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Research Project – Part 1
Due: April 3
Purpose
The goal of this project is to learn about a Mesoamerican culture of your choice and how to develop research questions. This experience will help expand your skills in conducting scientific background research, writing, and creating compelling research questions. These skills can be applied in designing research projects in archaeology and other science-based studies.
Tasks
This assignment is organized into three parts. These instructions are for Part 1. Instructions for Parts 2 and 3 will be given out at a separate time.
In Part 1 you will choose a Mesoamerican culture to examine. To help guide your research you will then choose an object from your chosen culture. Based on the culture and object chosen you will then create two possible research questions. These questions will form the focus of the research you will conduct in Part 2 of the assignment.
Grading Criteria
Part 1 of the research project is worth a total of 20 points. See instructions below for the point distribution and grading criteria for each step in Part 1.
To turn in
You will submit all materials for Part 1 on Canvas. To upload in one document:
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STEP 1: Choose a culture (5 points)
The first step in this part of the research project is to choose a Mesoamerican culture to study. Many ancient cultures existed in Mesoamerica. To narrow down your choices please pick from one of the four cultures listed below. They are well-studied cultures, and you should be able to find information about them easily.
Cultures to choose from:
Olmec
Teotihuacan
Maya
Aztec
These cultures were introduced to you in class, but if you are unsure which culture is of interest to you, please conduct a brief search about them. Wikipedia pages on these cultures are filled with a lot of detailed information and are a good place to start.
To submit on Canvas: the name of the culture chosen.
STEP 2: Pick an object from the chosen culture (5 points)
To help focus your research project, please choose one object/artifact from the culture you chose. You will examine this object in detail and create research questions related to it. The artifact can be of any material type and should date from before AD 1520.
To find an object, you can conduct a basic google search, but there are also great databases to look through for inspiration. Below are names and links to several sites. You can use the name of the culture to start the search.
Google Arts and Culture
https://artsandculture.google.com/
San Antonio Museum of Art
https://sanantonio.emuseum.com/collections
Denver Art Museum
https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/search/collections
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
https://collections.lacma.org/
To submit on Canvas: A picture of the chosen object and a brief description of its characteristics. Please also include a link to the location where you found the object. Grading will be based on the inclusion of all pieces of information requested.
STEP 3: Statement of reasons and questions (10 points)
To conclude Part 1, please write a brief statement of at least 200 words that includes information as to what interested you in the culture chosen, why you picked the specific object you want to research, and two possible research questions.
These initial research questions are just to start the project and are likely to change throughout your research. But, to start, you need to think about how to direct your research. Try to be as specific as possible.
Topics to consider in your research include:
Who owned the object
The context where the object is typically found
How the object is made and the materials it is made of
Subsistence practices
Political organization
Religion/Ideology
After you pick a culture and object, if you are having trouble thinking about questions, please talk to your instructor.
To submit to Canvas: Statement that is at least 200 words, including 2 research questions. Grading will be based on inclusion of all requested materials and critical thinking included in the research questions developed.
Example
Culture chosen: Olmec
Object: Ceramic, carved bowl. Diameter is 13.2 cm. Dates to 1200-900 BC. Cleveland Museum of Art information states that it might have given prestige to the people who owned it.
The ancestral Pueblo great houses at Aztec Ruins are located in the Animas River Valley, one of three rivers that converge near the park in the high desert environment of northwest New Mexico.
Just like today, water was a critical resource for people living in the area, and the ability to store or carry water was a necessity.
This “football” shaped canteen is a relatively common pottery form that was used for carrying water. Although the one pictured here is small, canteens were made in various sizes and shapes.
The small opening at the top would have been plugged with a corncob, and a piece of yucca cordage would have been looped through the two handles on either side of the opening.
Canteens such as this one were likely carried by people farming the fields, gathering wild plants, hunting for game, or making the trek to visit nearby settlements.
Archeologists refer to the painted design style on this canteen as McElmo Black-on-white.
McElmo Black-on-white Canteen McElmo Black-on-white Canteen, From the collection of:
National Park Service, Museum Management Program
Details
The Digital Archaeological Record,
The distinction between paraphrase, summary, and analysis is central to academic writing, especially for assignments that require critical responses to sources. Paraphrase, summary, and analysis are important for accomplishing different jobs in the essay:
The following examples illustrating the distinction between quotation, paraphrase, summary, and analysis are based on a well-known nursery rhyme:
“Jack and Jill ran up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after.”
QUOTATION: In the classic nursery rhyme, “Jack and Jill,” the two characters are tasked with “fetch[ing] a pail of water.”
PARAPHRASE: In the nursery rhyme, “Jack and Jill,” the two title characters are racing to get water from the well when Jack trips without warning, hitting his head, and Jill falls down the hill after him.
SUMMARY: In the classic children’s nursery rhyme, “Jack and Jill,” two children are in the midst of completing a domestic chore, gathering water from the well, when an accident happens. First Jack slides down the hill and gets hurt, and then Jill also falls down the hill.
ANALYSIS: The classic children’s nursery rhyme, “Jack and Jill,” depicts two children in an act of domestic chores, which in the 1760s when the rhyme was published, was often what children were sent by their parents to do so as to contribute to the running of the home. Generally, the idea that the two run “up the hill” is nonsense because water typically comes from the bottom of hills (since water follows the downward flow of gravity). In modern usage, the rhyme provides a slapstick comedy for children to enjoy, but might also provide a lesson that children should take care when accomplishing their chores so that they do not injure themselves.
credit: Adapted from: George Mason University Writing Center. (2018). How to write a research question. Retrieved from https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/research-based-writing/quotation-paraphrase-summary-and-analysis
