Your professor has assigned you a research paper, but you don't know what in the world to write on? There are several ways to find a good topic, whether in the field of archaeology or outside of it, located right here. I selected the resources for this website by creating a broad areal coverage of the topics in world archaeology, and have developed a handful of encyclopedic directories that will help you in your search for the perfect paper topic. Somebody should benefit from my particular brand of lunacy!
The Ancient World
The World Atlas of Archaeology is just that: an atlas of archaeological sites and cultures in the world sorted by modern geographic continent and political country boundaries. You'll find sites and cultures listed for each country, why the site or culture is important or interesting, and in many cases, references or other suggestions for further research.
The Encyclopedia of World History includes archaeological sites and cultures broken into a rough timeline. Whether you dig Early Man, the Middle Ages or one of the ancient civilizations, you should be able to find something that will excite your interest.
Scientist Biographies
Interested in writing a biography of a famous archaeologist? Then the Biographies in Archaeology should be the starting place for you. There are nearly 500 biographical sketches listed in the Archaeology Biographies file and more added every week. In there you'll also find a Women in Archaeology. I segregated the women out for my own nefarious purposes, and you might as well take advantage of it.
A Glossary of Ideas
If all else fails, use the Archaeology Dictionary, pick a letter at random and scroll down the entries. a very at least a couple of thousand ideas listed here, and I bet anything that something will pique your interest.
Once you've chosen your topic, you can begin searching for information on which to write your essay. Good luck!
More Tips for Writing Research Papers
- You are here: Finding a research paper topic
- Next: Finding the literature
- Reading and synthesizing the literature
- Writing a first draft
- Writing the final draft
