Historical Archaeology
Anthropology P330
Final Exam Preparation
Fall 2006
Dr. Mullins

The final exam will be an open notes, open book exam held on WEDNESDAY, DEC. 13 at 6:00-8:40 in the usual classroom.  This will be your only reminder of the exam date; forgetting the exam time will not be a sufficient excuse for missing it.

The exam will be composed of several long essays and some shorter definitions.  You may prepare for the exam in any way you choose and bring any notes, books, or written preparation with you to the exam.  Do not plan to share notes or readings with classmates during the exam.  Do not prepare essays prior to the exam period and plan to hand them in during the exam; on the final exam, I will change the wording of essays as they're phrased here and usually ask more narrow questions.

You can prepare your final exam in class on your laptop and email the essays to me at exam's end.  You can also write them by hand

   Email me if you have any questions.

            I will ask the first essay question.  You will be expected to provide the precise definition outlined in lecture.

1.  What is historical archaeology?  What are the five elements of the definition provided in lecture?

2.  What is the “Georgian Revolution”?  Deetz argues that there are significant sociocultural and material changes during this period, and he focuses on shifts in ceramics and dining material culture, architecture, and gravestones.  What are the key changes in each of these classes of material culture, and how does each illuminate the Georgian Revolution?

3.  What were the four basic constituencies for historic preservation and archaeology between 1850 and 1940?  Why were each of these groups interested in historical preservation?  Why did Colonial Williamsburg construct itself the way it did; i.e., what were the social factors which influenced the interpretations at Colonial Williamsburg from the 1920s to 1950s?

4.  What has been Colonial Williamsburg's central interpretive goal since the 1930s?  How does it achieve that goal materially (i.e., how is the restored town organized and reconstructed in a way which attempts to fulfill that goal)?

5.  What is structuralism?  How does Deetz define a mindset (a.k.a., worldview)?

6. How does Henry Glassie define material forms like houses as "performances"?  In what ways is a house a performance in a vernacular culture?

7.  What are "Africanisms"?  In what ways is colonoware an example of an Africanism in material culture?  How is Africanisms an example of ethnic markers research?  What other sorts of material goods are examples of ethnic markers research?  How does Leland Ferguson approach African symbolism in African-American ceramics as a form of resistance?

8.  How is John Solomon Otto's study of status at the Georgia plantation Cannon's Point an example of a status study?  How does Otto examine status using archaeological material culture?  What are his basic findings about the different material patterns within the single plantation's various groups?

9.  Steven Shephard's study of socioeconomic status in Alexandria is similar to Otto's study.  What are the three variables Shephard studies in ceramics?  What are his conclusions about the capacity of each variable to reveal socioeconomic status?  In what ways is Susan Henry's study of status in Phoenix an example of socioeconomic status research?  What are the potential liabilities of socioeconomic status studies?

10.  What does collecting seek to do?  What is possessive individualism?  What makes something a "good" collection?

11.  What is the difference between ethnicity and race?  What basic forms do ethnicity studies tend to take in historical archaeology?

12.  What is the focus of an engendered archaeology?  What is the gender attribution myth?  How could an archaeology be considered feminist?

13.  What is the difference between a Puritanical and Romantic consumer?  How does the modern consumer typically demonstrate elements of each type of material ethic?

14.   How does Foucault define discipline?  How are toothbrushes an example of discipline?

15.  What is a manufacture-deposition lag analysis?  How is it computed?

16.  Why does Neil Silberman suggest particular elements in Near Eastern archaeology are ignored or evaded?

17.  How does Foucault define power and surveillance?  Where might we be able to “see” power and surveillance in the material world?  For instance, how are baroque town plans like that in Annapolis (or landscapes such as William Paca’s garden) “surveillance” mechanisms?  What is panopticism?

 18. What are the two historical periods on which most histories of consumption have focused? What are the key transformations in each period?

Last updated November 29, 2006