Archaeological Discovery Project

In this assignment, you will choose a site (or a specific
archaeological discovery) and write about it. The Archaeological Discovery
Project must be at least 1600
words in length (more is perfectly fine).
Students will select a site/discovery from a list, however, they may
also choose a different topic upon approval from the instructor.
The Archaeological Discovery Project should address the
following questions/issues
§ What is the site/discovery?
§ What is the context in which it was
found/excavated/etc.?
§ Why is it important?
§ What did the discovery contribute to our
overall understanding of the past and culture (either specifically – within the
region or time period – or broadly)
This translates (roughly) into:
§ introduce the site/discovery
§ discuss the history of the
discovery/excavation
§ discuss why the site/discovery
is important/meaningful.

In addition, the students must reference at
least two of the topics that were discussed throughout the course such as:
Taphonomy, Bioarcheology, Political Structure, Floral/Faunal Analysis, Site
Structure, etc.

If students think that it is important to add
more sections, they should absolutely do so.
Some guidelines/things to think about with the Archaeological
Discovery Project:
§ Some of
the required features of APA/MLA style and formatting conflict with the fact
that the articles are found online and not on sheets of paper. So, there
are some features (like title page, page numbers, etc.) that simply don’t work
with the online format – don’t worry at all about including those. When
it comes to citation, you are going to have to go either with end notes or
inline parenthetical citation (with a works cited/bibliography list at the end)
– you can use footnotes just make sure your citations are consistent.
§ Meeting
the minimum word count is a requirement of the assignment. If students
don’t meet that minimum word count, they will be docked significantly.
§ APA or
MLA style and formatting (taking into account what was said above) is a
requirement for the assignment. Students
may choose either format, however they must adhere to one of them for paper
format and citations. Students who don’t meet this requirement will be
docked significantly.
§ Students
must have at least 5 sources/references (this doesn’t count any cited images).
More sources are, of course, perfectly fine. The sources can be digital or physical.
However, they have to be scholarly in nature. If you are confused as to
what constitutes “scholarly in nature,” ask. Here is a really good source for
determining the quality of an online source: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
§ All
images must be referenced as properly. Try to use Creative Commons
licensed works. Here is a hint to find creative commons licensed images – use
the CC Search engine.
Also, for specific archaeological images that are creative commons licensed,
you should look at the ISAW Ancient World Image Bank.
§ Wikipedia
(and similar sites like dictionary.com, Encyclopedia Britannic etc.)
are absolutely acceptable sources. Remember, Wikipedia is a great place to
start, but it shouldn’t be something you cite as a source on a piece of work or
include in the 5 required sources.
§ Check
out digital archaeology repositories such as tDAR and ADS. You
might also want to check out Open Context –
which is a publication platform for primary archaeological data.
§ Additional
requirements: The paper must be double spaced, 12-point font with 1 inch
margins. There must be a
bibliography/citation page included as well.
§ If
there are any additional questions, reach out to the instructor for
clarification.

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