Undergraduate Program In Archaeology

Overview

Archaeology – the study of the human past – is a vibrant field of study at Harvard, with faculty, programs and facilities located in the Social Sciences, Humanities, and the Natural Sciences. Students may draw upon a multitude of disciplines to further their interest in studying and understanding the human past either at the level of a major, within any one of several disciplines, or to pursue work at the level of a Secondary Field in Archaeology. This website will help students identify the many resources and programs offering course work and research opportunities in the archaeology of ancient societies around the world.

◆Archaeology explains when, how and why things happened in the past. Archaeologists document patterns of change and variability through time and space and relate these changes to the world around us today. In broader terms, archaeological research involves the discovery, description and analysis of technological adaptation, social organization, artistic production, ideology and other forms of human expression through the study of material remains recovered from the excavation of sites that were used or settled by past peoples.

◆The formal study of archaeology prepares students to evaluate critically the record of human material production and to develop informed perspectives on the ways the past is presented, interpreted, and dealt with by a wide range of actors - from interested individuals to nation-states - in societies around the world today. Archaeologists carry out basic research in the field and in museum collections and increasingly deal with such topics as cultural resource management, cultural tourism, nationalistic uses and abuses of the past, the depiction of the past in the media, the illegal trade in antiquities, repatriation of cultural patrimony, and environmental and climatic change.

Undergraduate Courses in Archaeology 2013-2014

For the most updated version please go to the Archaeology chapter of the Current Courses of Instruction.

General Education 
Culture and Belief 21 (formerly Foreign Cultures 93). Pathways through the Andes Culture, History, and Beliefs in Andean South America
Science of Living Systems 16. Human Evolution and the Human Body
Societies of the World 30. Moctezuma’s Mexico: Then and Now (2012)!
Societies of the World 38. Pyramid Schemes: The Archaeological History of Ancient Egypt
Societies of the World 40 (formerly Anthropology 1174). The Incas: The Last Great Empire of Pre-Columbian South America
Societies of the World 41 (formerly History 1050). Medieval Europe

Societies of the World 53: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Freshman Seminars 
Freshman Seminar 30g. Digging Up the Past: Harvard and Egyptian Archaeology (New Course)
Freshman Seminar 39e. Rome and China - (New Course)
African and African American Studies 
African and African American Studies 170. The African Past: Art and History to 1800
African and African American Studies 174. The African City
Anthropology 
Anthropology 91xr (formerly Anthropology 91r). Supervised Reading and Research in Archaeology
Anthropology 92xr (formerly Anthropology 92r). Archaeological Research Methods in Museum Collections
Anthropology 1010. The Fundamentals of Archaeological Methods & Reasoning
Anthropology 1025r (formerly Anthropology 1025). Museum Anthropology, Thinking with Objects: Kayaks: Seminar
Anthropology 1045. Ancient Settlement Systems: Seminar
Anthropology 1060. Archaeological Science
Anthropology 1065. The Ancient Near East
Anthropology 1080. North American Archaeology: Lost Tribes and Ancient Capitals of North America
Anthropology 1085. Six Great Discoveries in New World Archaeology
Anthropology 1090. Ethnography and Archaeology
Anthropology 1095 (formerly Social Analysis 50). Urban Revolutions: Archaeology and the Investigation of Early States
Anthropology 1125. The Moche of Ancient Peru: Politics, Economy, Religion and Art
Anthropology 1130. Archaeology of Harvard Yard
Anthropology 1131. Archaeology of Harvard Yard II: Laboratory Methods and Analysis

Anthropology 1040. Origins of the Food We Eat (new course)
Anthropology 1150. Ancient Landscapes]
Anthropology 1155. Before Baghdad: Cities of Ancient Mesopotamia
Anthropology 1165. Digging the Glyphs: Adventures in Decipherment
Anthropology 1175. The Archaeology of Ethnicity (seminar)

Anthropology 1180. North American Archaeology: Lost tribes and the ancient capitals of Native America  

Anthropology 1182. People of the Sun: The Arhcaeology of Ancient Mexico (new course)

Anthropology 1185. Six Great Discoveries in New World Archaeology 

Anthropology 1090. Ethnography and Archaeology (seminar)  

Anthropology 1190. Encountering the Conquistadors
Anthropology 1210. The Archaeology of Ancient China

Antrhopology 1212. The Archaeology of Modern Human Origins (new course)

Anthropology 1214. The Archaeology of Women and Children (new course)

Anthropology 1230. African Archaeology (new course) 
Anthropology 1250. The Pyramids of Giza: Technology, Archaeology, History (seminar)

Anthropology 2000. Osteoarchaeology Lab

Anthropology 2010ar. Materials in Ancient Societies: Metals

Anthropology 2010br. Materials in Ancient Societies: Metals
Anthropology 2020. GIS and Spatial Analysis in Archaeology

