Bringing fieldwork into the classroom

My project in Chiapas, Mexico was originally scheduled with a 1.5-month season December and January and a two-month field season in May - July. During a logistical/planning trip in July, 2011, however, I became convinced that fieldwork in the mangrove swamp during the summer rainy season would be a fool's errand. High water, rain, and mosquitos would conspire to create a miserable, possibly dangerous fieldwork environment. Working only a month or so during January, however, would severely limit what we could get done. But how to extend the period of fieldwork during the dry season when I'm committed to teaching at CSULB?

I am fortunate this year in that, with release time, I only have one actual class, Mesoamerican archaeology, and it occurred to me that I could bring the Mesoamerica fieldwork experience into my classroom via blogs, YouTube, and other sorts of on-line venues that seem to be where a lot of college-age people spend much of their time anyway. Partly for the benefit of my class, in which following this blog will be mandatory, I post below my draft plan for the first six weeks of the spring semester.

NOTE: Please feel free to comment on this plan, especially if you might have ideas about how to improve it.

First, since I will have at least three field crew chiefs working on the project (see attached list of personnel), I will be able to fly back to Long Beach for the first week of classes in order to get the class started. Here are the topics and assignments for the first week:

Date	Topic	Reading/assignments
January 24	Introduction to Mesoamerican archaeology and prehistory Format of the class	Text (Evans, Ancient Mexico and Central America) pp. 1 – 70 Google Earth assignment: Mesoamerican cultural and physiographic regions
January 26	Overview of the prehistory of southern Chiapas (my fieldwork location)

On January 27 I will return to Chiapas, where fieldwork will have continued in my absence. For the next two weeks, students in the class will be virtual participants in the fieldwork via materials posted on BeachBoard and other web venues. Here are the topics and assignments for weeks two and three:

Date	Topic	Reading/assignments
January 30 – February 4	Overview of southern Chiapas prehistory continued Fieldwork in the lowland tropics of Mesoamerica Overview of the prehistory of southern Chiapas (the fieldwork location)	Blog posts by Neff and field crew describing daily life, the purposes of the project, some of the difficulties and high points of fieldwork Videos, each of which documents a day of fieldwork on the project Essay assignment 1: a typical field day in Soconusco (4 pages, due February 6)
February 6 - 11	Human use of the lower coastal plain and estuaries in Soconusco	Neff blog entries documenting human activities in the mangroves ·     Archaic ·     Early Formative ·     Classic period Salt production Ceramic production Videos: Present-day uses of the estuaries: fishing, shrimping and iguana hunting Essay assignment 2: Changing patterns of human exploitation of the mangrove forests (4 pages, due February 14)

I will return again to Long Beach for the period February 13 through 22, and will give three lectures focusing on the major Formative and Classic period archaeological manifestations of the Pacific coast of southeastern Mesoamerica.

Date	Topic	Reading/assignments
February 14	The Olmec and the “mother culture vs sister culture” debate	Text , pp. 127 – 205 and 261 – 292. Love, Michael (2007) Recent research in the southern highlands and Pacific coast of Mesoamerica. Journal of Archaeological Research. 15: 275-328.
February 16	Artistic descendants of the Olmec: Izapa  and Early Maya
February 21	Teotihuacan and the Classic period on the Pacific coast

I will return to Chiapas on February 22 for the final 2.5 weeks of fieldwork, which will last through March 10. During this period, students will again participate in “virtual fieldwork” via video footage and blogs posted to the web. Topics for weeks 6 and 7 are:

Date	Topic	Reading/assignments
February 22 – March 2	Field archaeology of salt- and ceramic production	Blog posts and videos by Neff and field crew on ·     use of GIS in archaeology ·     magnetometry ·     ground-penetrating radar ·     soil probes ·     excavations
March 5 - 10	Processing and analysis of material remains in the field laboratory	Blog posts and videos by Neff and field crew on basic laboratory processing and analytical work that can be done in the field lab ·     Washing and labeling artifacts ·     Microscopy ·     XRF ·     FTIR Essay assignment 3: Work flow on an archaeological field project in Mesoamerica (4 pages, due March 13).

On Tuesday, March 13, after my return from the field, my lecture will summarize the season’s fieldwork and the material presented on line. On Thursday, March 15, I will give a midterm that will cover both the archaeological field and laboratory techniques and the substantive information about southeastern Mesoamerican prehistory. The following week I will return to standard lecture format, and will begin coverage of key topics in Mesoamerican archaeology and prehistory, such as Paleoindians in the region, domestication of maize, rise and collapse of the Classic Maya, etc.