Year
2019
Units
4.5
Contact
1 x 3-hour seminar weekly
Enrolment not permitted
ARCH8401 has been successfully completed
Topic description
This topic provides students with both a theoretical and methodological grounding in the practice of historical archaeology in Australia and will demonstrate how artefact analyses contribute to archaeological interpretations of the recent past. In this intensive, hands-on topic, students will become familiar with describing, cataloguing, analysing, and dating various types of historic artefacts, including ceramics, metal, glass, buttons, standing structures, gravestones and Overseas Chinese materials.
Educational aims
This topic aims to:

  • familiarise students with essential historical archaeological analytical skills based on major categories of archaeological data

  • develop an understanding of the place of Australian historical archaeology within a wider world context

  • enable students to critically evaluate historical archaeological methods

  • encourage students to apply theoretical issues associated with interpreting past human behaviour to the practical issues of 'doing' historical archaeology
Expected learning outcomes
On completion of this topic students will be able to:

  • organise and structure a laboratory report

  • classify a range of archaeological material and critically understand the bases upon which classification systems are constructed

  • demonstrate an understanding how aretfact analyses contribute to nuanced understandings of past human behaviour

  • critically evaluate the context of historical archaeological sites and material in contemporary society