Anthropology 462 - Archaeology/ Ancient Near East

We will investigate cultural developments in Mesopotamia and the surrounding regions using methods from across the disciplinary spectrum. Although the class will engage with historical, documentary, and artifactual data sets, we will also investigate how climate science, skeletal biology, zoology, and botany can help us understand farming, health, and diet. We will use methods from geology and material science to explore trade and the movements of resources and people around the region. And we will use approaches from economics, political science, and anthropology to investigate the emergence and maintenance of social inequality and the state in the Ancient Near East between 3500 and 300 BC.

Pre Req: ANTHRO 102 or 150