Admission requirements
Having passed the course Materiaalkunde and Artefact Studies I or possessing basic knowledge of artefacts like raw material properties and manufacturing techniques.
h3.Description
Artefacts are central in our reconstruction of the past. How do we study our artefacts in order to arrive at meaningful statements about past behaviour? Emphasis will lie on the relationship between empirical observations about the artefacts and the research questions that can be addressed. This course therefore aims to provide students with the concepts to study artefacts in a meaningful way and evaluates what kind of analytical research is needed to understand the significance of objects for past societies. There will also be considerable emphasis on the experimental approach of artefact studies: in practical sessions students will attempt to knap flint and to make and use objects of different materials. The importance of artefact studies for public presentations like museums and open air centres will be discussed.
Learning objectives
Deepening the knowledge about how objects are made and used, in order to recognize the empirical basis for the reconstruction of their life-history;
Knowledge of the relationship between the research questions and the empirical observations necessary to address these questions (what attributes do we need to study and why?);
Knowledge of and insight in the experimental and analytical methods with which to derive information from artefacts;
To be able to review the role of experimental archaeology in public presentations;
Method of instruction
Formal lectures and practical assignments
Examination
Written summary of the required reading
Required reading
Hurcombe, L. 2007. Archaeological artefacts as material culture, Routledge, London, chapters 3-6.