Contacts | Program of Study | Program Requirements | Introductory Courses | Methods Courses | Electives Courses | Fieldwork Component | Summary of Requirements for the Major in Archaeology | Minor in Archaeology  | Summary of Requirements for the Minor in Archaeology | Process of Declaring the Major or Minor | Grading | Honors | Courses

Program of Study

The major in Archaeology offers an interdepartmental training in the practice and theory of the field, which seeks to understand past human cultures through objects, spaces, and landscapes. The major provides exposure to prehistoric and historic societies across the globe as well as engages students in a variety of disciplinary approaches to archaeology, including anthropological, art historical, scientific, and area-studies fields. Students who graduate with the major in archaeology will not only have gained some technical “know-how” and field experience in how archaeology is conducted through a diverse range of methods, but will also be able to place knowledge of the past into larger intellectual frameworks concerning social organization and the use of material culture as a source of information for understanding cultures past and present.

Program Requirements

Students who complete a major in Archaeology will receive the degree of Bachelor of Arts. To qualify for the BA, students must minimally satisfy the general education requirements and take an additional 12 required courses for the major, which fall into three categories:

1. Introductory Courses, which engage students with the core questions, intellectual history, and analytical methods that unify archaeological research. (400 units)
2. Methods Courses, which  introduce students to the practical techniques used by archaeologists as they collect data and analyze objects. (300 units)
3. Elective Courses, which provide breadth and depth in the interdisciplinary range of archaeology courses. Students may choose to focus on particular periods or cultures, on additional methods training, or on thematic courses. (500 units)

While there is no single pathway through these categories, students are highly encouraged to begin with the introductory courses and should consult with the Program Chair as early as possible to develop a plan that suits their interests, schedules, and career plans.

Introductory Courses

The four required introductory courses establish the foundation for the major through engaging students with a mixture of methods and theory, surveys of the history of the field, global cultural histories, and overviews of core concepts and trending developments. These courses are meant to expose students to the practice of the discipline of archaeology, including concepts of stratigraphy, dating techniques, types of archaeological data and their quantitative and statistical analysis, laboratory methods, and field techniques. They also introduce students to the broader intellectual trends of the social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences and the field’s interpretations of evidence over the last two centuries. In addition, the courses serve as an introduction to a global history of human cultural developments through their material practices.

NEAA 20100	Introduction to Archaeology	100
NEAA 20330	Archaeological Theory	100
ANTH 26900	Archaeological Data Sets	100
ARKE 20200	World Archaeology	100
Total Units		400

Methods Courses

The Archaeology major requires students to develop an understanding of the various methods used in archaeological fieldwork and object analysis by taking three courses (300 units). Method courses should introduce and train students in the techniques and theory behind particular analyses of material objects, spatial information, or textual materials such as manuscripts and archives. Existing methods offerings include ceramic and lithic analysis, zooarchaeology, Geographical Information Systems, archaeology and archives, ancient DNA, and ethnoarchaeology, among others.

ANTH 20007	People's Garbage: Intro to Archaeology & Histories of Waste	100
ANTH 28400	Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology: Approaches to the Past	100
ANTH 29500	Archaeology Laboratory Practicum	100
Archaeological Experiments in Filmmaking		100
ARTH 44002	COSI Objects & Materials Seminar	100
BIOS 22270	Bones and Genes: The Story of Homo Sapiens	100
CLCV 21700	Archaeology for Ancient Historians	100
NEAA 10020	Ceramic Analysis in Archaeology	100
NEAA 20035	Introduction to Zooarchaeology	100
NEAA 20061	Ancient Landscapes I *	100
NEAA 20062	Ancient Landscapes II *	100

*	While NEAA 20061 and 20062 are intended to be taken as a sequence, they may count as individual methods courses depending on student interest.

Electives Courses

Electives provide students the chance to explore their interest in archaeology-related material, particularly through thematic seminars on topics like death and burial, inequality, and gender, as well as in-depth studies of the material and visual culture of certain times and places in world history. There is a wide range of archaeological and archaeology-adjacent course options in domains such as material studies, art history, cultural heritage, and social theory that would be applicable. Students are encouraged to work with faculty to choose electives that cater to their interests and/or career or postgraduate goals.

