What are the best schools for anthroplogy/archaeology?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
1

<p>I'm interested in going to a school that is known for it's anthropology/archaeology program and preferably in the midwest, but I would like to know which schools are the best and most well known for my intrest. </p>

<p>So far, I'm look at Beloit, Grinnell, University of Iowa (I'm from iowa so schools close to home automatically make it on my list), I'm not sure of how Oberlin or Carleton are with anthropology majors but I'd like to hear if you do!</p>

<p>I know Arizona state is big for archaeology, but it's rather far for me...</p>

2

<p>We have a great archaeology major, and anthropology is definitely one of the most popular majors here. i know a lot of the kids in archeaology do research with professors and go on field research trips and digs all around the world. </p>

<p>(from here on out, i’m just summarizing information from the department’s website) </p>

<p>there are three labs on campus that student use: the paleoethnobotany lab, the zooarchaeology lab, and the lithic and ceramic analysis lab. </p>

<p>Cahokia Mounds (the oldest/largest prehistoric mound city in the world) is about 30 minutes from Wash U across the border in Illinois, and I know that we have couple faculty members who specialize in that kind of era teaching here, and a couple classes take trips to Cahokia.</p>

<p>Each student is required to complete a practical supervised field experience, usually a summer project of approximately six weeks duration, in the methodology of excavation and data retrieval. Several of the majors have also combined this field training with semester or year abroad opportunities.</p>

<p>here are the locations that Anthro and Archaeology majors have study abroad options: [Overseas</a> Programs: Programs<a href=“i%20counted%20about%2030%20options%20in%20those%20two%20areas,%20which%20is%20quite%20a%20lot…%20study%20abroad%20is%20relatively%20popular%20at%20Wash%20U”>/url</a></p>

<p>here is a listing of courses offered in archaeology. the archeology program is technically grouped with the Art History program, so i would assume that means that Wash U’s program has a lot of strength when it comes to ancient artifacts. Wash U’s botany and biology programs are probably one of the best (if not the best) in the country, so the courses that entail ethnobotany and paleoethnobotany would probably be amazing courses that also draw on the strength of the bio department</p>

<p>L52-ARC 190 Introduction to Archaeology
L52-ARC 314 The Prehistory of North America
L52-ARC 318 The Prehistory of Africa
L52-ARC 3461 Native Americans at Westward Expansion
L52-ARC 347 Ancient Mound Builders of the Mississippi Valley
L52-ARC 372 Geoarchaeology
L52-ARC 379 Feast and Famine: Archaeology and Climate Change
L52-ARC 3793 Mississippi River Basin: Past, Present, and Future
L52-ARC 390 Archaeological Excavation
L52-ARC 3932 Introduction to Archaeological Field Survey
L52-ARC 403 Culture History of the Southwestern United States
L52-ARC 4211 Paleoethnobotany and Ethnobotany
L52-ARC 4212 Advanced Methods in Paleoethnobotany
L52-ARC 4213 Plants and American People: Past and Present
L52-ARC 4214 The Archaeology of Food and Drink
L52-ARC 455 Archaeological Research Techniques
L52-ARC 4561 Artifact Analysis: Ceramics
L52-ARC 4562 Artifact Analysis: Mississippian Cultures
L52-ARC 4564 Archaeobotanical Analysis
L52-ARC 4752 Practicing Archaeology<br>
L52-ARC 4761 Pleistocene Peopling of Eurasia
L52-ARC 477 African Prehistory
L52-ARC 4791 Archaeological Study of Social Complexity
L52-ARC 481 Zooarchaeology
L52-ARC 4812 Advanced Topics in Zooarchaeology
L52-ARC 482 Experimental Zooarchaeology
L52-ARC 489 Pathways to Domestication
L52-ARC 4891 Human Patterns in Predation
L52-ARC 4892 Hunter-Gatherer Socioeconomic Variation
L52-ARC 200 World Archaeology
L52-ARC 232 Myths and Monuments of Antiquity
L52-ARC 310 Ancient Civilizations of the New World
L52-ARC 3122 From Country to Heavy Metal: Ancient Civilizations of the Old World
L52-ARC3211 Art in the Egypt of the Pharaohs
L52-ARC 323 The Arts and Culture of Rome
L52-ARC3301 Homeric Archaeology
L52-ARC 331 Greek Art and Archaeology
L52-ARC 3333 Art and Archaeology of Japan
L52-ARC 334 Roman Art and Archaeology
L52-ARC 336 Ancient Sanctuaries: the Archaeology of sacred space in the ancient Mediterranean
L52-ARC 3369 Underwater Archaeology
L52-ARC 3401 Chinese Art and Culture
L52-ARC 3420 Archaeology of Ancient China
L52-ARC 3450 Origins of Chinese Civilization
L52-ARC 345 The Art and Archaeology of Ancient China
L52-ARC 400 Stone, Bone, Clay, and Fiber: A Hands-on Course in Materials and Premodern Production Techniques
L52-ARC 4020 Jerusalem, The Holy City
L52-ARC 421 Minoan and Mycenean Archaeology
L52-ARC 426 Ancient Athens
L52-ARC 427 Athenian Vase Painting
L52-ARC 4321 Ancient Coins
L52-ARC 4331 Archaic States: Mesopotamia and Egypt
L52-ARC 435 The Parthenon
L52-ARC 437 Greek Sculpture
L52-ARC 4371 Greek and Roman Pottery
L52-ARC 4661 Historical Archaeology
L52-ARC 4682 Ethnoarchaeology</p>

