Description: Like most scientists, archaeologists often disagree with one another. This is partly because it takes time to gather a body of evidence sufficiently complete to evaluate conflicting interpretations. It is also because archaeologists approach material remains from different theoretical perspectives and assumptions that affect the way they think about human societies.

First: Identify a controversy in archaeology. The controversy you choose should be one that is contested by credible authorities in archaeology, based on discipline-specific indicators.

Essay to be written about:

• Whether or not humans played a major role in the extinction of megafauna near the end of the last Ice Age.

Second: Critically compare and contrast at least two competing, credible claims to the controversy.

Third: Identify 2-3 lines of evidence that have been cited in the archaeological literature in support of each of the claims.

This assignment is a 2-3 page essay. It is expected that in-text citations (author-date) and a works-cited (bibliography or references cited) page will be provided. You can use any major reference style, as long as it includes author, date, title, and place of publication. If you are not already familiar with a particular reference style, you might consider using that of the Society for American Archaeology, available by following this link https://documents.saa.org/container/docs/default-source/doc-publications/style-guide/saa-style-guide_updated-july-2018c5062f7e55154959ab57564384bda7de.pdf?sfvrsn=8247640e_6(Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (skip ahead to page 21 of the pdf for the citation guide).

For an example of a culminating project:

You might choose to look at models for what led to state formation. Perhaps you consider two models: one focused on population density and competition for resources, with a second focused on economic interdependence and allocation of resources. Lines of evidence for the first model might include the commonly larger population densities of state societies compared to earlier polities and a particular case study where resources seem to be increasingly scarce in the wake of growing population. For the second model the lines of evidence you present might include the general increase in economic interdependence in early states and a specific case study where the administrative apparatus of the state is linked to allocation of resources.