Anthropology 2056. Household Archaeology (new course)
Anthropology 2062. Religions of Latin America
Anthropology 2070a. Archaeological Method and Theory: Seminar
Anthropology 2070b. Case Studies and Research Proposal Preparation
Anthropology 2085. Archaeology of Ritual and Religion
Anthropology 2090. Economic Archaeology: Culture Contact
Anthropology 2092. Early China: Archaeology and Texts

Anthropology 2110r. Issues in Mesoamerican  Arcaheology 
Anthropology 2177. (formerly Anthropology 1177). South American Archaeology
Anthropology 2210. Archaeology and the Ancient Economy

Anthropology 2212. The Archaeology of Enlightenment (new course)
Anthropology 2240. Archaeology of Production: Seminar
Anthropology 2250a. Proseminar in Archaeology
Anthropology 2250b. Proseminar in Archaeology

The Classics

Classical Archaeology 100: Greek Antiquity 

Classical Archaeology 101. Roman Antiquity] - (New Course)
Classical Archaeology 158. Ancient Sculpture: Display, Perception, and Context -(New Course)

Classical Studies 158: Alexander to Caesar: The Transformation of the Hellenistic World

Classical Archaeology 250. Caesar’s Salad: Roman Art during the Decline of the Roman Republic and at the Dawn of a New Empire: Seminar
History 
History 80e. From Gaul to France: The History, Archaeology and Science of the Fall of the Roman Empire
History 80f. Carolingian Civilization
History 1011. The World of the Roman Empire
History 1012. Identity in Classical Antiquity
History 1040. The Fall of the Roman Empire
History 1041 (formerly Historical Study B-13). Charlemagne and the Birth of Medieval Civilization
History 1940. Science and the Global Human Past: Case Studies at the Cutting Edge: Conference Course - (New Course)
History 2055hf (formerly History 2055). Early Medieval History: Communications in the Early Medieval Mediterranean: Seminar
History of Art and Architecture 
History of Art and Architecture 13x. Introduction to Greek and Roman Sculpture
History of Art and Architecture 100r. Sophomore Excursion Course
History of Art and Architecture 101. The Making of Art and Artifacts: History, Material and Technique
History of Art and Architecture 132e. The Ideal of the Everyday in Greek Art
History of Art and Architecture 137p. The Roman Dinner Party: Proseminar
History of Art and Architecture 141k. Rome, Constantinople, Ravenna in the Light of Imperial Rule : Proseminar
History of Art and Architecture 143r (formerly *History of Art and Architecture 143m). The Art of the Court of Constantinople : Proseminar
History of Art and Architecture 197. The Imperial Arts of the Inca and the Aztec
History of Art and Architecture 206. Science and the Practice of Art History 
History of Art and Architecture 239x (formerly History of Art and Architecture 139j). Greek Myths on Roman Sarcophagi
History of Art and Architecture 240r. Topics in Byzantine Art : Family and Daily Life in the Byzantine World
History of Science 
History of Science 186. Technology in the Social World
Human Evolutionary Biology 
Human Evolutionary Biology 1411. Evolution and Adaptation of the Human Diet
Human Evolutionary Biology 1419. Laboratory Methods in Human Evolutionary Biology - (New Course)
Human Evolutionary Biology 1423. Human Origins and Evolution - (New Course)
Human Evolutionary Biology 1490r. Primate Evolution
Human Evolutionary Biology 1530. Hominid Paleontology and Evolution
Human Evolutionary Biology 1540. Human Migration - (New Course)
Human Evolutionary Biology 1940. Science and the Human Past: Case Studies at the Cutting Edge: Conference Course - (New Course)
Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations 
Ancient Near East 100. History of the Ancient Near East:
Ancient Near East 102. Introduction to Mesopotamian Religion
Ancient Near East 104. Babylon
Ancient Near East 107. History and Historiography in the Ancient Near East
Ancient Near East 155r. Ancient Mesopotamia: Archaeology and Texts
Ancient Near East 157. Material Culture, Society and Ideology: The Archaeology of Society in the Monarchic Period of Ancient Israel - (New Course)
Ancient Near East 228. The History and Archaeology of Jerusalem - (New Course)
Ancient Near East 230. Ethnicity and Boundary Maintenance in Ancient Israel of the Iron I Period: Israelites, Philistines and Canaanites - (New Course)
Jewish Studies 138. The Synagogue and Jewish Community - (New Course)
The Study of Religion

Religion 1016: The Shock of the Old: Conference Course

Religion 1305. Emerging Topics in Greek Religion
Religion 1418. The Apostle Paul: His Letters, His Cities, and His Legacy
Religion 2348ab. Archaeology and the World of the New Testament: Seminar