Admission requirements
None.
Description
The lecture series World Archaeology gives an outline of the human past from our early ancestors to large-scale and complex societies.
World Archaeology 2.1 focuses on the rise of European societies after the Ice Age, before the adoption of writing. We will address key developments such as:
How did global warming transform society?
How and why did people become farmers?
How massive migrations shaped Europe
The rise of “ritual” landscapes
The emergence of hierarchies and social inequality
Ethnicity in Barbarian Europe; who were the Celts?
You will obtain basic knowledge on key discoveries, chronology and key sites, and find out how to link these to fundamental concerns of our own time, such as global warming and ethnicity.
Course set-up
Lectures and tutorials;
Weekly assignments.
Course objectives
The student has basic knowledge of:
The key developments in the prehistory of Europe in the Holocene;
Their general chronology;
The main archaeological periods (Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age and characteristic artefacts).
The student is able to:
Analyse the basic arguments behind the key developments discussed in class and in the textbook;
Summarise the core of the archaeological problem discussed;
Express why these developments are so significant for understanding the later history of society in Europe.
Timetable
Course schedule details can be found in MyTimetable.
Log in with your ULCN account, and add this course using the 'Add timetable' button.
Mode of instruction
Lectures and short information clips on Brightspace;
Assignments; brief online exams to test knowledge and insight. In tutorials, students study and discuss the literature and question of the day with a teaching assistant;
In the wrap-up sessions, we discuss the question of the day, the answers to the assignments, thus helping you to master the information in the textbook by dividing it into manageable chunks.
You will take part in three 1-hour tutorial sessions, coordinated by Teaching Assistants (TAs). During these tutorials, you will have the opportunity to ask questions and engage in conversations about various research topics. Alongside the TAs, the lecturer will also occasionally participate in the tutorials.
Assessment method
- Multiple choice exam (100%).
A retake of the exam is only possible in case of a fail (in compliance with our teaching rules and regulations) and only when the requirements of attendance and assignments have been met.
Compensation between the grades of World Archaeology 2.1 and World Archaeology 2.2 is only possible if the individual grades are a 5.0 or higher.
Assessment deadlines
All assessment deadlines (exams, retakes, paper deadlines etc.) can be found in MyTimetable.
Log in with your ULCN account, and add this course using the 'Add timetable' button. To view the assessment deadline(s), make sure to select the course with a code ending in T and/or R.
Deadlines for assignments are included in the course syllabus.
Reading list
Chapters 6 (From Foragers to Farmers), 12 (Holocene Europe), 20 (Retrospect and Prospect) of C. Scarre (ed.), 2018, The Human Past. World Prehistory & The Development of Human Societies (Fourth edition), Thames & Hudson.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudymap is mandatory.
General information about registration can be found on the Course and Exam Enrolment page.
BA1 (first-year) Archaeology students will be enrolled by the Administration Office. If you are not a BA1 student, but want to take this course, please contact the Administration Office.
Contact
For more information about this course, please contact dr. Q.P.J. (Quentin) Bourgeois or dr. M.H.G. (Maikel) Kuijpers.
Remarks
Compulsory attendance during tutorials. Upon missing more than one lecture, you will be excluded from the exam.