This coures will introduce you to the key concepts of what it is to be human, what constitutes 'complexity' in past human societies, and how the trajectories that lead to the development of complex societies differed around the world. By the end of the course, you will be able to: explain the key stages and mechanisms in the evolution of Homo sapiens; outline the key dates, geographical locations and environmental contexts of different hominin species; discuss early prehistoric subsistence strategies and tool technologies, and how these developed over time; explain the earliest evidence for art, religion, abstract reasoning, and human cognition; name and explain the most important transitions in human (pre)history, including global dispersals, the origins of agriculture and writing, and the emergence of urban life, social elites, and state polities, drawing on examples from around the world; outline the most important changes that were taking place in human societies in each of the key stages in Northern European and British prehistory, from the Palaeolithic Period, through the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age, to the emergence of the first Early Medieval Kingdoms.
Course Aims: This course aims to introduce students to the key concepts of what it is to be human, what constitutes 'complexity' in past human societies, and how the trajectories that lead to the development of complex societies differed around the world.
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Explain the key stages and mechanisms in the evolution of Homo sapiens
- Outline the key dates, geographical locations and environmental contexts of different hominin species
- Discuss early prehistoric subsistence strategies and tool technologies, and how these developed over time
- Explain the earliest evidence for ?art?, ?religion?, abstract reasoning, and human cognition
- Name and explain the most important transitions in human (pre)history, including global dispersals, the origins of agriculture and writing, and the emergence of urban life, social elites, and state polities, drawing on examples from around the world
- Outline the most important changes that were taking place in human societies in each of the key stages in Northern European and British prehistory, from the Palaeolithic Period, through the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age, to the emergence of the first Early Medieval Kingdoms.
Content: This course provides a romping introduction to the deep human past, from our earliest hominin origins in Africa to the emergence of the first Early Medieval Kingdoms in Northern Europe. Along the way we will discover the key stages in the evolution of our species and what it means to be 'human', how and why we first began to express our thoughts in symbolic ways, how ritual behaviours evolved, how we came to be dispersed around the globe, how and why we began to domesticate plants and animals and change the environments we live in, why we started to write and live in cities, and what these earliest writings and cities looked like, when and where the first states developed, and what characterised social elites and the first militarized empires in key regions around the world. The archaeological evidence for these fundamental transitions in human societies provides us with powerful insights into some of the world's most fascinating civilizations, from Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt to the Mayans, Incas, ancient Greece and Rome, and of course the prehistoric cultures of Northern Europe, including the British Isles.
