Stanford University Dr. Patrick Hunt ARC 117W [email protected] Autumn Quarter www.patrickhunt.net Top Ten Archaeology Discoveries
Course Aims
As a global archaeologist, if I am asked to list the most exciting and seminal archaeological discoveries in the world, my list - along with nearly every list of my professional peers - would include King Tut’s tomb, Troy, Machu Picchu, the Rosetta Stone, Pompeii, Akrotiri on Thera, the 10,000 Xinjiang Terracotta Tomb Warriors, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Assyrian Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. To top the list, there are the early paleoanthropology finds by the Leakeys at Olduvai Gorge or elsewhere in East Africa - like “Lucy” – that count as major scientific discoveries that changed world archaeology.
This online course will examine each of these discoveries—whether deliberately sought or accidentally found—in the context of the evolving discipline of archaeology since the 18th century and the intellectual and philosophical climate of the periods in which they were brought to light. How each of these discoveries changed perceptions of history and the future direction of field research is also part of the course. Subsequent generations of scholars may not agree on the most important archaeological discoveries, but the works we study surely stand out for most archaeologists practicing between 1750 and the present.
Course Requirements:
Students participate in several ways in this course: 1) view the brief topical video per week; 2) study the lecture Powerpoint images each week (an expansion of the brief video with up to 100 images); 3) do the assigned readings; 4) follow the weekly lecture/discussion either live or on your own time; 5) to receive credit (CR), a minimum number of 10 discussion responses of 100 words each must be posted online - There is no formal style but some students ask detailed questions of their peers or respond to their peers; the professor will also respond; 6) to receive credit letter grade (CLG), the student will do all required of CR but also write a paper on a topic the professor agrees is suitable (10 pages double-spaced including a minimum of 1-2 images but not including documentation and bibliography – again style is flexible; e.g., Harvard or Chicago or MLA styles).
Course Readings:
Patrick Hunt. Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History. Penguin / Plume, 2007.
Note: additional supplementary readings are also assigned per weekly session.
Course Outline
Follow the videos, lecture powerpoints and assigned readings:
Assigned Readings:
Week 1
Hunt, Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History, ch. 1, Rosetta Stone “Egypt in No Mood to Celebrate Bicentenary of Rosetta Stone’s Discovery” Agence France-Presse 7/12/99 (https://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/rosets.htm)
Week 2
Hunt, Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History, ch. 2, Troy Catherine Hickley, “Discovery of Bronze Age Refrigerators Expands Homer’s Troy”, Bloomberg News 9/16/08 (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=afwbfeBA35og)
Week 3
Hunt, Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History, ch. 3, Nineveh: Assyrian Library Kareem Shaheen, “ISIS Fighters destroy Ancient Artefacts at Mosul Museum” The Guardian 2/26/15 (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/26/isis-fighters-destroy-ancient- artefacts-mosul- museum-iraq)
Week 4
Hunt, Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History, ch. 4, King Tut’s Tomb Tia Ghose, “King Tut’s Tomb May Hide Nefertiti’s Secret Grave”, Live Science 8/12/15 (http://www.livescience.com/51837-king-tut-tomb-holds-nefertiti.html)
Week 5
Hunt, Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History, ch. 5, Machu Picchu Ker Than, “Machu Picchu is Mini-Recreation of Mythic Landscape?” National Geographic News 6/15/09 (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/090615-machu-picchu.html)
Week 6
Hunt, Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History, ch. 6, Pompeii Rossella Lorenzini, “Vases in Pompeii reveal Panic Before Eruption” Discovery News 11/17/14 (http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/vases-in-pompeii- reveal-panic-before-eruption- 141117.htm)
Week 7
Hunt, Ten Discoveries That Rewrite History, ch. 7, Dead Sea Scrolls Ilan Ben Zion, “Uncovered in Jerusalem, 9 tiny unopened Dead Sea Scrolls”, The Times of Israel 3/12/14 (http://www.timesofisrael.com/nine-tiny-new-dead-sea-scrolls-come-to-light/)
Week 8
Hunt, Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History, ch. 8, Thera (Akrotiri) “Giant ‘balloon of magma’ inflates under Santorini” Oxford News Service (Geoscience) 9/10/12 (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/09/120912-magma-balloon-lava-santorini- volcano-science/)
Week 9
Hunt, Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History, ch. 9, Olduvai Gorge Jamie Shreeve, “Oldest Human Fossil Found, Redrawing Family Tree”, National Geographic News 3/5/15 (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/03/150304-homo-habilis- evolution-fossil-jaw- ethiopia-olduvai-gorge/)
Week 10
Hunt, Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History, ch. 10, Tomb 10,000 Warriors J. Kaiman, “China unearths ruined palace near terracotta army” Guardian 12/3/12 (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/03/china-ruined-palace-terracotta-army)