ANTH 301

Archaeology of Sacred Sites

This course examines religion through material remains that have been excavated, conserved and interpreted by archaeologists. The archaeological record makes it clear that religious experiences were a vital component of all pre-modern cultures and that the religious impulse has been a driving force in the creation of artifacts and monuments from the Paleolithic era to the present. Although religion is traditionally studied from the perspective of theology, creeds, and iconography, the mute material record of ancient religious practices offers many insights into forms of ritual, vision and belief that appear in widely scattered parts of the world, and widely separated in time. The sacred sites studied in this course range from Stonehenge and Easter Island to Giza and Machu Picchu

Units: 3.0