A list of pre-approved electives is provided below. Other pre-approved electives include any methods course and any courses with an "ARKE" course code, though note that any course used to fulfill a different requirement in the major (e.g., methods) cannot also count as an elective. Otherwise, students may petition the Program Chair for permission to count specific courses as electives.

ANTH 20014	Animal Magnetism: Histories of Human-Animal Relationships	100
ANTH 20100	The Inca And Aztec States	100
ANTH 21265	The Celts: Ancient, Modern, and Postmodern	100
ANTH 21270	Material Worlds Across Premodern East Asia	100
ANTH 26100	Ancient Celtic Societies	100
ANTH 26330	Making the Maya World	100
ANTH 26825	Heritage, Memory, and the Affective Turn: Performing and Consuming the Past	100
Archaeology of Race and Ethnicity		100
ARTH 14107	Greek Art and Archaeology	100
ARTH 16100	Art of the East: China	100
ARTH 20603	Image and Text in Mesoamerican Codices	100
ARTH 23010	From Ground to Gallery: Visual Culture of the Ancient Near East	100
ARTH 24602	Image, Medium and Context of Chinese Pictorial Art	100
ARTH 25105	Chichen Itza	100
ARTH 25106	Art & Urbanism at Teotihuacan	100
ARTH 25300	Art and Pilgrimage from Antiquity to Christianity	100
ARTH 28330	Art and Religion from the Roman to the Christian Worlds	100
CLCV 20100	This is Sparta (or Is It?)	100
CLCV 20700	Ancient Mediterranean World I: Greece	100
CLCV 23024	Gender Archaeology	100
CLCV 23516	Environment and Society in the Ancient Mediterranean	100
CLCV 23922	Haves and Have-Nots: Class, Status, and Wealth in the Ancient World.	100
CLCV 24622	Death and Burial	100
CLCV 27116	The Greek Countryside	100
CLCV 27320	Greek Archaeology in 20 Objects	100
EALC 28010	Archaeology of Anyang: Bronzes, Inscriptions, and World Heritage	100
EALC 28015	Archaeology of Bronze Age China	100
EALC 28901	Discovering Ancient East Asia: Archaeology of China, Korea, and Japan	100
NEAA 20001	Introduction to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East I - Mesopotamia	100
NEAA 20002	Archaeology of the Ancient Near East II: Anatolia	100
NEAA 20030	The Rise of the State in the Ancient Near East	100
NEAA 20070	Intro to the Archaeology of Afghanistan	100
NEAA 20161	Topics in Mesopotamian Prehistory: The Ubaid Horizon & Origins of Social Complexity in Mesopotamia	100
NEAA 20162	Topics: Mesopotamian History II: Uruk Mesopotamia and Neighbor	100
NEAA 20322	Ancient Levant-II: The Iron Age and Persian Period	100
NEAA 20332	Trade and Exchange in the Ancient Near East	100
NEAA 20428	Indian Ocean Trade: an overview from Late Antiquity to the 17th century	100
NEAA 20511	The Archaeology of Egypt I	100
The Gulf and Eastern Arabia from Prehistory to Islam		100
NEHC 20010	Social Theory and Ancient Studies	100
NEHC 20085	BIG: Monumental Buildings and Sculptures in the Past and Present	100
NEHC 20121	The Bible and Archaeology	100
NEHC 20464	Did Climate Doom the Ancients?	100

Fieldwork Component

In order to gain hands-on experience with the practice of archaeological inquiry and analysis, the Archaeology major requires students to participate in at least one season of fieldwork at some point during their undergraduate career. Fieldwork takes many forms, and exactly what counts toward this requirement will be at the discretion of the Program Chair. Joining an excavation is the obvious way to complete the requirement but other forms of fieldwork include archaeological surveys (site discovery), underwater archaeology, or other types of archaeology-related activities such as a curatorial internship in a museum or laboratory. The goal is for all students to enjoy a productive learning experience in a practical archaeological setting.

