Anthropology

What’s archaeology again? The study of the human material world over time and space is a good definition we’ve used. But nowhere in there does it say anything about the past! At the end of the archaeology section (and check out the Rathje reading as well!), I described “Contemporary Archaeology”–applying archaeological observation to the present–which makes it clear why. Archaeology is just studying people through stuff–material anthropology–and you can do that at any time, even now! Your turn! Again, leave your home (safely!) and look around you as an archaeologist of the contemporary. What can material culture tell you about the culture that surrounds you? You can also do this in and around your home if you want, given the travel restrictions we’re still under. In your initial post, provide at least two observations, based on material culture ALONE (not observed behavior, writing, your pre-existing knowledge, etc.): ONE that answers some specific factual question, and ONE that addresses a more anthropological question (remember Rathje) about culture. These can be two separate things you observe or two statements about the same thing. Provide a picture (again, if this is impossible for you a detailed description and extra long post will do) of an object or assemblage and explain your conclusion. In your responses, you can ask questions about other objects in the area, hypothesize about other explanations and/or ways of testing them, and/or extend the discussion of the original post’s ideas. Credit is given for the most original and least-obvious observations! Have fun! Here is an example of what im looking for, here are two pictures from around campus: Fig 1.jpg Fig 2.jpg The first shows that this society probably drives on the right, as they much more frequently move to their right when they have to make a choice, shown by the wear on the right-hand door handle compared to the left. The second, in case you can’t see them clearly, is from behind the CASL building not 15 feet from a “no smoking” sign, and shows at least half a dozen cigarette butts. Here, I could discuss the fact that our campus is smoke-free, and yet clearly many occupants of the space break this rule. I could discuss the biological aspects of addiction pushing people to break rules, and/or power relations, as the cigarette butts suggest a pattern of regular rule-breaking and the smoke-free policy implies a paternalistic relationship between the University and the campus population. Note how what I’m discussing here is about culture, not just drawing a conclusion like, “there are cigarette butts so we know people smoke here” or “people like breaking the rules.” The first is pretty obvious doesn’t address culture and the second makes assumptions about intent and broader patterns that there is no evidence for here. So use your observations to

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