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This archived information is dated to the 2009-10 academic year only and may no longer be current.

For currently applicable policies and information, see the current Stanford Bulletin.

Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology

The B.A. in Archaeology requires a minimum of 65 units in the major, divided among five components:

  1. Core Program (20 units), consisting of:
    1. Gateway: ARCHLGY 1, Introduction to Prehistoric Archaeology (5 units)
    2. Intermediate: ARCHLGY 102, Archaeological Methods and Research Design (5 units)
    3. Intermediate: ARCHLGY 103, History of Archaeological Thought (5 units; Writing in the Major)
    4. Capstone: ARCHLGY 107A, Archaeology as a Profession (5 units)

    ARCHLGY 1 is recommended as a first course, and many upper-level courses in Archaeology require this course as a prerequisite. Students should normally take the capstone course in their final year of course work in the major.

  2. Analytical Methods and Computing (at least 3-5 units): quantitative skills and computing ability are indispensable to archaeologists. It is recommended that students take ANTHRO 98B, General Methods in Archaeology. Other courses that may satisfy this requirement are PSYCH 10/STATS 60, ECON 102A, and EESS 161.
  3. Archaeological Skills (at least 10 units): archaeological skills include archaeological formation processes, botanical analysis, cartography, ceramic analysis, dating methods, faunal analysis, geographic information systems, geology, geophysics, genetics, osteology, remote sensing, soil chemistry, and statistics. Students are required to take at least 5 units from section A, Formation Processes, and at least 5 units from section B, Archaeological Methods. With the approval of the instructor and Archaeology director, undergraduates may fulfill part of this requirement from graduate-level courses (i.e., courses with numbers of 200 or higher). Note: this list combines historical and current offerings subject to change; contact the Archaeology program administrator for course planning beyond this year, and check the web site.

Section A: Formation Processes

GES 1A. Fundamentals of Geology

5

GES 49N. Field Trip to Death Valley and Owens Valley

5

GES 102. Earth Materials

5

EESS 164. Fundamentals of Geographic Information Science

4

EESS 161. Statistical Methods for Earth and Environmental Sciences: General Introduction

5

Section B: Archaeological Methods

ANTHRO 175. Human Osteology

5

ANTHRO 175B. Advanced Human Osteology

5

ANTHRO 115. Archaeological Geophysics

5

ANTHRO 91A. Archaeological Methods and Research Design

5

ARCHLGY 105A. Global Heritage and Cultural Property

5

ARCHLGY 106. Museums and Collections

5

CLASSART 114. Ceramics: Art and Science

5

4. Theory (at least 10 units): topics include archaeological, art-historical, sociocultural, historical, and material culture theory. With the approval of the instructor, undergraduates may fulfill part of this requirement from graduate-level courses (i.e., courses with numbers of 200 or higher). Note: the following list is a combination of historical and current offerings; contact the Archaeology administrator for course planning beyond this year and check the web site.

ANTHRO 135H. Race, Gender and Class at Stanford

5

ANTHRO 90B. Theory of Social and Cultural Anthropology

5

CLASS ART 113. Ten Things: An Archaeology of Design

5

ARCHLGY 114. The Archaeology of Ritual and Religion

5

ANTHRO 134. Object Lessons

5

ARCHLGY 215. Colonialism: From Prehistory to the Present

5

ANTHRO 111. Archaeology of Sex, Sexuality and Gender

5

ANTHRO 121. Language and Prehistory

5

5. Area of Concentration (at least 20 units): in consultation with their faculty advisers, students choose an area of concentration in archaeological research. Concentrations can be defined in terms of time and space such as small-scale societies or the archaeology of complex societies, or in terms of research problems such as new world archaeology or Mediterranean archaeology. An area of concentration should provide both breadth and depth in a specific research area. Courses should be chosen from the list below. Courses other than those on this list can be used to fulfill this requirement with the prior approval of the student's faculty adviser and the program director. With the approval of the instructor, undergraduates may fulfill part of this requirement from graduate-level courses, typically courses numbered 200 or higher. However, each course may only count toward one component of the program. Students are encouraged to design their own area of concentration, with the prior approval of the student's faculty adviser and the program director.

Note: this list combines historical and current offerings and is subject to change. Contact the Archaeology student services specialist for course planning beyond this year at (650) 721-1361.

Small Scale Societies:

ANTHRO 6. Human Origins

5

ANTHRO 16. Native Americans in the 21st Century

 

5

ANTHRO 22. Archaeology of North America

5

Archaeology of Complex Societies:

CLASSART 21Q. Eight Great Archaeological Sites in Europe

5

CLASSART 101. Archaic Greek Art (ARTHIST 101)

5

ARTHIST 203. Greek Art In and Out of Context

5

ANTHRO 100C. Chavin de Huantar Research Seminar

5

CLASSGEN 123. Urban Sustainability: Long Term Archaeological Perspectives

5

CLASSHIST 135A. Ancient War

5

ARCHLGY 116. The Origins of Food Production and Village Life

5

ANTHRO 106. Incas and Their Ancestors

5

CLASSART42. Pompeii

5

ARTHIST 204A. Appropriations of Greek Art

5

ARCHLGY 113. Introduction to Ancient Egyptian Archaeology

5

CLASSART 112. Ancient Urbanism

5

Mediterranean Archaeology:

ART 203. Greek Art In and Out of Context

5

ARCHLGY 116. The Origins of Food Production and Village Life

5

CLASSART 42. Pompeii

5

ARTHIST 204A. Appropriations of Greek Art

5

CLASSART 101. Archaic Greek Art

5

New World Archaeology:

ANTHRO 200C. Chavin de Huantar Research Seminar

5

ANTHRO 16. Native Americans in the 21st Century

5

ANTHRO 106. Incas and Their Ancestors

5

ANTHRO 22. Archaeology of North America

5

6. Archaeological Fieldwork—Students may meet this requirement in two ways:

  1. Taking part in a month-long field project directed by a Stanford faculty member, and taking a directed reading during the returning academic year for credit. In 2008-09, field projects were underway in Peru, New Mexico, England, and Turkey.
  2. Completing a field school offered by another institution. Such field schools must be approved in advance by the student's undergraduate adviser and by the director of the Archaeology Center.