<p>In terms of libraries and collections on campus, my suitemate told me that Wash U has one of the world’s largest rare book collections (for a university). I also heard that Wash U actually owns that mummy that is currently in the STL Art Museum… perhaps that is irrelevant or hearsay, but hopefully someone can confirm that for me. EDIT — WE DO own it! <a href=“http://touregypt.net/TEBlog/egyptologynews/?p=1791[/url]”>http://touregypt.net/TEBlog/egyptologynews/?p=1791](<a href=“http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~overseas/programs/AnthropologyArchaeology.html]Overseas”>http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~overseas/programs/AnthropologyArchaeology.html)</a> and apparently one other one? <a href=“http://kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/collection/search?keyword=mummy[/url]”>http://kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/collection/search?keyword=mummy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Beloit/Grinnell/Univ of Iowa probably have good programs, but I don’t know anything about them obviously. The first two colleges are rather small, and Iowa is a big state school. None have especially large towns nearby. I think Wash U would be a great compromise in terms of size (medium sized) and city (big, but not too big), but it is a major research university and will arguably have tons of more opportunities for undergrad research and labs and course offerings than would Beloit and Grinnell. it really depends on what you’re looking for… a small, medium, or large environment, and how many opportunities each of those environments would provide for you.</p>

<p>I’m sure another Wash U student would want to help out and provide information about the Antrho program… i’ve taken one class in it (taught by Stone, “culture and the environment”) and really liked it, and know it is one of the largest and most popular majors on campus, but that’s about all i know (and too tired to research the department’s website!!)</p>

3

<p>Look at Beloit College in Wisconsin.</p>

4

<p>Chicago and Michigan are far and away the best for archaeology in the Midwest. </p>

<p>WUStL, UIUC, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Northwestern are also quite good.</p>

<p>Among LACs, both Grinnell and Beloit have a solid reputation. Both, however, focus almost entirely on the Americas and only have 2-3 archaeologists apiece. </p>

<p>Oberlin has a better reputation in archaeology than either of them, as does Kenyon. All four LACs are worth consideration.</p>

5

<p>I’m an arch major here at Washu, and I love, love, love our department. We’re a small major, but we also have all the resources of the massively popular anthro department. message me if you have more specific questions!</p>