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 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 the 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
The dates of exams and retakes can be found in MyTimetable. The deadlines of papers, essays and assignments are communicated through Brightspace.
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
The Administration Office will register all Archaeology BA1 students for their lectures, tutorials and exams in semester 1 and semester 2.
If you are not a BA1 student but have to take this course, you can register yourself via this form.
General information about registration can be found on the Course and exam enrolment page.
Exchange and Study Abroad students, please contact the exchange coordinator for information on how to apply.
All information for those who are interested in taking this course as a Contractstudent is on the Contractonderwijs Archeologie webpage (in Dutch).
Retake exams
BA1 students who want to do a retake have to register themselves through MyStudymap.
All other students, please contact the administration office for enrollment for the retake.
Contact
For more information about this course, please contact Dr. Q.P.J. (Quentin) Bourgeois.
Remarks
Compulsory attendance during tutorials.
This course can be taken as an optional course, Contract course, or Study Abroad/Exchange course, but only in combination with World Archaeology 2.2: The Classical World.