly articles, not news articles, videos, or podcasts.