Admission requirements
Admission to the Master Archaeology programme, or equivalent.
Description
The 'urban revolution’ swept through Europe after 1,000 CE and the Low Countries became, together with Italy, the most urbanised area in pre-industrial Europe. Along with history and cartography, archaeology is essential to understand the transformation that villages underwent in becoming towns and cities. However, it was only in the 1980s that archaeologists began to systematically record uncovered material remains in medieval towns; urban archaeology as an academic discipline only developed after that. An ambitious new generation of scholars will be welcome.
The focus of the course will be on the archaeology of public health, waste management, water management and ‘smellscape-management’. A ‘whole town approach’ will be advocated.
An ongoing, underlying theme will be that urban archaeology not only deals with archaeological data but also with information from historical sources. In order to assign meaning to uncovered archaeological remains, written records often have to be consulted. Although interdisciplinary research is an asset, the risks of misinterpretation must be mitigated whenever possible.
A second course theme is that many stakeholders must be taken into account in urban archaeology.
Case studies from the Low Countries and north-western Europe will be used.
Course objectives
Theory
The student will be able to critically reflect on a case study and place it within a broader social context.
Specific knowledge
The student will gain:
Knowledge and understanding of current debates in urban archaeology in general and the archaeology of public health in particular;
Knowledge of golden rules for historical archaeologists (the importance of a historical time line and the concept of ‘Getrennt Marschieren, zusammen schlagen’).
Skills and methods
Multidisciplinary skills: placing a case study within a historical framework;
Ability to transform concepts into research/field strategies.
Academic skills
Oral presentation skills;
Ability to work in a team;
Secondary-source research;
Learning from feedback;
Critical reading skills (What if you were the editor?);
Writing skills (e.g., the importance of good headings, becoming familiar with the CARS model);
Ability to properly formulate and present an argument and demonstrate a precise and academic approach to an archaeological issue.
Timetable
Course schedule details can be found in the MA and MSc time schedule.
Mode of instruction
Lectures;
One hour feedback prior to the group presentation;
Student presentations.
Course load
The course load will be distributed as follows:
7 × 2 hours of lectures (1 ec);
280 pages of readings (2 ec);
Entry test, assignments and presentation, including 1 hour feedback prior to the group presentation (2 ec).
Assessment method
An entry test during the first class (10%). One week prior to the start of the course, the assigned reading list for the test will be announced on BlackBoard;
Group presentation (10%);
5 assignments: 4 essays and 1 poster. References are required for all assignments (5×16% = 80%).
The essays and presentation must be submitted through Turnitin.
More detailed instructions for the essays and the presentation will be available in the course manual on BlackBoard.
This course comprises 7 assignments. A retake of an assignment is not possible, a fail for an assignment can be compensated by other assignments.
Each week there will be either an assignment (essay or poster) or a presentation due. The deadline for the assignments is 11 pm, the Sunday prior to the class. Please note that extensions on assignments will not be given.
All assessment deadlines (exams, retakes, paper deadlines etc.) can be found in the MA and MSc examination schedule.
Reading list
2 chapters from:
- C. Rawcliffe, 2013. Urban Bodies: Communal Health in Late Medieval English Towns and Cities. Woodbridge.
Further reading will be announced throughout the course.
Registration
Registration via uSis is mandatory.
The Administration Office will register all BA1 students for their tutorials (not lectures; register via uSis!).
BA2, BA3, MA/MSc and RMA/RMSc students are required to register for all lectures and tutorials well in time.
The Administration Office registers all students for their exams, students are not required to do this in uSis.
Exchange and Study Abroad students, please see the Prospective students website for information on how to apply.
Registration 'Contractonderwijs'
All information (costs, registration, entry requirements, etc.) for those who are interested in taking this course as a Contractstudent is on the Contractonderwijs Archeologie webpage (in Dutch).
Contact
For more information about this course, please contact dr. R.M.R. (Roos) van Oosten.
Remarks
Compulsory attendance.