Time Schedule:
Adam K Freeburg
ARCHY 477
Seattle Campus
Archaeological history of the circumpolar arctic and subarctic from Pleistocene to the nineteenth century. Variability in human adaptation and social change in extreme cold environments such as Eurasian tundra, North Pacific rim, Beringia, and North American high arctic. Prerequisite: ARCHY 205.
Class description
Prehistoric inhabitants of the Arctic survived in environments and conditions that still, at times, fluster and defeat people equipped with 21st century technology. How did people adapt to life in the North and survive in such hostile types of landscapes? In this course, we will cover the archaeology of Arctic peoples of the globe with an emphasis on the North American Arctic, as well as ethnographic descriptions of people living similarly to their prehistoric ancestors. We also will consider present-day Arctic inhabitants as both recipients of millennia of Arctic technological and social adaptation and survival and modern participants in an increasingly global world.
Student learning goals
-Identify different ecological and cultural areas of the Arctic
-Critically review arguments on the development of social complexity
-Provide explanations for differing economic strategies of Arctic inhabitants
-Evaluate archaeology’s role in the cultural heritage of modern Arctic people
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
