Dig up her bones..

November 13, 2007 12:20 PM

I have a research paper to write for my Archeology class. It can be on anything, as long as it pertains to archeology, i.e., technique, a tool used, etc. Any suggestions on a topic that would be interesting and relatively easy to find information on?

The professor doesn't care about length as long as it demonstrates knowledge of the topic. Any links or resources would be welcome as well. Thanks!

posted by Breo to education (26 comments total)

This post on the front page might have something you can work with.
posted by OmieWise at 12:21 PM on November 13, 2007

microscopy and archeology.

Or, a paper on Harrison Ford.
posted by ian1977 at 12:27 PM on November 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

One of the big things in archeology right now is the archeology of the domicile -- the spatial arrangement of our belongings and how that influences, and is influenced by, socionomic strata, ethnic and religious upbringing, even the psychosexual determinants on personality.

You won't find a lot about this yet in the internets because the emerging scholarship is as yet pretty thin. But it might be worth a phone call to a couple of the universities that are exploring this branch of the field. Murray State is one, Whittier is another, and there's a third I can't remember right now.

Hope this helps!

Todd Lokken
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 12:30 PM on November 13, 2007 [2 favorites]

Does it need to be on the process of archeology or on a subject within archaeology? I like finding interesting topics, so I did a paper in my archaeology courses on plantation archaeology (a sub-section of urban archaeology). For my Southeastern Indians course,

I also did a paper on what Europeans were seeing during the colonial period regarding the Native Americans. I was able to use that to "cross polinate" a paper I wrote for English on early London newspapers and their reporting on Colonial issues.
posted by slavlin at 12:30 PM on November 13, 2007

Forensic archeology perhaps?
posted by fallenposters at 12:41 PM on November 13, 2007

Legal issues of whether artifacts & remains can be taken from their country of origin. Also, native American remains / graveyard custody issues.

May not be your area, but I bet you could find a ton of information online about this kind of thing, and it is important.
posted by amtho at 1:05 PM on November 13, 2007

I always like high quality scientific papers that the casual reader can appreciate and even enjoy. Accordingly, how about writing on the topic of how archeology is depicted in popular culture, such as movies? Which parts of archeology are so "visual" that they become stereotypical for movies? How is the archaeologist portrayed? How is the relation between the archaeologist and the natives portrayed? Heck, if you do a good enough job, maybe we will read about your paper here on Mefi. Needless to say, you could further narrow your topic to a certain period (ancient Egypt) or ideology (feminism -> female archaeologists -> "brainy bombshells and clumsy dorks").

Maybe somewhat flimsy, but at least it will be a paper that potentially could be read by more people than your supervisor and yourself ;) Trust me, I've written a couple of those myself.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 1:11 PM on November 13, 2007

The earthworks of the Ohio valley are jaw-dropping to see, and, I think, a tad under-researched. I'm especially fond of Fort Ancient and the solstice markers (the earliest in North America, I believe) nearby.
posted by minervous at 1:30 PM on November 13, 2007

I'd look for something local--local burial grounds or earthworks or colonial sites, etc. Then you could actually go there and take pictures and such, and you'd have something interesting to tell your fellow students.
posted by MrMoonPie at 1:32 PM on November 13, 2007

Google archaeology might be cool, too.
posted by MrMoonPie at 1:38 PM on November 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

The best papers are ones that you write about something you actually care about, rather than some random topic that you got from a bunch of strangers on the Internet. Of course, if you don't care about the class and just want to get an easy C with the least amount of work, then nothing I say will make any difference to you anyway.
posted by matildaben at 1:52 PM on November 13, 2007

The debate over the James ossuary was pretty interesting, if biblical archaeology is within the provenance of your course.
posted by AngerBoy at 2:03 PM on November 13, 2007

I just visited the Gray Fossil Site in TN, which is near my home town. It was really incredible, and may turn out to be one of the most significant Miocene sites ever found. It was a water hole that became a sink hole that contains an estimated 10,000 skeletons. They've already made some significant finds, given the limited resources. There are only three paid archeologists, and some volunteers. Tapirs, rhinos, alligators, red pandas, badgers, and shovel tusk elephants have already been found, and more stuff is washing out of the hillside with every rain. It was a really cool.
posted by kimdog at 2:13 PM on November 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

Mormons and archeology perhaps?

IANAM, but am fascinated by how much energy/time/money Mormons have put into archeology in the hope of finding some backing for the prophecies of Joseph Smith, only to have archeology consistenly disprove pretty much everything he said.

The article that turned me on to the whole dilemma they face appears here.
posted by subajestad at 2:27 PM on November 13, 2007

Aforementioned article.
posted by subajestad at 2:32 PM on November 13, 2007

Um, the Gray Fossil Site is a Miocene site. The Miocene runs about 23-5 million years ago. That's paleontology, not archaeology. If they're paying archaeologists, I want in.

