ANTHR 6130

Archaeology and Texts

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2014-2015.

This seminar invites students to critically engage with the role of texts and material culture in reconstructing the past. Central to our discussion is a concern with the often contentious interplay between the disciplines of archaeology and the study of textual records. Is a complete understanding of ancient texts contingent upon the contextual information provided by archaeology and vice versa? What do we do in cases when text and material culture present contradictory perspectives? Should one perspective be privileged over the other? In addition to examining various case studies and analytic approaches that have brought together the archive and the field, we will explore how documents and artifacts are not straightforward 'sources' of information but were formed within specific historical and ideological contexts.

When Offered Spring.

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