Instructor
Dr. Darlene Applegate
darlene.applegate@wku.edu
Office 280 FAC 745-5094
Rock House Lab 745-6511
Office Hours: 3:00-3:30 Monday though Friday (on site) and by
appointment
Course Objectives
Field Course in Archaeology provides hands-on experience in the scientific and systematic methods of archaeological field research. Topics and skills emphasized are site mapping, controlled excavation, and on-site documentation. Our research will be conducted at a historic farmstead site in Butler County.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will
Course Materials
Students are required to read background material about the archaeological site, which is provided by the instructor.
The textbook is Field Methods in Archaeology by Hester, Shafer
and Feder (7th edition, Mayfield). It is recommended for undergraduate
students and required for graduate students.
General Expectations
The educational endeavor is a two-way street. To insure a productive and stimulating learning environment, students and instructors must meet certain expectations.
It is my expectation that students will attend class regularly, prepare for each class, exactly follow directions for completing assignments, complete assignments on time, participate meaningfully and respectfully in class, ask questions, monitor their performance, and seek assistance before matters get out of hand.
Students are expected to make themselves aware of the provisions set forth in this syllabus. Students are expected to bring the syllabus to every class meeting and to make any adjustments to the syllabus announced during class. Students are strongly encouraged to review the information in the syllabus on a regular basis.
Students should expect from me organized presentations, current information on the subject, thoughtful evaluation of assignments, timely return of graded assignments, and guidance in completing course requirements.
Please come see me if you have any concerns during the semester.
Attendance Policy
The University attendance policy states that "registration in a course obligates the student to be regular and punctual in class attendance" (WKU 2001-2003 Undergraduate Catalog, p. 28; emphasis added). Punctual and regular attendance is absolutely critical for the successful operation of an archaeological field school. Therefore, attendance is a major component each student's grade.
Punctual arrival to the site is expected. Students who arrive more than 15 minutes late will be counted as absent for the day.
Full attendance on a daily basis is mandatory, meaning you must arrive on time and stay the entire session. Absences are only excused under extreme circumstances; if excused, the field time missed must be made up by the student in a timely manner.
Each unexcused absence will result in a grade reduction. As you will notice below in the syllabus, for each missed class a student loses 10 attendance points, 10 daily field book points, 10 daily participation points, and possibly 5-10 quiz points. This amounts to 6-8% of your final grade for each absence.
If bad weather prohibits us from working in the field, field work will be canceled by 7:00 am. Students are expected to call the instructor's office voice mail at 745-5094 for information about field work cancellation. If field work is canceled, students are expected to meet on time at the WKU Anthropology Lab instead, and part or all of the day's session will be spent processing field samples. (If you are late to the lab because you drove to the site without checking the voice mail, you may be counted as absent.) In other words, there will never be days when there is nothing for us to do. The Lab is on the corner of 15th and College.
Students who cease attending class are expected to complete withdrawal
forms in the Office of the Registrar. If you don't attend class,
don't complete all the course requirements, and don't withdraw by the scheduled
date, you will fail the class.
Assignments
Following is a list of assignments for the course. Each is described in more detail elsewhere in the syllabus and on the course web site. Students should keep track of their grades on the assignments and track their progress toward their target grades.
Assignment Points
Attendance
150 points
Field Book
140 points
Daily Participation 150 points
Quizzes
100 points
TOTAL 540 points
Though it is unlikely, the instructor reserves the right to add or eliminate
assignments during the course of the semester. If this is necessary,
students will be given prior warning during class.
Grading Procedures
Numerical grades are given for each assignment. There is no extra credit
and there is no curving of grades.
The final course grade is calculated by dividing the points earned by the total points possible. This percentage is then translated into a letter grade based on a 10% scale (A=90-100%, B=80-89%, etc). Final course grades will not be curved.
In some cases, students with borderline percentages (e.g., 59%, 69%,
79%, 89%) are given the higher grade based on class attendance, class participation,
improvement, and/or attitude.
Attendance Grade
Daily attendance accounts for 150 points (28%) of the final grade, with
10 points earned per day. Students will receive all or none of the
points each day. Full credit is given for students who arrive in
a timely manner and stay for the entire daily session. No credit
is given for students who arrive more than 15 minutes late, take extended
breaks, do not stay for the entire daily session, or do not attend at all.
Daily Field Book
Each student is given a water-resistant field book in which to record notes on a daily basis. On the first day of class we will discuss what to record and how to record data in the field book. Examples will be provided for you to look at. The field books become part of the permanent documentation for the site and will be curated at the WKU Anthropology Lab.
