This course will address analytic frameworks for spatial analysis of social dynamics, ways of modeling spatial relationships, and methods used in locating, recording, and mapping archaeological sites. We will focus on various strategies and techniques for formulating survey plans, interpreting data, and presenting results through work at both the theoretical and applied levels, in the field and the classroom.

I have created a course web page for Archaeological Surveying using the University's new Compass program. You can access the course web page by logging onto the Compass system, which will display all existing web pages for your courses. The log-on page is available at:
http://www.cites.uiuc.edu/edtech/courseware/compass/index.html. Choose Anth. 451 from the display list and you can access the course syllabus, assignments, lecture notes and illustrations, and other online class resources.

The course is organized around reading, class presentations, and critical discussions. We will also engage in hands-on training with field surveying equipment and discussion of strategies for conducting fieldwork tasks as efficiently and effectively as possible. Field exercises will be carried out on the campus grounds.

Responsibilities for class presentations and leading discussion of the readings will be rotated among class participants. There will also be occasional lectures to offer background on theoretical issues and particular methodological topics. The quality of your course experience will depend in large part on your willingness read thoughtfully and participate actively in class discussions and field exercises. This course will provide you with the opportunity to hone your skills in articulating significant arguments presented within a particular range of archaeological studies. The course also provides a supportive environment in which to practice your skills at written exposition, classroom debate, public presentations, and fieldwork. Thus, this is largely a reading, discussion, and fieldwork course intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students with backgrounds in anthropology and archaeology.

Your grade in this course will be based on your performance in completing the following assignments:

1. Lead Discussants (10 percent of course grade). On designated class sessions during Weeks 1-7 of the course, particular seminar participants will be responsible for leading our class discussions on the week's readings. There's no need to prepare visual aids or power point summaries, but rather prepare to speak thoughtfully about the week's readings. You should not simply summarize reading assignments one by one, but rather highlight significant theoretical and methodological themes that emerge in the articles, the manner in which they relate to one another and to previous topics discussed in the course, and their implications for archaeological practice. For example, you should address questions such as: Do the authors' positions agree?  Do you find their arguments persuasive? How do they fit (or fail to fit) with other anthropological and archaeological ideas you find helpful or attractive? A key focus of your discussion should be the manner in which abstract theoretical models or particular methodological approaches can actually be implemented in studying the archaeological record. If particular patterns in the archaeological record are discussed and explained in an assigned reading, can you think of other ways to account for them? If particular methodological approaches are taken in an assigned reading, can you see weaknesses and strengths in those methods, or alternative ways one could approach the same subject? In your lead role, also try to offer questions for discussion by other participants in the class.

2. Class Discussion (10 percent of course grade). Those class participants who are not Lead Discussants in a given class session during Weeks 1-7 should also come to class prepared to discuss critically the week's readings.