CENTRE FOR LIFELONG LEARNING – FLEXIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Mr D Paterson

Pre-requisites

Notes

This course includes a one-day field trip, which will involve some off-road walking over gentle terrain. The School is committed to making reasonable adjustments for students with mobility issues, and any student with concerns should contact the course coordinator at the beginning of the course.? Students will be asked to make a nominal contribution towards the cost of the field trip.

Overview

This course introduces the discipline of archaeology, human origins, and world prehistory. It is structured around three themes:

Being and becoming human. Hominid evolution, early subsistence strategies, tools and social life, the origins of cognition and the human mind, early evidence for ‘art’ and ‘religion’.

Transformations in human society. The global development of human complexity, including the transition to agriculture, the emergence of social complexity, urban life, the fist polities.

Perceptions of the past. Interpretation and dissemination of archaeological knowledge in museums, sites, and visual media, and how these reflect and influence how the past has been perceived.

Structure

4 fortnightly classes of one-and-a-half-hours – times may vary.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (50%) and in-course assessment (50%)

Resit: 1 two-hour written exam (50%) PLUS original in-course assessment carried forward (50%)

Formative Assessment

Feedback

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Mr D Paterson

Pre-requisites

Overview

Covering the first essentials of archaeological enquiry, the course is structured around two central themes:

The study of the past. A general overview of the history of archaeological enquiry.
Material culture and archaeological methods. An introduction to the principles of artefact study, chronology, typology and other methods and techniques used by archaeologists in their research.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (50%) and in-course assessment (50%)

Resit: Resit exam: 1 two-hour written exam (50%) PLUS original in-course assessment carried forward (50%)

Formative Assessment

Feedback

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D Paterson

Pre-requisites

Either KL 105E or KL 155E

Notes

This course provides students with a detailed introduction to how theory, ethics and politics all play an important role in the archaeological study of human (pre)history. Students completing the course will be able to use a range of theoretical approaches to interpret the material evidence of the past, and will gain understanding of the moral and political implications of archaeological research in a modern global setting.

Overview

As an advanced introduction to theoretical and ethical aspects of archaeological enquiry, the course inlcudes two themes:

• Archaeological theory since 1950.
World history of archaeological theory, starting with culture-historical approaches, adaptive and ecological perspectives, and moving ont to recent post-processual and gender critiques. Concludes with an exploration of how archaeological theory might develop in the future.


• Archaeological ethics.
Explores the political and moral implications of how archaeologists study and represent past societies. Considers issues of cultural heritage, artefact ownership and land-rights, and examines the politics of excavation, interpretation and repatriation.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures per week with two reading weeks and four two-hour tutorials.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (50%); continuous assessment (50%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D Paterson

Pre-requisites

Either KL 105E or KL 155E

Notes

This course provides students with a detailed introduction to the colonisations and inter-community contacts that are central to the 'Archaeology of the North' (defined here as Scotland, Northern-Eurasia, the North Pacific high-latitude, North America and the North Atlantic). Lectures examine the first colonisations of the North and trace how these earlier populations established the cultural, ethnic and religious diversity that defined later periods. Attention is also directed towards understanding the changing nature of contacts between indigenous peoples and European settlers.

Overview

An introduction to the colonisations and inter-cultural contacts that are central to the 'Archaeology of the North', the course draws on a series of case-studies to examine:

• The earliest human colonisations


• Later migrations and more recent inter-cultural contacts across the northern world.


• The arrival of Vikings and other European settlers into the North.


• The changing interactions between colonists and indigenous peoples.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures per week with two reading weeks and four two-hour tutorials.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (50%); continuous assessment (50%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D Paterson

Pre-requisites

Either KL 105E or AY 155E

Notes

This course provides students with a detailed introduction to how archaeologists go about interpreting the material evidence for past societies and long-term culture-change. We will investigate how asking different questions of material culture can generate detailed and often surprising insights into the richness and diversity of past social life.

Overview

As an advanced introduction to archaeological enquiry, the course focuses on the archaeology of social life and examines several inter-locking themes:

• Objects and people


• Social identity and material culture


• Word-views and beliefs


• Personhood and the body


• Community relations


• The preceptions of place

Structure

2 one-hour lectures per week with two reading weeks and 4 two-hour tutorials.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (50%); continuous assessment (50%).

Resit: 1 twohour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D Paterson

Pre-requisites

Either KL 105E or KL 155E

Notes

This course provides students with a detailed introduction to the ecological, economic and spiritual and symbolic dimensions of the 'Archaeology of the North' (defined here as Scotland, Northern Eurasia, the North Pacific, high-latitude North America and the North Atlantic). We will examine the diverse ways in which communities have made the northern world their home. Lectures examine how human societies have responded to frequent periods of severe climate change, the role of technology in mobility, adaptation and social life, and the rich evidence for the spirituality and religious life and customs of northern peoples.

Overview

An introduction to the practical and socio-cultural aspects of the 'Archaeology of the North', the course draws on a series of case-studies to examine three inter-locking themes:

• Human ecology of northern landscapes. Examines the opportunities and constraints that characterise high-latitude environments.


• Living in the North.
Investigates some of the creative ways in which northern people have adapted to, and transformed, these ecological settings.

• The Northern Mind. Critically explores the abundant archaeological evidence for ritual, worship and spirituality, cosmology and signification, focusing on rock art, burial practices, sacred places and other forms of evidence. A critical use of ethnographic sources informs the interpretation of these datasets.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures per week with two reading weeks and 4 two-hour tutorials.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (50%); continuous assessment (50%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).