Admission requirements
Bioarchaeology (or equivalent level) obtained;
This is a seminar with a limited number of participants (20 students), for Archaeology students exclusively;
BA3 students who want to take this course: please contact the Administration Office. You can only be admitted if there are spots left, BA2 students will have priority.
Description
Archaeo-zoological and palaeo-zoological research require knowledge of wide-ranging techniques and research methods, their application possibilities and their appropriate analysis and presentation of data. To do so, seminar lab sessions will introduce sampling and cataloguing practices, faunal evolutionary trends and identification of Holocene and Pleistocene faunal remains - among other methodologies.
Hands-on work will help to develop research and technical skills used in the discipline that can actually broaden to a more general archaeological scope. Familiarising and interpreting faunal data and research papers are important to highlight the contribution of archaeo-zoology to archaeological questions, and to encourage an active participation in palaeo/archaeo-zoological discussions and debates.
All these aspects will be addressed in detail with the study of a faunal collection from an archaeological site where both environmental and anthropic perspectives will be addressed. The site for study will depend on what is available at the time.
Course set-up
2 days per week.
Per session:
Approx. 50 minutes of lecture;
10 minutes break;
2 hours of practical.
Course objectives
Knowledge of and insight into the research methods and techniques and their application possibilities within archaeozoology;
Knowledge of and insight into its framing within archaeology;
Basic knowledge of and insight into the diversity and evolution of the different animal groups in the Quaternary;
Ability to recognise and identify skeletal elements of selected mammal taxa;
Ability to describe zoological material according to the standards used in the subject field;
Ability to identify and distinguish diagnostic features on skeletal remains as well as human derived traces, pathologies, and biological and natural modifications;
Ability to conduct archaeozoological research by studying animal remains using various research methods,
Ability to create a basic database;
Ability to analyse data and develop basic interpretation of data;
Ability to conduct a faunal research and combine the results with other aspects of an archaeological study;
Ability to write a basic report of faunal research of this discipline.
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
Seminar-lectures;
Practical sessions.
Assessment method
Written assignment: Faunal report (60%);
Written test with practical component (40%).
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.
Reading list
To be handed out during class.
Registration
Registration start dates for the BA2 seminars differ from the registration dates of the regular courses.
Registration will take place with the use of forms. These will be e-mailed by the study advisers to all BA2 students and pre-master students at the beginning of March 2024.
The Administration Office will register all Archaeology BA2 students in uSis for their seminar exams. However, confirmation of these exams in MyStudymap is mandatory. No confirmation = no participation!
Contact
For more information about this course, please contact dr. L. (Laura) Llorente Rodriguez.
Remarks
Compulsory attendance.