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Our understanding of the majority of the human past, for which the written record is nonexistent or minimal, is based on a material record. Archaeology examines this record of human activity to recover and interpret information about past societies and cultures. There are many sub-disciplines within archaeology, reflecting both the specific periods and regions into which we divide the human past, and the different approaches to the recovery and analysis of the evidence about that past.
Tufts offers a general interdisciplinary undergraduate major in archaeology, incorporating courses from the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. Ideally, a student in archaeology will combine course work with firsthand experience in recovery, conservation, and interpretation of material remains.
The archaeology program has affiliations with several summer field schools, including the Murlo excavation in Italy, the Talloires/Mt. Musièges excavation in France, the Old Sturbridge Village Field School, and with the Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology based at M.I.T., an alliance of Boston-area programs which offers specialized course work in the scientific dimensions of archaeological study. Students are encouraged to take appropriate course work at the universities affiliated in the Boston Consortium (Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis University)
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