Improving Undergraduate Instruction in Anthropological Field Methods

本项目资助人类学课程的改进，通过开设一门关于实地方法的新课程，在课程中增加方法论的组成部分。虽然新课程可以直接针对人类学四个分支学科中的任何一个的实地方法，但这里使用了考古学的观点。本课程增加了人类学课程的方法论内容，并为学生提供了发展实地考察所需技能的机会。本课程帮助学生将他们在课堂上学到的理论知识与实地工作的实际情况结合起来。该项目资助高科技设备，如测量设备、计算机、打印机和软件包。本研究的主要目的是研究波多黎各Tibes考古遗址社会复杂性的发展及其对史前家庭的影响。研究策略是分阶段设计的，从对场地进行探测和绘制地图的试点阶段开始。这个初始阶段的结果被用来完善方法论，决定未来挖掘的地点，并做出必要的调整，以改善课程的形式。第二阶段包括在前一年选定的地区进行更广泛的挖掘。

This project funds improvements in the anthropology curriculum by adding a methodological component to the curriculum through a new class on field methods. Although the new class can be directed toward field methods of any of the four subdisciplines of anthropology, here an archaeological perspective is used. This course increases the methodological content of the anthropology program and offers the students an opportunity to develop the skills necessary for doing fieldwork. The course helps students combine their knowledge of theoretical issues learned in the classrooms with the realities of fieldwork. The project funds high technological equipment such as surveying equipment, computers, a printer, and software packages. The main aim of the research is to study the development of social complexity and its effect on prehistoric households in the archaeological site of Tibes, Puerto Rico. The research strategy has been designed in stages starting with a pilot stage where the site is probed and mapped. The results of this initial stage are used to refine the methodology, to decide the location of future excavations, and to make the adjustments necessary to improve the format of the course. The second stage consists of more extensive excavations in the areas selected the previous year.