Fantastic Archaeology and Pseudoscience

Catalog description

Archaeology, like any other science, is no stranger to today's world of half-truths and "alternative facts." In this course, you will acquire the tools to form critical opinions about scientific archaeological phenomena and become able to take apart shaky arguments based on incomplete, false, or nonexistent evidence. We will examine case studies and dispel archaeological myths and mysteries often depicted as fantastic or cult archaeology through field trips, lectures, and hands-on assignments. You will also learn how and why people with particular social, cultural, and political agendas create, appropriate, and promote pseudoarchaeological claims to further their causes, and how these claims and other pseudoscientific interpretations can and have caused real harm to society. Graded on A-F basis only. Credit Hour s : 3