Ethnoarchaeology provides one of the major avenues for understanding the patterning of past material culture, because studying the present relationships between humans and their material culture better enables us to interpret the archaeological record--the material culture of past humans.
Your assignment is to choose an activity area and map: 1) the patterns of human behavior exhibited therein, and 2) the material objects utilized. There are a wide variety of possible activity areas you can use including offices, dorm rooms, playgrounds, churches, and shopping malls. Be creative in your selection of an activity area. My favorite example of this type of student project is a study of a parking area on a dead-end road near Tuscon, Arizona.
In addition to your map(s) prepare a short essay of 800 to 1000 words discussing the following questions:
1) Why did you choose the activity area selected? (1 Point)
2) How did you determine its boundaries? (2 points)
3) What was the methodology you used for determining and mapping the patterns of human behavior? (2 points)
4) What objects in the activity area would be present in the archaeological record 100 years from now? (2 Points)
5) How did the patterning of material objects influence behavior and how did the human behavior affect the patterning of material objects? (2 Points)
6) How could the knowledge you gained from this research aid you in interpreting the archaeological record? (2 Points)
Map = (3 Points), Writing = (1 Point)
Although an answer to any one of these questions could be developed
into a 10-page paper (or book!), you are asked to discuss each in no more
than 1 or 2 well thought-out paragraphs Your map(s) and essay will be evaluated
according to a mixture of the following criteria: grammar, neatness, accuracy,
content creativity, coherency, and expressivity. You will submit your map to your TA in hard copy and you will submit your essay to your TA in hard copy and via Turnitin in the lecture section of Brightspace by 6:00PM March 11.