Field books are collected at the end of each day. The instructor reads them after class, records comments in them, and compiles a summary of the daily progress. Field books are returned at the beginning of the next session.
The daily field book accounts for 140 points (26%) of the final grade, with 10 points earned per day. Students will earn a score of between 0 and 10 for each daily entry in the field book. The grade is based on completeness, accuracy, neatness (yes, handwriting and spelling count), organization, and quality of information.
Be warned that the field books will be graded very rigorously. Enough emphasis cannot be placed on the importance of accurate field notes! Archaeology is destructive. Once the site is gone, the written (and photographic) records are the only means of understanding what was there. Our ability to answer research questions and conduct future research with records and collections is only as good as our field documentation.
Students who leave the dig without turning in the field book will receive a zero on the daily field book grade for that day, absolutely no exceptions. The instructor must remain apprised of each student's work on a daily basis in order to effectively guide the field work. I cannot do this if I don't have everyone's field books.
Students are expected to record notes in the field book throughout the
day. Students should leave enough time before the end of each class
session to record all necessary notes.
Daily Participation
Daily participation refers to the work each student completes on site and includes mapping, excavation, screening, photography, and field forms (field sample bags and inventory, level forms, feature forms, photo inventory, sample forms, etc.). Each student is graded according to how well he/she follows standard archaeological field procedures.
Unless significant unanticipated and uncontrollable problems (e.g., rain delays, looting, animal trampling) arise, each student is expected to complete at least one excavation unit over the course of the term.
Daily participation accounts for 150 points (28%) of the final grade, with 10 points earned per day. Students will earn a score of between 0 and 10 for participation each day. The grade is based on following procedures, accuracy, neatness in excavation and completing field forms, cooperation, attitude, and quality of work.
Again, keep in mind that because archaeology is destructive, it is imperative
that each student put forth his/her best efforts each day. Archaeological
field work is not a competition about who can dig the fastest and who finds
the neatest stuff. We stress information over artifacts, quality
of work over quantity of work.
Quizzes
Quizzes are given periodically to insure that students are thoroughly prepared to work at the site and will follow standard archaeological procedures. Therefore, quizzes can cover information about the site itself (based on assigned readings), daily progress at the site in general (based on morning debriefings), and archaeological field methods.
Each quiz is worth from 5 to 10 points. Quizzes will account for
100 points (19%) of the final grade. Missed quizzes cannot be made
up.
The Public
Although the field school will not take place in a public area, a few words about dealing with the public are in order. However, because the site is near some homes and a cemtery, we may have occasional visitors.
The public, generally speaking, is wildly interested in archaeology. We want to encourage that interest and channel it to further people's understanding of academic archaeology. Therefore, I encourage students to converse politely with people and answer questions. However, this must be done with caution.
As a general rule of thumb, if you have the least bit of reservation about revealing some piece of information to the public, don't. Trust your instincts. Less is better. We must, at all times, protect the site and the archaeological resources.
Appropriate information to share with the public includes who occupied the site, when the site was occupied, our research goals, the general types of materials we are recovering, what those materials tell us about past human behavior, and our recovery techniques.
It is inappropriate to discuss the specific types of artifacts we are recovering and any possible value they might have. A few minutes is all you should give to answering questions. Politely excuse yourself by explaining that we have a lot of work to do and little time to finish it. If they want further information, refer them to me.
The instructor is absolutely the only person who will talk with the
media. If you are asked about the project by a member of the media,
whether on site or off site, refer that person to me. If a reporter
wants student comments, interviews must always be done in my presence.
Schedule
The first day of class is devoted to in-class orientation and a quick site visit, if time permits. We will cover the following topics:
Syllabus Modifications
The instructor reserves the right to modify anything in the syllabus,
with prior warning via an in-class announcement, during the course of the
semester. Students are responsible for being apprised of any such
modifications and for recording such modifications on their syllabi.
Graduate Students
Graduate students will have additional duties and responsibilities.
Each graduate student is expected to oversee and assist the work of a group
of undergraduate students. This includes insuring the field sample
bags, field forms, and other documentation are completed correctly.
Graduate students are expected to assist with creating an overall site
map. Graduate students are also required to prepare outlines of Chapters
5-13 in the required text, according to the schedule below.
Suggested Readings
Review of major topics in Anth 230 Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4
Week One Chapters 5, 6, 9, 10
Week Two Chapters 8, 12, 13
Week Three
Chapters 7, 11, 14