Lab Methods in Archaeology (HISP 462)

Course Schedule

 Part I: Intro to Lab Methods and Best Practices

• Course Overview and Introduction to the Arch Lab

• Archaeological Labwork 101: From Field to Finish

• Site Documentation Part I: In the Field

• Site Documentation Part II: In the Lab

• The Curation Crisis Part I

• Managing the Curation Crisis

Readings to Discuss:

• 36CFR79 (Subpart B, 79.5 - 79.9)

Finding and Working With Legacy Collections

Readings to Discuss:

• Gupta and Nicholas 2022

• Marquardt et al. 1982

Data Management 101 and Best Practices

Readings to Discuss:

• PGM 2020 (Section on "Preparation of Electronic/Digital Information," pp. 25-30, and Appendix A, pp. 33-35)

• Citation Managers: Using Zotero

Part II: How to ID and Manage Essential Material Culture Types

• Lab Methods Review and Term Project Prep

• Ceramics (Lecture, Overview, Hands-On ID)

• Metal (Lecture, Overview, Hands-On ID)

• Glass (Lecture, Overview, Hands-On ID)

• Working with Excel: Pivot Tables

Part III: Working with Archaeological Lab Data

• Lithics (Lecture, Overview, Hands-On ID) 

• Organics (Lecture and Overview)

• Quantitative Analyses: Spatializing Material Culture (guest lecture): Using photogrammetry to record cave art

Wrap-Up and Final Material Culture Assessment (cumulative hands-on ID test)

Deliverables:

• Final Curation Package and Zotero Library

• Data Summary and Interpretation (using artifact catalog and pivot tables), Data Package for Term Project, and Part II Reflection