HS2117: Great Discoveries in Archaeology

School Archaeology
Department Code SHARE
Module Code HS2117
External Subject Code F420
Number of Credits 10
Level L4
Language of Delivery English
Module Leader PROFESSOR Paul Nicholson
Semester Autumn Semester
Academic Year 2013/4

Outline Description of Module

This module is designed as an introduction to the development of archaeology as a discipline. In showing the broad outlines of how the subject has developed up to and including the present, it aims to show students the key theoretical shifts through time, as well as introducing them to the key figures and key sites which have shaped the discipline.

On completion of the module a student should be able to

This course aims to introduce students to the discipline of archaeology, showing how it has evolved and changed from antiquity to the present. It emphasises major theoretical trends (from antiquarianism up to the present) with a focus on the excavation of key sites, key figures and the development of archaeological techniques, particularly dating.

Learning Outcomes
A broad understanding of the history of the subject;
A basic understanding of the key theoretical shifts in archaeological thinking;
An understanding of the key figures involved in the development of archaeology;
Some knowledge of key world sites which have shaped the development of the discipline;
Some understanding of different intellectual traditions (prehistory, Classical, Medieval) within archaeology.

How the module will be delivered

Teaching:10 lectures, 2 seminars

Skills that will be practised and developed

Intellectual Skills:

  • Understand the historical context of archaeology
  • Evaluate the usefulness of theory when studying the past
  • Evaluate different theoretical approaches to different types of evidence

Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills:

  • Understand the following theoretical approaches: antiquarianism; culture-history; with a basic introduction to processualism and post-processualism
  • Understand the key figures and sites involved in shaping the discipline

Transferable Skills:

  • Write effectively about issues and problems
  • Discuss theoretical issues and problems
  • Organise research into questions

How the module will be assessed

Assessment:One essay (50%) and one 1 hour examination (50%)

 

Assessment Breakdown

Type % Title Duration(hrs)
Written Assessment 100 Coursework N/A

Syllabus content

This course aims to introduce students to the discipline of archaeology, showing how it has evolved and changed from antiquity to the present. It emphasises major theoretical trends (from antiquarianism up to the present) with a focus on the excavation of key sites, key figures and the development of archaeological techniques, particularly dating.

1. Introduction to the course: structure of course; Ancient and Medieval views of the material past (from Thucydides through Gerald of Wales) - JW
 
2. Antiquarianism: changing views of Stonehenge and Avebury (concentrating on Stukeley) -- JW
 
3. The Antiquity of Humankind: Hoxne, Boucher de Perthes and John Evans (mid 19th century) - JW
 
4. Classical Archaeology: From Rome to Olympia via Pompeii – JW
 
Seminar 1: What is Archaeology?
 
5. Aegean Bronze Age: Troy, Mycenae, Knossos and the Decipherment of Linear B  – JW
 
Reading week
 
6. The Viking ship-burials and dendrochonology [JH]
 
7. L’Anse aux Meadows and radiocarbon dating [JH]
 
8. Jerusalem and Biblical Archaeology -- DP
 
9. Gordon Childe, Culture History and the 'Neolithic Revolution [might include Jericho here, as well as Skara Brae] - JW
 
Seminar 2: Constructing Chronologies
 
10. Medieval and Post Medieval Archaeology -- DP

Essential Reading and Resource List

Bibliography

The list of references that follows is not exhaustive but it is intended to give you a starting place to find books and articles of relevance.

There is no single book which covers all aspects of the course. However, there are a number of good starting points. I would recommend:

*Bahn, P.G. (ed.) 1996. Cambridge Illustrated History: Archaeology.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

*Daniel, G. 1975. 150 Years of Archaeology.  London: Duckworth.

*Renfrew, C. 1973. Before Civilisation. London: Cape.

*Renfrew, C. and Bahn, P. 2008. Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice. London: Thames and Hudson.

*Romer, J. 2000. Great Excavations.  London: Cassell.

*Schnapp, A. 1996. The Discovery of the Past.  London: British Museum.

*Trigger, B. 1989. A History of Archaeological Thought.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [see also 2nd edition 2006]

Additional references

Alcock, S.E. and Osborne, R. (eds) 2012. Classical Archaeology (2nd edition). Oxford and Malden MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Antonova, I. 1996. The Gold of Troy: Searching for Homer's Fabled City. London: Thames and Hudson.

Arnold, B. 1990. The past as propaganda: Totalitarian archaeology and Nazi Germany. Antiquity 64: 464-478.

Asali, K.J (ed.). 1990. Jerusalem in History. New York: Olive Branch Press.

Bacon, E. 1971. Archaeology: Discoveries in the 1960s.  London: Cassell.

Bacon, E. 1960. Digging for History: a Survey of Recent World Archaeological Discoveries, 1945-1959. London: Black

Bacon, E. (ed.) 1976. The Great Archaeologists. London: Secker and Warburg.

Bahn, P.G. (ed.) 1996. Cambridge Illustrated History: Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bard, K. 1999. Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of AncientEgypt. London: Routledge.

Binford, L. 1983. In Pursuit of the Past. London: Thames and Hudson.

Binford, L. 1989. Debating Archaeology. San Diego: Academic Press.

Binford, S. and Binford L. 1968. New Perspectives in Archaeology. New York: Aldine.

Bradley, R. 2002. The Past in Prehistoric Societies. London: Routledge.

Brown, A. 1993. Before Knossos: ArthurEvans's Travels in the Balkans and Crete. Oxford: University of Oxford, Ashmolean Museum.

Bowman, S. 1990. Radiocarbon Dating. London: British Museum Publications.

Brand, V. (ed.) 1998. The Study of the Past in the Victorian Age.  Oxford: Oxbow Monograph 73.

Bray, W. 1981. Archaeological humour: the private joke and the public image.  In J.D. Evans, B. Cunliffe and C. Renfrew (eds.) Antiquity and Man: pp. 221-229. London: Thames and Hudson.

Brøgger, A. W.  & Shetelig, H. 1971, The Viking Ships: Their Ancestry and Evolution. Hurst, 1971.

Bulleid, A. and St. George Gray, H. 1911. The Glastonbury Lakevillage: a Full Description of the Excavations and the Relics Discovered, 1892-1907. Glastonbury: Antiquarian Society.

Cadbury, D. 2000. The Dinosaur Hunters.  London: Fourth Estate.

Ceram, C.W. 1957.  A Picture History of Archaeology.  London: Thames and Hudson.

Ceram, C.W. 1973. The World of Archaeology: the Pioneers Tell Their Own Story. London: Book Club.

Chadwick, J. 1967. The Decipherment of Linear B. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Chakrabarti, D. 1988. A History of Indian Archaeology from the Beginning to 1947. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers.

Childe, V.G. 1925. The Dawn of European Civilisation. London: Kegan Paul. [or any later edition]

Childe, V.G. 1929. The Danube in Prehistory. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Childe, V.G. 1931. Skara Brae. London: Kegan Paul.

Clark, J.G.D. 1952. Prehistoric Europe: The Economic Basis. London: Methuen.

Clark, J.G.D. 1954. Excavations at Star Carr. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Clark, J.G.D. 1977. World Prehistory in New Perspective (3rd edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Clarke, D.L. 1973. Archaeology: The loss of innocence. Antiquity 47: 6-18.

Clarke, D.L. 1978. Analytical Archaeology (2nd edition). London: Methuen.

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Daniel, G. 1975. 150 Years of Archaeology.  London: Duckworth.

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