• Offered by School of Archaeology and Anthropology
  • ANU College ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
  • Course subject Archaeology
  • Areas of interest Archaeology
  • Academic career UGRD
  • Mode of delivery In Person
  • Offered in First Semester 2017
    See Future Offerings

How many courses do you know that provide tools required to unravel past lives from ancient sites and objects? This course aims to do just that, giving you an introduction to archaeology and the various techniques archaeologists use to investigate the past. Archaeologists dig holes in the ground, but they also work underwater, in museums and in laboratories. You will learn about all these archaeologies, get hands-on experience working with archaeological materials and develop skills required to review and interpret the archaeological literature.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

Upon Successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Apply essential skills for classifying and interpreting archaeological materials;
  2. Understand the diversity of archaeological techniques and their roles in uncovering information about past peoples;
  3. Critique archaeological excavation reports and evaluate the quality of fieldwork and the conclusions reached; and
  4. Identify objects in museum collections and reflect on the information they contain.

Indicative Assessment

Review of an archaeological excavation report (1500 words, 15%) [Learning Outcomes 2,3]

Essay about a museum object (2500 words, 25%) [Learning Outcomes 1,2,4]

Portfolio of worksheets completed during tutorials (25%) [Learning Outcomes 1,2]

Short answer exam (3 hours, held during the formal examination period (35%) [Learning Outcomes 1,2]

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Workload

130 hours of total student learning time made up from: a) 36 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 24 hours of lectures and 12 hours of laboratories; and b) 94 hours of film screenings and independent student research, reading and writing.

Requisite and Incompatibility

Incompatible PREH1111

Prescribed Texts

McIntosh, H. The Practical Archaeologist: How We Know What We Know About the Past. 2nd Rev edition, Checkmark Books, 1999.

Renfrew, C. & Bahn P. 2008. Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice. 5th Ed. London: Thames and Hudson (other editions are fine).

Majors

Minors

Fees

Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.  

If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.

Student Contribution Band:
1
Unit value:
6 units

If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.  Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.

Units EFTSL
6.00 0.12500
Domestic fee paying students
Year Fee
2017 $2856
International fee paying students
Year Fee
2017 $4080
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.

The list of offerings for future years is indicative only.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.

First Semester

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
2032 20 Feb 2017 27 Feb 2017 31 Mar 2017 26 May 2017 In Person N/A

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