300046 VO Archaeological Site Formation (2025S)
Labels
Registration/Deregistration
Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).
Details
Language: German, English
Examination dates
- N Thursday 03.07.2025 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 1.4, Biologie Djerassiplatz 1, 1.013, Ebene 1
- Tuesday 22.07.2025 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 1.4, Biologie Djerassiplatz 1, 1.013, Ebene 1
- Thursday 18.09.2025 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 1.4, Biologie Djerassiplatz 1, 1.013, Ebene 1
- Thursday 02.10.2025 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 1.4, Biologie Djerassiplatz 1, 1.013, Ebene 1
Lecturers
Classes
Thursday 13.03.2025 Introduction and Site Formation
Thursday 20.03.2025 Geoarchaeology and Stratigraphy
Thursday 27.03.2025 Sediments & Soil Science
Thursday 03.04.2025 Excavation and Archiving– Online recording/Virtual
Thursday 10.04.2025 Microarchaeology
Thursday 08.05.2025 Depositional Contexts I
Thursday 15.05.2025 Depositional Contexts II
Thursday 22.05.2025 Anthropogenic Processes I – Online recording/Virtual
Thursday 05.06.2025 Anthropogenic Processes II
Thursday 12.06.2025 Formation history of biomolecules
Thursday 26.06.2025 no lecture
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
Assessment and permitted materials
Written test (multiple choice) or oral examination. No aids allowed.
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
An understanding of how the archaeological and paleoanthropological record forms and how this formation history impacts interpretations of data.
Examination topics
As presented in the lectures
Reading list
Karkanas and Goldberg, 2018. Reconstructing Archaeological Sites: Understanding the Geoarchaeological Matrix. John Wiley
Kinne, A. 2019. Tabellen und Tafeln zur Grabungstechnik. 9. Edition.
Schiffer, M.B., Toward the identification of formation processes, in American Antiquity 48, 4, 675-706, 1983.
Stolz and Miller, 2022. Geoarchäologie. Springer
Weiner, 2010. Microarchaeology. Cambridge University Press
Kinne, A. 2019. Tabellen und Tafeln zur Grabungstechnik. 9. Edition.
Schiffer, M.B., Toward the identification of formation processes, in American Antiquity 48, 4, 675-706, 1983.
Stolz and Miller, 2022. Geoarchäologie. Springer
Weiner, 2010. Microarchaeology. Cambridge University Press
Association in the course directory
MAN W1, MAN 3
Last modified: We 21.05.2025 10:26
To study human evolution, we excavate materials, human fossils, charcoal for dating, sediment DNA, cultural and faunal remains. What materials preserve through time, how and and why, that is the main question of site formation studies. This lecture will present an overview based on recent studies of the formation history of the archaeological and paleoanthropological record – from past behaviors and environments over to the incomplete deposition and preservation of their physical remains to the excavation, analysis and archiving of materials. The different disciplines and research field concerned with site formation will be presented and discussed as well.