Britain is steeped in history; from the footprints of our earliest hominid ancestors to the grand castles of Kings in the Middle Ages these islands are rich in their archaeological traces. This module is designed to provide an introductory outline of the archaeology of Britain from the earliest human occupation to the end of the later Middle Ages and to give you a sequence of the archaeological record which will stand you in good stead in the future if you are going on to do more archaeology module addressing specific themes and periods. The module is designed to a) give you a basic knowledge of the surviving, material culture and sites in Britain from the earliest times to the later Middle Ages, and b) to develop your knowledge if the way archaeologists have interpreted this evidence and tried to set it within wider frameworks of understanding. 

Knowledge and Understanding:

• Demonstrate a broad understanding of archaeology in Britain throughout prehistoric and historic periods.
• Demonstrate a basic understanding of the various ways in which archaeologists have interpreted the archaeological remains of Britain.
• Understand the ways that life in Britain has changed or shown continuity throughout the ages.
• Be familiar with a range of key British archaeological sites and understand their significance to our current understanding of prehistory/history.

Intellectual Skills:

• Demonstrate a basic knowledge of the underlying concepts and principles associated with the study of history and archaeology.
• Initiate, undertake and articulate a basic analysis of historical information.
• Develop explanations and support them with evidence.
• Communicate, in both verbal and written form, the knowledge and understanding acquired on the course, and to be able to distinguish between myth and reality.

Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills:

• Identify strengths, weaknesses, problems, and or peculiarities of alternative historical interpretations.
• Initiate, undertake and articulate a basic analysis of historical information.
• Deepen understanding of the broad themes and developments considered in the course through the analysis of a historical source or sources.
• To research, plan and structure history essays and/or projects.
• To recognise, evaluate and interpret different types of historical evidence.
• To develop, at a basic level, subject-specific and critically-discerning information literacy skills. 

This module is taught in 10, two-hour sessions, delivered on a weekly basis.

• Tutor-led sessions: these introduce the basic information to the students, and will form the bulk of provision. Hence there will be basic seminar-style sessions with tutor leading with talk and PowerPoint presentations during the first part of the session as basis for group discussion and questions and answers in the second part. Students will be invited to read up on relevant topics for homework including specific passages.
• Discussion and group work: where appropriate, students will work in small groups to apply what they have heard in the lectures to a given case study. Students are asked to reflect critically on set questions and to contribute their own ideas. The discussion and group work will enable the students to think critically and contribute to the debates and topics presented during the lectures.
•  The discussion-led sessions and the tutor-led sessions will be supplemented by internet resources available to the students via Learning Central.

Academic Skills:

By the end of the period of learning, the typical student will have:

• found relevant resources in the library and online;
• assessed the reliability of different sources of information;
• demonstrated a critical approach to academic texts.

Transferable/employability Skills:

By the end of the period of learning, the typical student will have shown that he/she can:

• work effectively as part of a group;
• present an argument, accurately, succinctly and lucidly, and in written or oral form.
• time manage and organise study methods and workload;
• gather, organise and deploy evidence, data and information; and familiarity with appropriate means of identifying, finding, retrieving, sorting and exchanging information. 

Type of assessment

%

Contribution

Title

Duration
(if applicable)

Approx. date of Assessment

Essay  (1500 words)

100

Students choose from set essay questions on each topic covered during the course (for example on a specific period or site within Britain).

n/a

Set in week 5, but introduced in week 1. Submission shortly after end of the module

OR

3 x 500 words

100

Students will write 3 pieces examining 3 key archaeological sites and their interpretation and significance within British archaeology.

n/a

Embedded – three written pieces set in weeks 3, 6 and 8. Submission shortly after end of the module 

• Week 1: Introduction: Archaeology in Britain
• Week 2: Britain in the beginning: The Palaeolithic
• Week 3: Mesolithic Britain: hunters-gatherers and fishers
• Week 4: Neolithic Britain: Megaliths, the earliest farmers and their ancestors
• Week 5: Bronze Age Britain: Barrow burials, metal-work and ceramics
• Week 6: Iron Age Britain: Hillforts and early tribal chieftains
• Week 7: Roman Britain: Romanisation, barracks and burials
• Week 8: Anglo-Saxon Britain: Good deaths and bad deaths – the archers’ grave
• Week 9: Viking Britain: Scandinavian invaders?
• Week 10: Medieval Britain: Moving from the ‘dark ages’ into kingdoms 

Darvill, T. 1987. Prehistoric Britain. Batsford, London.

Greene, K 2002 Archaeology: an introduction. 3rd edition. London: Routedge

Hunter, J & Ralston I (eds) 1999 The archaeology of Britain: an introduction from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Industrial Revolution. London: Routledge

Johnson, M 1999 Archaeological theory: an introduction. Oxford: Blackwell

Megaw, J.V.S. and Simpson., D.D.A., 1984. Introduction to British Prehistory. Leicester University Press, Leicester.

Renfrew, C & Bahn, P 2004 Archaeology: theories, methods and practice. Fourth edition. London: Thames & Hudson

Tarlow, S & West, S (eds) 1999 The familiar past? Archaeologies of later historical Britain. London: Routledge