Archaeological Site Overview: Research, Discoveries, and Significance

History of Discovery and Research at the Site

You will select an archaeological site, or major find, from the list provided, and then write a 5 page overview of the site. Overall the focus will be on how research was conducted on the site, what was discovered there and how the remains at the site were interpreted by archaeologists, and what is the overall significance of the site to the field of archaeology and to the local culture. Your overview must be researched using academic sources such as journal articles and academic books, and these must be cited at the end of your paper to show where all of your information included in the paper came from. Your site overview can be divided into different sections with subheadings to help with the overall organization of the paper. The different sections could have the following suggested subheadings and sections, but you won't need necessarily to include all of them. Some sites might have all of this kind of information, but some might not, so you will want to focus on what kinds of information that you can find and is available. 1)Introduction [This is mandatory]

2)History of Discovery and Research at the Site 3)The Surrounding Environment/Conditions at the Site Locality

4)Date and Dating Methods Used at the Site

5)Major Contents of the Site: This could include Structures, Architecture, Burials, Artifacts, Food or Skeletal Remains etc.

6)Discussion of any major issues or possible controversies or debates between archaeologists about the site.

7)The Cultural or Archaeological Significance of the Site; either to the local people or the field of archaeology in general.

8)Conclusion [This is mandatory]

b)Site Overview Format and Writing Requirements Your overview must be typed or word-processed, and double-spaced. Do not use a font size larger than 12.  Your paper will also require a title page. Your overview must follow the referencing format used in the APA (American Psychological Association) Style Guide. This involves using parenthetical reference citations in the body of the paper to cite what source the information comes from. For example: (Smith, 1996:

10). For more information on APA style and citation formats consult the Kwantlen Library website where this information is provided in full. There must be a References Cited page at the end of your overview and it must follow the APA format as well. [Note: if sources used in the overview are not properly referenced in parentheses, this constitutes plagiarism]. Further Note: Reference citations are not only required for direct quotations, but also for paraphrased information; sections in which you changed around the words of your cited author or even specific ideas that you have taken from the article or book that you have read. Your overview should be approximately 5 pages in length not including References Cited page and any diagrams or maps you wish to include. Pages must be numbered as well. You should use a minimum of six references in your overview from either books or academic journals.  

6. Your overview will require a formal Introduction and Conclusion (with Headings) to begin and end your paper. Subheadings for individual sections (as suggested above)        are recommended, but optional.   Non-academic web sites/blogs should not be used as references for the overview because the content is not reviewed by specialists in the field before it is published or posted (as in the case of academic journal articles or books), so sometimes the information can be either wrong or out of date, or just plain crazy! Also, lecture notes may not be used as one of the six references. Web sites from an official archaeological-related institution such as a museums, university departments or government institutions are acceptable as sources because there is editorial control of the content.   On-line books and academic journal articles are acceptable (and preferred) because they are peer-reviewed or evaluated by editors. These are found in the KPU Library Research Databases such as JSTOR and Academic Search Complete.