Collateral Language Requirement—All Archaeology majors must demonstrate competence in a foreign language beyond the first-year level. Students can meet this requirement by completing a course beyond the first-year level with a grade of 'B' or better, and are encouraged to choose a language that has relevance to their archaeological region or topic of interest. Students may petition to take an introductory-level course in a second language to fulfill this requirement by demonstrating the connection between the language(s) and their research interest(s).

To declare a major in Archaeology, students should contact the student services specialist at (650) 721-1361, who provides an application form, answers initial questions, and helps the student select a faculty adviser and area of concentration. All majors must complete 65 units, which must form a coherent program of study and be approved by the student's faculty adviser and the program director.

Students who plan to pursue graduate work in Archaeology should be aware of the admission requirements of the particular departments to which they intend to apply. These vary greatly. Early planning is advisable to guarantee completion of major and graduate school requirements.

HONORS PROGRAM

The honors program in Archaeology gives qualified majors the chance to work closely with faculty on an individual research project culminating in an honors thesis. Students may begin honors research from a number of starting points, including topics introduced in the core or upper-division courses, independent interests, research on artifacts in Stanford's collections, or fieldwork experiences.

Interested Archaeology majors of junior standing may apply for admission by submitting an honors application form, including a 4-5 page statement of the project, a transcript, and a letter of recommendation from the faculty member supervising the honors thesis to the student services specialist, no later than the end of the fourth week of the Spring Quarter. Archaeology majors are eligible to apply for honors candidacy. The thesis is due in early May of the senior year and is read by the candidates advisor and a second reader appointed ny the undergraduate committee.

COGNATE COURSES

The following is a partial list of cognate courses for Archaeology. Please refer to our program web site for updated lists throughout the year. You can also check with respective department listings for course descriptions and General Education Requirements (GER) information. You can also meet with our Student Adviser about degree requirements and the applicability of these courses to a major or minor program.

ANTHRO 1. Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology

ANTHRO 3. Introduction to Prehistoric Archaeology

ANTHRO 6. Human Origins (Same as BIO 106, HUMBIO 6.)

ANTHRO 7. Introduction to Forensic Anthropology

ANTHRO 15. Sex and Gender

ANTHRO 16. Native Americans in the 21st Century: Encounters, Identity, and Sovereignty in Contemporary America

ANTHRO 21N. Anthropology of Globalization

ANTHRO 22. Archaeology of North America

ANTHRO 22N. Ethnographies of North America

ANTHRO 90A. History of Archaeological Thought

ANTHRO 90C. Introduction to Theory in Ecological and Environmental Anthropology

ANTHRO 100A. India's Forgotten Empire: The Rise and Fall of Indus Civilization

ANTHRO 100C. Chavin de Huantar Research Seminar

ANTHRO 101A. Archaeology as a Profession

ANTHRO 102A. Ancient Civilizations

ANTHRO 106. Incas and Their Ancestors

ANTHRO 112. Ethnoarchaeology

ANTHRO 121. Language and Prehistory

ANTHRO 124. Maya Mythology and the Popol Vuh

ANTHRO 130B. Introduction to GIS in Anthropology

ANTHRO 134. Object Lessons

ANTHRO 135H. CSRE House Seminar: Race, Gender, and Class at Stanford

ANTHRO 171. The Biology and Evolution of Language

ANTHRO 175. Human Osteology

ANTHRO 175B. Advanced Human Osteology

ANTHRO 264. Eco Group

ANTHRO 310G. Introduction to Graduate Studies in Anthropology

ANTHRO 326. Indigenous and Post Colonial Archaeology

ANTHRO 361. Human Behavioral Ecology

ANTHRO 374. Archaeology of Colonialisms/Postcolonialsims

ANTHRO 380. Practice and Performance: Bourdieu, Butler, Giddens, de Certeau

ARTHIST 101. Archaic Greek Art (Same as CLASSART 101)

ARTHIST 203. Greek Art in and out of Context (Same as CLASSART 109)

ARTHIST 204A. Appropriations of Greek Art (Same as CLASSART 110)

CLASSART 21Q. Eight Great Archaeological Sites in Europe

CLASSART 42. Pompeii

CLASSART 112. Ancient Urbanism

CLASSART 113. Ten Things: Science, Technology, and Design (Same as STS 112)

CLASSART 114. Ceramics: Art and Science

CLASSGEN 123. Urban Sustainability: Long-Term Archaeological Perspectives

CLASSHIST 235B. Ancient War

ECON 102A. Introduction to Statistical Methods (Postcalculus) for Social Scientists

EESS 160. Statistical Methods for Earth and Environmental Sciences: General Introduction

EESS 164. Fundamentals of Geographic Information Science (GIS) (Same as EARTHSYS 144)

EE 140. The Earth From Space: Introduction to Remote Sensing (Same as GEOPHYS 140)

GEOPHYS 190. Introduction to Geophysical Field Methods

GES 1. Dynamic Earth: Fundamentals of Earth Science

GES 49N. Field Trip to Death Valley and Owens Valley

GES 102. Earth Materials

HUMBIO 180. Human Osteology

STATS 60. Introduction to Statistical Methods: Precalculus (Same as PSYCH 10)

URBANST 115. Urban Sustainability: Long-Term Archaeological Perspectives

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