Also, I've read a decent amount on the archaeology of the household. I don't know why it's new and upcoming - maybe it's framed that way, or something - but if you're looking at spatial analysis, it's been brought up for a while, especially in archaeological studies that aren't afraid to deal with sociology and other more anthro-focused branches.

That being said...anything archaeological? That's awfully broad. Find something that interests you - medicine, moose, marbles, mastabas - and then find a time and place. If you want to look at technique, and you want something painful, how about the way that chronology is really difficult to establish in the US? Without knowing what areas you like - everyone has a favorite culture - it's hard to suggest something you'll really sink your teeth into. (On the off-chance you're into the Phoenicians, Neo-Assyrians, landscape studies or Anglo-American mortuary studies, give me a MeMail.)
posted by cobaltnine at 3:22 PM on November 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

Archaeology News
Archaeology Magazine
American Journal of Archaeology
Archaeological Research Resources
Google Scholar
posted by desuetude at 3:46 PM on November 13, 2007 [2 favorites]

I like reading about underwater archaeology, especially all the early people who explored shipwrecks and got the bends and yikes!
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 4:29 PM on November 13, 2007

As a professor, I'm really offended by posts like this. You're being graded for, among other things, your creativity in coming up with a topic with an open-ended assignment like this. If I found out that you'd been recommended the topic by somebody on here, I'd give you an F for the paper and would consider pursuing academic misconduct charges.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 6:23 PM on November 13, 2007

Thanks to all for some great suggestions, I was really hoping for some interesting topics to research. We've talked a bit about both the "domicile archeology" and the remains rights of Native Americans, I think either of those would be worth writing about. Fort Ancient is another great topic suggestion, that place is amazing. There are so many interesting ideas on here that i'd hate to mark just one a best answer. Although there are some suggested ideas that may be a little too lofty for an Intro class, they are definitely topics of interest to me, so thanks either way.

I was shocked at how many people(I guess a few got deleted) suggested the Creationism museum, I'm hoping that was a joke...
posted by Breo at 6:56 PM on November 13, 2007

seconding ethnomethodologist.

One way to deal with such an assignment other than asking other people, is to ask yourself, "what in the world today am I interested in?" Then, transfer that domain of behaviour to the past, think about the material cultre byproducts of that behaviour, think about how durable such material is, how would you find the evidence, how would you analyse it, etc.

For example - interested in networks? Look up archaeology and social network analysis. Interested in football? Look into archaeology of ball games. Interested in cars? History of the wheel. Eating out? Animal remains in archaeology. Beer? Origin of fermentation. Bicycles? Why didn't the Romans have bikes. God? Origin of religion. Chemistry? Stable isotope analysis for dietary reconstruction. Physics? How were the pyramids built? Sex? Rock art depictions of sex. Economics? Tokens and currency in archaeology. Neuroscience? Entoptic phenomena in rock art. Psychology? Cognitive analyses of stone tools.

Since archaeology covers all of human diversity it is transferable like this, and since it is highly interdisciplinary, if you are interested in even one thing there is likely a archaeological correlate of that thing.
posted by Rumple at 7:11 PM on November 13, 2007

If I found out that you'd been recommended the topic by somebody on here, I'd give you an F for the paper and would consider pursuing academic misconduct charges.

whaaa!? if i found out that i got an F on a paper just because i asked for help in choosing a topic, you can bet your ph.d i'd go straight to the dean's office and raise a big stink.

asking around for suggestions on a topic is so far from academic misconduct it's laughable. there is nothing unethical about this behavior, and if i found out that one of my students cast a wide net in choosing a topic for a paper, i would be pleased.

creativity doesn't happen in a vacuum, everyone needs somewhere to start, and i don't understand why you think there's something wrong about this. in asking for input from a large group, this student is exposed to things that might not be covered in class and surely there is value in that. for the sake of your students, please reconsider your awful attitude.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 9:38 PM on November 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

Underwater Panther ?
posted by fidelity at 10:35 AM on November 14, 2007

Thanks to all for some great suggestions, I was really hoping for some interesting topics to research. We've talked a bit about both the "domicile archeology" and the remains rights of Native Americans, I think either of those would be worth writing about.

The really interesting thing about that topic? I totally pulled it out of my ass. If this catches on please remember me in your Nobel lecture.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 11:10 AM on November 14, 2007

I knew it! All the papers I read were from the 70s anyway (like the one about children's play manipulating the scatter in an archaeological record - done by some guy and his 3-year old and a bunch of rusty cans.)
posted by cobaltnine at 12:29 PM on November 14, 2007

ethnomethodologist, I would suggest that you are completely out of touch with the world as it works today. Every form of business in existence today (and academics is a business, though the currency is different) relies on networking and input from others. It is professors with attitudes like that which convinced me that going back for a masters or PhD would be worthless to me in the real world unless I planned to teach.
posted by slavlin at 9:22 PM on November 14, 2007