AR Final Prompts

Short Answers are aimed to identify or describe in two or three sentences. Select five of the following eight Short Answer options.

Option 1: What is the goal of garbology? Explain one way that the study of garbage informs us of socio-economic organization.

Option 2: How do archaeologists determine the function of a space? What types of information does a purely functional perspective exclude?

Option 3: What is the major difference between etic and emic perspectives in archaeology and why is understanding this difference important?

Option 4: What is the Tomb of Askia? How does its protection help us understand the humanitarian aspect of cultural heritage?

Option 5: Describe the function and impact of the Ahnenerbe. Why is it that their “work” is categorized as pseudoarchaeology akin to popular television programs today, such as Ancient Aliens?

Option 6: Define institutional and domestic economies, and explain one major difference between them.

Option 7: Describe a case of excellent preservation and explain what we learned about the past from the case.

Option 8: Using one case study from class, explain two major reasons for the deliberate destruction and looting of sites by insurgent groups of people.

Short Responses ask that you identify, describe, explain, and/or evaluate within four to five sentences. Select three of the five Short Response options.

Option 1: From a Post-Processualist perspective, is the emergence of agriculture considered an advancement? Discuss two advantages and disadvantages of agriculture considering its effect on socio-economic organization.

Option 2: Describe the operational chain of looting. In doing so, emphasize the source/direction of demand, and explain two major justifications for purchasing/owning looted objects.

Option 3: Select ONE of the following methods of analysis. In your response, please include 1) the associated data and general state of preservation and 2) process of its recovery and analysis, as well as 3) what the resulting interpretations can tell us about the past.

  1. Archeobotanical (Paleoethnobotany) Analysis
  2. Zooarchaeology
  3. Absolute Dating
  4. Regional Analysis
  5. Remote Sensing
  6. Relative Dating
  7. Osteological Profiles

Option 4: Select ONE of the following pairs of scholars and compare and contrast their positions on either community engaged research or curatorial work within encyclopedic museums. In your response, please be sure to explain the strengths and weaknesses of both positions while also offering your opinion as to which is more logically sound.

  1. Alicia Odawale and Richard Hansen – Community Engaged Research in Archaeology
  2. James Cuno and Chip Colwell –Legacy Collections and Encyclopedic Museums

Option 5: Select TWO of the following terms and explain how they relate to the field of archaeology. In your response, please include an example of the way archaeologists engage with/resolve the legacies of the selected terms and also explain why it is important for them to do so.

  1. Nationalism
  2. Racism
  3. Anti-racism
  4. Ethnocentrism
  5. Colonialism
  6. Queer
  7. Feminist
  8. Indigenous
  9. Agency

Essay 1: Please write about four paragraphs each

You are a museum curator at the Quai Branly in Paris designing an exhibition of Benin Bronzes. Describe how you plan to exhibit these pieces and what narratives or attributes you intend to feature. Are you presenting the works as part of a shared human history or are they framed as the cultural heritage of the Benin people? How do you plan to reply to questions concerning repatriation or the colonial legacy of encyclopedic museums? Finally, how is your approach to museum curation informed or shaped by our present political climate? What do you hope to resolve or rectify in the process?

 

Essay 2: Using one example from class, explain how archaeology/archaeological data has been used to justify inequality in the past. How did this case marginalize and elevate specific populations at the time? What are the legacies of these inequities in today’s society? In your opinion, how can archaeology/archaeological data be utilized to support modern social justice issues that seek reparations and an equal future?

 

Essay 3: Examine the motivations of the four characters provided below, and take ONE position on the repatriation of the burial remains housed at the Hearst Museum, University of California at Berkeley. Consider your character’s perspective and what they stand to gain or lose—educationally, religiously, or otherwise—from the results of the execution of this NAGPRA case. Prepare your essay to support your position with at least three justifications of potential benefits and/or losses to sway the other participants in this case.

Context: NAGPRA – Hearst Museum Case