| SES # | TOPICS | VOCABULARY SHEETS | HANDOUTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction | |||
| Lec1 | Introductory Remarks - Overview and Class and Lab Logistics | Sheet 1 (PDF) | |
| Lec2 | Archaeology: Nature and Goals; Historical Development as a Discipline | Sheet 2 (PDF) | |
| Unit 1 - Earlier Prehistory: A Brief Overview | |||
| Lec3 | Becoming Human: Early Hominids and the Earliest Technology | Sheet 3 (PDF) | Humanness (PDF) Early Site Formation Models (PDF) Synoptic Overview of Pleistocene Prehistory in the Old World (PDF) |
| Lec4 | Becoming Human: Early Humans and Emerging Cultural Behavior | Sheet 4 (PDF) | |
| Lec5 | Becoming Human: Modern Humans and the Advent of Modern Behaviors | Sheet 4 (cont.) | |
| Unit 2 - The Near East Case Study | |||
| Lec6 | Theoretical Perspectives; Variables to be Considered in Comparative Studies. The Environmental Setting for Domestication and the Evolution of Social Complexity in the Near East | Sheet 5 (PDF - 2.1 MB) | The Path to Social Complexity (PDF) |
| Lec7 | Pre-Neolithic Adaptations and the Natufian in the Near East | Sheet 5 (cont.) | Classification of Social Organization (PDF) Developments Immediately Preceding the "Agricultural Revolution" (PDF) Map of Major Topographic Units in the Middle East (PDF) Maps of Near East Vegetation and Environmental Zones: Figures 2-3 and 2-4 in |
| Lec8 | Domestication: Recognition, Processes and Impact | Sheet 5 (cont.) | The Domestication Process (PDF) |
| Lec9 | Origins and Expansion of Agriculture and Pastoralism in the Near East Context | Sheet 6 (PDF) | |
| Lec10 | Early Village Farming Communities: Geographic Expansion, Emerging Class Stratification and Centralization of Religion | Sheet 6 (cont.) | |
| Lec11 | The Earliest Stages of Urbanization: Ubaid and Eridu | Sheet 7 (PDF) | |
| Lec12 | Urbanization and City States: Uruk, Civilization and Writing | Sheet 7 (cont.) | |
| Lec13 | Urbanization and City States: Ur Political and Social Environments, Material Achievements, the Critical Factors Interacting in the Development of Stratified Society in the Near East | Sheet 8 (PDF) | |
| Lec14 | Refocusing on the Comparative Theme: Eurasia - The Americas | Sheet 8 (cont.) | |
| Unit 3 - The Mesoamerica Case Study | |||
| Lec15 | Peopling of The Americas. The Mesoamerican Environmental Setting: Lowlands and Highlands | Sheet 9 (PDF) | |
| Lec16 | Plant and Animal Domestication and the Emergence of Settled Village Life: Tehuacan and Oaxaca | Sheet 10 (PDF) | Wave Model of Peopling the New World (PDF) |
| Lec17 | Plant and Animal Domestication and the Emergence of Settled Village Life: Comparing Processes in Mesoamerica and the Near East | Sheet 10 (cont.) | Tehuacan Valley Sequence (PDF) |
| Lec18 | The Emergence of the Olmec and Early Lowland Civilization - La Venta | Sheet 11 (PDF) | |
| Lec19 | Olmec Accomplishments | Sheet 11 (cont.) | Notes on Recently Discovered Olmec Writing (PDF) |
| Lec20 | The Maya: The Rise of Tropical Rain Forest City-states | Sheet 12 (PDF) | |
| Lec21 | Maya Achievements and the Decline of the Classic Maya | Sheet 12 (cont.) | |
| Lec22 | Prof. Dorothy Hosler: West Mexican Metallurgy and its Importance in Interregional Contact | ||
| Lec23 | Teotihuacan: The Rise and Fall of a Highland State: its Social Consequences | ||
| Unit 4 - Decline and Collapse | |||
| Lec24 | Decline of Early Civilizations - Social, Political, Economic - An Examination of Potential Causes in Mesopotamia and Mesoamerica | Notes on Societal Collapse: Maya and Sumer (PDF) | |
| Lec25 | Decline of Early Civilizations (cont.) | ||
Table of Contents
Lecture Notes
Lecture Notes
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This page presents a set of vocabulary sheets that outline the key terms, concepts and characters covered in lectures, plus assorted handouts. Note that some vocabulary sheets are used for several lectures in a row.