Prospectus

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Key Developments in European Prehistory

Course
2024-2025

Admission requirements

None.

Description

This is a course in which key developments in prehistoric Europe will be discussed, taking place between the 7th and the end of the 1st millennium BC. The emphasis is on how Prehistory shaped the modern world.

The focus is on agrarian communities. Themes that may be addressed include the spread of farming in Europe, the rise and history of ritual landscapes, the deep history of migration, Prehistoric religion and cosmology, invention and adaptation of metallurgy, Bronze Age and Iron Age 'world systems', ethnogenesis (Celts, Germans, Scythians), and the legacy of Prehistory in modern Europe.

Central to the course will be how to deal with and encapsulate such broad issues in regional, practical research, and if/how it plays a role in debates on contemporary society. The lectures will be closely linked to current research of our section members.

This is an interactive course, which means that part of each lecture session is dedicated to a discussion on the basis of literature and an assignment, and part in which a broader background is presented on the issues being debated.
This way you will build your knowledge of and insight into the most fundamental interpretative themes of European Prehistory, and you will be trained to formulate your own views on them.

You will write several papers throughout the course in which you try to answer/explore the question that has been posed about the literature. At the end, you write an essay on a theme of your own choice, reflecting on a particular research question.

Due to its broad perspective, the course is not only of interest to students who plan a future career in the archaeology of early Europe (both in terms of fieldwork/material culture, museums and heritage), but also to students who are interested in links between the Mediterranean and Near East on the one hand, and ‘Barbaric’ Europe on the other.

Course objectives

  • Knowledge of and insight in key developments in European prehistory from the Neolithic to the Iron Age;

  • Critical assessment of current research on European prehistory with respect to practical applicability and theoretical background;

  • Ability to voice one’s properly argumented opinion on these topics;

  • Ability to link broad research themes to regional and local fieldwork/material culture studies or heritage issues related to Prehistory;

  • Insight in the applicability of theoretical models on data;

  • Ability to formulate well-structured arguments orally, and in writing;

  • Ability to formulate discussion points.

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

  • Formal lectures;

  • Discussion based on written assignments.

Assessment method

  • 3 short assignments (500 words each) (50%);

  • Final essay (1,800-2,000 words) (50%).

A retake is only possible for the final essay, and only if all other requirements have been met, including attendance and submission of all assignments.

Assessment deadlines:
The dates of exams and retakes can be found in MyTimetable. The deadlines of papers, essays and assignments are communicated through Brightspace.

The assignments have strict weekly deadlines.

Reading list

The reading list will be published on Brightspace.

Registration

Enrolment for all components of your study programme through MyStudymap is mandatory. This applies to both compulsory elements and elective credits. If you are not enrolled, you may not participate.

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.

Contact

For more information about this course, please contact dr. Q.P.J. (Quentin) Bourgeois or Dr. N.Ø. (Nathalie) Brusgaard.

Remarks

Compulsory attendance.