ARCH 2160

This course provides a broad survey of the archaeology of ancient, pre-industrial, Old World, and New World civilizations. The course includes a brief overview of basic theoretical and methodological concepts in archaeology, thus accommodating students with no prior background in archaeology. Major topics of study include the origins of Neolithic farming; urbanism; wealth and power structures, social ranking, and the inevitable rise of the state; early systems of writing; the earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China; the classical civilizations of the Mediterranean; and New World Central American and Andean civilizations.