By Bram van Overdijk
When having a conversation about studying and UCR, I always get asked what courses I am taking. With most courses I see the familiar and good-to-know-but-actually-I-am-not-really-paying-attention nods. However on multiple occasions when I tell I am taking Archaeology as a course I notice a sparkle of curiosity in another’s eye. “Archaeology?” they inquire. If asked, most people will think of the Indiana Jones stereotype, far too exiting and fantastical, or to the hatted bespectacled grey-bearded archaeologist brushing off a square millimetre of surface on one afternoon, which would be a grand undervaluation of the job. The “truthful” answer lies somewhere in between these far off extremes.
An important lesson one learns during the course, is taught fairly early in the semester: Archaeology is so much more than anybody realises, and extends in purpose and activity far beyond the stereotypical occupations described before. Not only does Archaeology cover those white marble Greek and Roman temples (which were actually colourfully painted in antiquity) or “those enormous triangular stone structures there along the Nile,” it does not only focus on history but also includes research on proto- and prehistory excavations. With regards to this even the questions “When do animals end and where does humanity start?” and “How alike are our sibling humanoids to us?” arise. We even discussed recent evidence suggesting a society of some sorts existing 2.5 million years ago. This could all seem misplaced regarding the field of research, nevertheless it is very much part of Archaeology. Recently post-industrial excavating has also become a hype among Archaeologist, which one could think is strange because of its relative close proximity to the present day. However Archaeologists once more fiercely disagree. To capture the essence of Archaeology one might say: “Archaeology is the study of humanoid artifacts and architecture.”
Archaeology is interesting, fairly logical, extensive, universal, and plain exiting. One might argue based on “evidence” that all this is because of Dr. Helle Hochscheid’s enthusiastic, energetic, and detailed teaching. However not always as focused as she would like her classes to proceed, amazingly fascinating and diverse tangents pop up at every figurative turn one makes during Archaeology class, and of course by the actively engaged critically thinking students who tend to question any academic authority at any point, which if you ask me only makes the course all that more interesting, exiting, and fascinating. I would suggest it is a course for any UCR student who wishes to further their critical thinking and also their argumentative writing skills (although Rhetoric is also very helpful for that), moreover it would be brilliant if they additionally possess an interest in or for Antiquity, Archaeology, Architecture, Art History, classics, History, Mythology, Near Eastern cultures, or prehistory. As an Antiquity major I will have a slight bias, but I would definitely and resolutely recommend this course to any other UCR student, even Science and Social Sciences students.
Bram Overdijk (class of 2017) is an Antiquity, History, Art History and Philosophy major from Berkel-Enschot, the Netherlands.
