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Exam Format
Write an essay answering the questions in one of the two essay prompts below. Be sure to answer every part of the prompt. You may use approximately 700 words (about 2 standard, double-spaced pages) for your answer. Your margins must be 1” all around, text must be double-spaced (not 1.5), and you must use a 12-point or larger font. Include your name at the top of the first page. Do not include the text of the question in your file.
Your essay doesn’t need a “standard” format (e.g., “5 paragraph essay format”). Be direct and answer the questions in the prompt. There’s no need for “In the beginning there was archaeology” sorts of introductions or concluding summary paragraphs that just reiterate what you already wrote. Just focus on writing clearly, answering the questions directly, and making sure that your logic of argument makes sense.
Note that all essays will also be submitted to the Turnitin plagiarism checker for evaluation.
If you make a statement that should be cited (e.g., quote, specific fact, etc.), use the following format (author year of publication: page # (e.g., Renfrew and Bahn 2019:38). A reference page is unnecessary unless you cite something that was not assigned for class (which is discouraged). You do not need to cite lectures.
This is an ‘open-book’ exam, so you can use your notes, readings, and may review the lecture recordings and slide files as well. However, I expect each of you to write your own answers as you would for an in-person exam. Collaboration on the exams is not allowed. Collaboration includes discussing answers with another student before writing.
Grading
Essays will be assigned a letter grade based on the following criteria. Given the extended time frame available for the exam, grammar, organization, and proofreading will be taken into account. A point value (out of 50 points) is assigned to each grade by Bruin Learn, but this is for the convenience of final grade calculation. All exams are weighted equally through the quarter, and only your best four exam scores are used in calculating your final grade.
Grading Criteria
Content – You should fully answer each part of the prompt, properly use concepts from the course, and justify why particular concepts are relevant for answering the questions. – 80%
Writing – including grammar, proofreading, organization, and formatting – 20%
Unless prior arrangements are made with the instructor, any exam turned in past the due date and time will be immediately penalized 10%. An additional 10% will be subtracted every 12 hours past the due date and time. Missing exams will be assigned a 0.
When grading for the entire class is completed, grades and comments will be released on Bruin Learn.
Essay Prompts – Choose ONE to answer
1. Archaeologists typically use archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, and the study of the distribution of features or artifacts used for food processing or acquisition to study subsistence. Briefly describe what each of these three methods tell us about past subsistence using examples from lecture and/or the textbook. What might the distribution of food processing features tell us about subsistence that cannot usually be inferred from the study of plant and/or animal remains alone?
2. Obsidian artifacts are among the easiest to assign to a geologic source through chemical compositional analyses. Why is this relatively easy for obsidian? Assume you have completed a compositional analysis of one hundred obsidian artifacts found at a small Maya residential site along the Yucatan coast distant from obsidian sources in the highlands. Does the compositional analysis alone tell you how the obsidian artifacts were transported to the site? Why or why not?