School of Archaeology

History of Archaeology (Archaeo 202) is a graduate seminar course that focuses on the development of Archaeology as a scientific discipline from 20^th century into the 21st, with special emphasis on past and present theoretical and epistemological issues that primarily concern the following: “the nature and explanation of culture similarities and differences, social and cultural reproduction and transformation over time, and the central role of materiality in those processes.” We will consecutively discuss “first principles” (“archaeology as an academic discipline, epistemology and explanation, the role of theory in archaeological interpretation, and the key concepts of culture and time”), theoretical approaches for explaining culture change (from culture history to interaction theories), as well as contemporary theories for explaining cultural reproduction and transformation (interpretive and relational approaches). We will also discuss how these theoretical approaches are being applied in the archaeologies of the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and even the Indo-Pacific region. Thus, this course is treated as a seminar on the history of archaeological thought.

This course is corequisite with Archaeo 201 (Foundations of Archaeology) and designed to aid with the professional growth of graduate students at UP-School of Archaeology. Students from other related graduate disciplines can also take this course. Students enrolled in this course are also expected to do background reading in archaeological methods and interpretation (from Archaeo 201, etc.) to comprehend culture historical, processual, postprocessual, and contemporary archaeologies. Since this is NOT a lecture course, it depends on the comprehension and discussion of the readings by the students. Hence, they are required to carefully read these materials so they can reflect on, discuss, disagree with, and understand the major theoretical discourses. Students who complete this course should be familiar with various theoretical approaches for explaining culture change, making them critical of the related and recent literature on the application of these approaches, making them also prepared for advanced seminar courses in contemporary theory, as well as capable of conducting independent and theoretically informed research.