Students are encouraged to begin thinking about participation in a fieldwork or museum project by their third year, in consultation with the Program Chair, who can provide guidance on finding projects that they can join and that meets their interests. Students participating in archaeological fieldwork not led by UChicago faculty will submit documentation (including hosting institution, principal investigator, dates, visa requirements, and project website) to the Program Chair for confirmation that it meets the fieldwork requirement. In addition, all students submit a brief post-fieldwork assessment of the project and the skills they learned while participating in it, by the fifth week of the final quarter before they graduate (normally, spring quarter of their fourth year).

The Program Chair and faculty board will work with students to ensure that this requirement can be met by all students in a rewarding and productive way regardless of financial means or other circumstances of accessibility.

Summary of Requirements for the Major in Archaeology

NEAA 20100	Introduction to Archaeology	100
NEAA 20330	Archaeological Theory	100
ANTH 26900	Archaeological Data Sets	100
ARKE 20200	World Archaeology	100
Methods Courses		300
Elective Courses		500
Fieldwork Participation		000
Total Units		1200

Minor in Archaeology 

The Archaeology minor requires six total courses: Introduction to Archaeology, one of the three required introductory courses (Archaeological Theory, Archaeological Data Sets, or World Archaeology), and four electives courses. Some students may choose to specialize in a particular geographic or thematic area, while others may choose to take courses in a wide range of fields and geographies. Minor courses may not be double-counted with other majors or minors.

Summary of Requirements for the Minor in Archaeology

NEAA 20100	Introduction to Archaeology	100
One of the following:		100
NEAA 20330	Archaeological Theory
ANTH 26900	Archaeological Data Sets
ARKE 20200	World Archaeology
Elective Courses		400
Total Units		600

Process of Declaring the Major or Minor

College students from any field of study may complete a major or minor in Archaeology. It is recommended that students declare before their third year. Students are also encouraged to construct individual programs depending on their interests and should regularly consult with the Program Chair, as well as their College adviser, about their pathway through the program. 

In order to declare a major in Archaeology, students should confer with their College adviser then meet with the Program Chair to fill out a Program Worksheet. To declare a minor, students should fill out the Minor Consent form, to be signed by the Program Chair.

Students interested in double majoring in Archaeology and another field are encouraged to discuss their plans with their College adviser and the Program Chair.

Grading

The four required seminar courses must be taken for quality grades. In exceptional circumstances, students who are majoring in Archaeology may petition to allow a course taken for a pass/fail grade to count toward other the requirements of the major. Students wishing to do so should consult with the Program Chair. A pass grade is to be given only for work of C– quality or higher. Students should also consult with their College adviser about the appropriateness of pass/fail grading options in their larger program of study.

Honors

Students who wish to receive a BA in Archaeology with Honors must carry out an independent research project that culminates in a written thesis. To be eligible for consideration of honors status, students must:

• submit a research proposal (no more than three pages) by the end of the fifth week of the third quarter before the student graduates (canonically Autumn Quarter of the fourth year) that is approved by a selected Faculty Reader
• have an overall GPA of 3.25 or above by the time of proposal submission
• have a GPA of 3.5 or above in courses counting towards the Archaeology major by the time of proposal submission
• receive the grade of A on their thesis as determined by their Faculty Reader and the Program Chair, which should be an original piece of research that engages with archaeological theories, analysis of evidence, and/or intellectual history. Theses should be between 25-35 pages.

The thesis must be submitted by the third week of the quarter in which the student plans to graduate (typically Spring Quarter of the student’s fourth year). Theses should be emailed as PDFs to the Program Chair and to their Faculty Reader.

This program may accept an Honors thesis or project used to satisfy the same requirement in another major with the consent of both program directors. Students should consult with the relevant program directors by the earliest BA proposal deadline, or by the end of their third year if neither program publishes a deadline. The Petition to Use a Single Bachelor's Paper for Two Majors form, to be signed by both program directors, must be completed and returned to the College adviser by the end of Autumn Quarter of the student's year of graduation.