The course will primarily examine the "traditional" (Pre-European contact) pedestrian art produced in the three major areas: West Central Africa, Oceania, and North America. The primary focus will emphasize the role of art in specific cultural contexts. The analysis of art products of these major cultural areas will discuss the formal properties and aesthetic qualities that characterize the numerous styles within the traditions of these regions.
A survey of the dynamics of cultural systems in prehistoric Mesoamerica with a focus on the Tehuacan Valley of Central Mexico. This will provide the basis for discussion of the higher energy transforming systems of the Olmec, Teotihuacan, Maya and Aztec. Special attention given to causal models, including ecological and environmental, materialistic trade and exchange and religion and ideology provide the theoretical framework which the rise of civilization occurs.
An advanced level of presentation in the technical detail and guiding philosophy for the installation of ethnographic exhibits. Detail will include specialized techniques in lighting and backdrop construction, as well as academic research for ethnographic detail needed for preparation of exhibit descriptions and catalog copy.
The Northern Plains of North America is a vast territory stretching from central Manitoba and Saskatchewan south to Nebraska, east to northern Iowa and west to the Rocky Mountains. It is a stark and harsh landscape but one with abundant streams, animals (particularly bison), and wild plants. These resources sustained Native American populations for over 12,000 years. The course will trace the earliest small nomadic mammoth and bison hunting groups, through the development of agricultural groups living in large permanent earthlodge villages to the ultimate dramatic collapse of Native culture in the 19th century through a combination of intertribal warfare, epidemic disease and the colonization of the area by Euroamericans.
This four to five week field school offers basic instruction in all aspects of Archaeological Fieldwork. Students will be instructed in excavation, mapping, photography, plan view map drawing, as well as the initial processing of recovered artifacts.