The module aims to introduce students to common use of scientific evidence, process and methods employed in archaeology. A range of methods are discussed based on case studies covering subjects including human evolution; climate change; human migration and subsistence; farming and husbandry; material culture and associated technologies. The module concludes with an overview of changes to material evidence during the burial, and basic conservation practice in field archaeology. Methods of documentation and recording of evidence are summarised and practical skills of photography are developed.  The module is taught by a range of specialist staff delivering research lead teaching. A series of practical sessions highlight links between theory and practice enabling students to develop skills and make best use of our resources. The module is designed to complement HS2126 Discovering Archaeology. 

·         Understand basic common applications of a range of analytical techniques used in scientific archaeology

·         Recognise the advantages and limitations of scientific archaeology

·         Understand the type of information retrieved from skeletal materials, fauna, artefacts and materials using              different analysis

·         Place analysis data in the context of ethical professional practice

·         Understand the basic approaches to handling, interpreting and reporting scientific data

• Lectures
• Practicals and group discussions 

Academic

·         An ability to source and use relevant scientific publications

·         An ability to source, synthesise and interpret scientific data

·         An understanding of the range of methods commonly employed in scientific archaeology

Subject Specific

·         Students will have an introduction to basic concepts and methods of scientific archaeology and  will gain insight into the challenges of collecting and interpreting scientific evidence of a range of types

Transferable

·         Scientific report writing

·         Acquire a basic independent learning ability

·         Implement and conform with general laboratory health safety and environment regulations

·         Develop good practice for safe operation of laboratory equipment

·         Develop subject specific solutions with links to professional practice

Type of assessment    %Contribution          Title                                         Approx. date of assessment

  Formative                      0           Scientific report (addressing learning units 1-3)                Autumn, week 4

 Summative 1                  25          Analyses (addressing learning units 4-5)                         Autumn, week 7

Summative 2                  50          Report (addressing learning unit 6)                                  Spring, week 7

Summative 2                  25          Report (addressing learning units 7-8)                             Spring, week 11

The opportunity for reassessment in this module

Students that fail this module will be given opportunity to resit following the conventions of the Undergraduate Board of Studies. Where the student fails the module they will be required to resit whichever part(s) of the summative assessment that they have failed. The requirement for resubmission of course work will be communicated to the student following the summer exam board. The deadline for any resit essay will be passed to the student by the school and will normally be set to allow for marking prior to the summer re-sit exam board. The requirement that students demonstrate an ability to carry out practical laboratory based tasks will limit the availability of alternative forms of assessment as an adjustment for disabled students.

The module will cover the following topics. Attendance at lectures and participation in all learning activities is mandatory.

A range of scientific evidence types and analyses methods used to address a range of topics:

1.    The role of scientific archaeology in archaeology using links to the history of the profession and developments in archaeological theory

2.    Becoming human: From primates to Modern humans, colonisation and the Upper Palaeolithic cultural evolution

3.    Climate change and its effects on living populations discussing evidence from marine isotopes and ice core records

4.    Human identity, movement and migration discussing evidence from skeletal remains, ancient DNA and locational isotopes case studies

5.    Subsistence and subsistence strategies discussing evidence from plant and animal remains, residues and stable isotopes

6.    Making material culture: chaine operatoire of low- and high-tech objects and pyrotechnologies discussing evidence from analyses of objects and manufacturing wastes using examples of common material’s analyses methods

7.    Preservation in the burial environment: an introduction to conservation using examples of the condition of organic, inorganic and metal objects commonly found at excavations

8.    Conservation in field archaeology: the role of conservation in field archaeology, on site conservation

9.    Basic documentation methods and photography

   This will be available from the Module tutor at the start of class

Below is a list of textbooks indicative of topics covered. Case studies are not included below but are major part of the student reading and will be provided in class.

Brickley, M. and McKinley, J.I. (eds.) 2004. Guidelines to the standards for recording human remains. IFA Paper No. 7. Southhampton/Reading: BABAO and IFA. http://www.babao.org.uk/HumanremainsFINAL.pdf

Brothwell, D. and Pollard, A.M. (eds) (2001) Handbook of Archaeological Science. London: Wiley

Craddock P. T. (2009). Scientific Investigation of Copies, Fakes and Forgeries. Oxford : Butterworth-Heinemann

Cronyn M J (1990) The elements of archaeological conservation.  London: Routledge

Katzenberg, M.A. and Saunders, S.R. (eds.) 2008. Biological anthropology of the human skeleton (2nd edn.). New York: Wiley-Liss.

Kealey D and Haines P J (2002) Analytical Chemistry.  Oxford: BIOS Scientific

Nicholson, P.T. and Shaw, I. (eds.) (2000). Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Nilsson Stutz, L. and Tarlow, S. (2013) The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Buria. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Pollard, A.M. & Heron, C. (1996) Archaeological Chemistry, The Royal Society of Chemistry

Renfrew, C. and Bahn, P. (2004) Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice.  London: Thames and Hudson.

Roberts, C. 2009. Human remains in archaeology. A handbook. York: Council for British Archaeology.

Stuart Barbara (2007) Analytical Techniques in Materials Conservation.  John Wiley

Watkinson, D.E. Neal, V (1998) First Aid for Finds. Rescue/UKIC Arch. Sec

Bradley, Raymond S. (1985). Quaternary paleoclimatology: methods of paleoclimatic reconstruction. Boston: Allen & Unwin.

Cook, J. (ed.) 2013. Ice Age Art: Arrival of the Modern Mind. London: The British Museum.

Cronin, Thomas N. (2010). Paleoclimates: understanding climate change past and present. New York: Columbia University Press.

Crowley, Thomas J.; North, Gerald R. (1996). Paleoclimatology. Oxford monographs on geology and geophysics 18. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Klein, R.G. 2009. The human career: Human biological and cultural origins (3rd edition). Chicago: University of Chicago Press

Pettitt, P. 2010. The Palaeolithic Origins of Human Burial. London and New York: Routledge.

Scarre, C. (ed.) 2005. The human past: World prehistory and the development of human society. London: Thames & Hudson.

Stringer, C. and P. Andrews, 2005. The complete world of human evolution. London: Thames & Hudson.