archaeological debate.
Significant archaeological topics and discoveries often spark interest from a variety of scholars. In some cases, conflicting interpretations or controversial discoveries may result in unresolved debates. This assignment challenges you to conduct independent research into one of these debates and formulate an informed opinion. By completing this assignment students will:
• Investigate and summarize an archaeological debate.
• Find and synthesize information from at least 5 peer-reviewed articles that present various sides
of the debate.
• Formulate, articulate, and support a personal perspective on this debate.
The final paper requires students to select one of 6 different topics.
The topics include:
• Rice Domestication: When and how was rice domesticated and what were the implications of rice domestication to East Asian foodways and lifeways?
• Symbolism at Gobekli Tepe: What do the structures at Gobekli Tepe represent and which activities are likely to have been undertaken there?
• Pyramid Construction: How were the pyramids constructed and what can their construction tell us about Egyptian social structure?
• Purpose of Stonehenge: What was the purpose of Stonehenge and how might it have been connected to other locations on the landscape?
• Maya Collapse: How sudden was the collapse of the Maya Civilization and what is/are the most probably cause(s)?
• Influence of Cahokia: How significant was the influence of Cahokia and is Cahokia better considered a state or a chiefdom?
As part of your topic proposal, you must submit:
• An indication of the topic you selected.
• A full APA style citation for each of 5 relevant peer reviewed articles. (5 points)
• A short summary of each article (~50-100 words) indicating the article’s relevance and
contribution to the topic you selected (5 points)