Archaeology is an interdisciplinary field that crosses and integrates all of the curriculum’s divisions at Rhodes College. This minor provides unique opportunities for students to develop interdepartmental collaborations on a wide variety of topics. Archaeology involves ground-level, empirical techniques like survey and excavation to recover material remains, as well as the application of scientific and statistical methods to the study of material culture. Archaeology further demands the interpretive skills of the humanist to approach symbols and ideologies in alternative historical contexts. Additionally, archaeology’s interest in the social and cultural analysis of societies of the past and the “deep past” makes use of the high theories of social sciences, humanities, and aesthetic appreciation. Archaeology thus acquaints students with the Arts and Sciences in their full complementarity.
This course and accompanying lab focus on a scientific understanding of the biological and geological methods and theories that are relevant to human/environmental interaction in pre-historic and historic sites of human occupation.