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This archived information is dated to the 2011-12 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

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Archaeology

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 choose 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.

REQUIREMENTS

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

  1. Core Courses (20 units)—
    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 be used to satisfy this requirement are ANTHRO 98B, PSYCH 10/STATS 60, and ECON 102A.

  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. With the approval of the instructor and Archaeology director, undergraduates may fulfill part of this requirement from graduate-level courses (typically courses with catalog numbers of 200 or higher).

    • ARCHLGY 106. Museums and Collections, 5 units
    • ANTHRO 175. Human Osteology, 5 units
    • ANTHRO 98B. Digital Methods in Archaeology, 5 units
    • ANTHRO 116. Quantitative Analysis in Archaeological and Anthropological Research
    • BIO 8N. Human Evolution, 5 units
    • CLASSART 114. Ceramics: Art and Science, 5 units
    • EESS 164. Fundamentals of Geographic Information Science, 5 units
    • EESS 161. Statistical Methods for Earth and Environmental Sciences, 5 units
    • GES 1A. Fundamentals of Geology, 5 units
    • GES 49N. Field Trip to Death Valley and Owens Valley, 5 units
    • GES 102. Earth Materials, 5 units
  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 (typically courses with catalog numbers of 200 or higher).

    • ARCHLGY 70. Global Heritage, Conservation and Environment, 5 units
    • ARCHLGY 120. Social Zooarchaeology, 5 units
    • ARCHLGY 123. Politics, Heritage & Archaeology, 5 units
    • ANTHRO 125. Language and the Environment, 5 units
    • ANTHRO 90B. Theory of Social and Cultural Anthropology, 5 units
    • ANTHRO 103. The Archaeology of Modern Urbanism, 5 units
    • CLASSART 113. Ten Things: An Archaeology of Design, 5 units
  5. Area of Concentration (at least 20 units)—

    In consultation with their faculty advisors, 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.

    1. Small Scale Societies—
      • ANTHRO 16. Native Americans in the 21st Century, 5 units
    2. Archaeology of Complex Societies—
      • ARCHLGY 111. Emergence of Chinese Civilizations from Caves to Palaces, 5 units
      • ANTHRO 100C. Chavin de Huantar Research Seminar, 5 units
      • ANTHRO 102. The Maya, 5 units
      • ANTHRO 106. Incas and Their Ancestors, 5 units
      • ARTHIST 203. Greek Art In and Out of Context, 5 units
      • CLASSART 21Q. Eight Great Archaeological Sites in Europe, 5 units
      • CLASSART 101. Archaic Greek Art , 5 units
      • CLASSGEN 123. Urban Sustainability: Long Term Archaeological Perspectives, 5 units
      • CLASSHIST 135A. Ancient War, 5 units
    3. Mediterranean Archaeology—
      • ARTHIST 203. Greek Art In and Out of Context, 5 units
      • ARTHIST 204A. Appropriations of Greek Art, 5 units
      • CLASSART 101. Archaic Greek Art, 5 units
      • CLASSART 112. Ancient Urbanism
    4. New World Archaeology—
      • ANTHRO 200C. Chavin de Huantar Research Seminar, 5 units
      • ANTHRO 16. Native Americans in the 21st Century, 5 units
      • ANTHRO 101. Aztecs and their Ancestors
      • ANTHRO 205. Ancient Cities in the New World
    5. Heritage—
      • ARCHLGY 64. Cultural Heritage and Human Rights
      • ARCHLGY 120. Social Zooarchaeology
      • ARCHLGY 123. Politics, Heritage & Archaeology
      • ARCHLGY 132. The Anthropology of Heritage: Concepts, Contexts and Critique
      • ANTHRO 16. Native Americans in the 21st Century
    6. Urbanism and Cities—
      • ANTHRO 103. Archaeology of Modern Urbanism
      • ANTHRO 205. Ancient Cities in the New World
      • CLASSART 21Q. Eight Great Archaeological Sites
      • CLASSSGEN 123. Urban Sustainability
  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 2010, field projects were underway in Peru, New Mexico, England, Jordan, 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.
  7. 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).
  8. Students may count up to 15 units of research and independent study, (including but not limited to ARCHLGY 190, 195 and 199) toward the Archaeology major.

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 adviser and a second reader appointed by the undergraduate committee.

COGNATE COURSES

Students are advised to meet with their adviser about degree requirements and the applicability of these courses to a major or minor program.

ARCHLGY 12. Peopling the Globe

ANTHRO 1. Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology

ANTHRO 3. Introduction to Prehistoric Archaeology

ANTHRO 21N. Anthropology of Globalization

ANTHRO 30Q. The Big Shift

ANTHRO 90B. Theory in Social and Cultural Anthropology

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

ANTHRO 98E. Excavation at Catalhoyuk, Turkey

ANTHRO 100C. Chavin de Huantar Research Seminar

ANTHRO 103. Archaeology of Modern Urbanism

ANTHRO 116. Quantitative Analysis in Archaeological and Anthropological Research

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

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 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

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)

GES 1. Dynamic Earth: Fundamentals of Earth Science

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

GES 102. Earth Materials

HUMBIO 2N. Culture, Evolution, and Society

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

URBANST 115. Urban Sustainability: Long-Term Archaeological Perspectives

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