NORTH AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY

Writing Course

Lewis C. Messenger (Skip)
Hamline University
1536 Hewitt Ave. Box 241
St. Paul, MN 55104
Office: 651-523-2862 Fax: 651-523-3170
smessenger@gw.hamline.edu

This course will document the cultural trajectories of North American Indian cultures emphasizing times prior to European colonization. We will examine the 20,000-plus-year archaeological record for evidence of the original migrations to the New World. Subsequent change, development, and diversity of cultural adaptations will be discussed as indicated by the archaeological record. The course will be organized around the culture areas of North America (e.g., the Arctic, Subarctic, Northwest, Midwest and Great Plains, Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, Great Basin, and California). Within each culture area we will trace the cultural developments that characterized them. While the paramount concern of this class will be to document prehistoric culture dynamics north of Mexico, we will spend some time discussing ancient Mesoamerica—both as an area with its own distinctive characteristics as well as one that may have in part influenced cultural developments to the north.

Teaching Statement
Approach, Rationale, and Overview
Matrix Principles
Institutional Context of Course
Course Development

Course Artifacts
Course Goals
Syllabus
Bibliography