Doing Modern Archaeology in the Mediterranean and in Canada

Course Description

What do real archaeologists do? This course explores the sorts of questions modern archaeologists ask about the ancient world and the methods they use to answer them. The course will include lectures and hands-on activities simulating excavation, making and studying different types of artefacts (in particular pottery and stone tools), digitally recording and modelling in archaeology using computer technology, and tours of different sorts of archaeology-related labs at Carleton. Our approach will apply to archaeology globally, rather than in any particular region, but the instructor is a specialist in Roman archaeology with two decades of excavation experience on archaeological sites in Italy, and guest lecturers work in Canadian archaeology in Ottawa and elsewhere. Archaeology combines the study of the past (history) with actual objects and spaces that real people once touched. Even though people have been curious about the past and have been digging sites for centuries, modern archaeology continues to be an innovative discipline which combines history, natural sciences, and computer visualization.