Members of the Society for Anthropology in Community Colleges are currently working on a new online text — Traces: An Open Invitation to Archaeology. This book follows in the footsteps of two successful OER: Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology and Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology.
Traces is designed for a general introduction to archaeology class, focusing on the methods and theory of archaeological research and interpretation. The text begins with a consideration of how and why we do archaeology, addressing both social impact and practical concerns. We continue with an exploration of field methods (ex: survey and excavation) and archaeological analyses. Different chapters introduce mapping and dating techniques that consider the vast space and time depth of archaeological inquiry as well as what we can learn from the smallest artifacts and ecofacts. The book will be supplemented by case studies that could be used in classes that have a focus on world prehistory. There will also be supplementary materials including instructor resources and virtual labs.
Recognizing that archaeological textbooks have long prioritized non-Indigenous voices, we are attempting to be representative in our examples and citations throughout the book. We would also like to be able to include a chapter focusing specifically on Indigenous Archaeologies. We are currently soliciting responses from individuals who may be interested in authoring (or collaborating with others to co-author) this chapter. While we hope that the chapter will provide diverse perspectives and examples of Indigenous archaeologies and collaborations from around the world, we will leave much of the specific content of the chapter up to the authors themselves. We will prioritize Indigenous voices in author selection.
If you would be interested in contributing to our goal of creating free, accessible, high-quality OER to introductory archaeology students, please contact us at archaeologyoer@gmail.com. Please let us know a little about yourself and your vision for this chapter.
John Donahue (Harford Community College), Ian Ray (Community College of Aurora; Red Rocks Community College; University of Denver), Isabel Scarborough (Parkland College), and Jennifer Zovar (Whatcom Community College)