AY2010: PREHISTORIC BRITAIN: FROM BOXGROVE TO BEDE (2020-2021)

Through lectures and key case studies, we will chart the development of human societies in Britain from its deep prehistoric past as a western extension of the European landmass through to the development of early farming societies and culminating in the rise of political hierarchies and ultimately kingdoms in the first millennium AD. The course will take you on a fascinating journey, providing cutting-edge insights into the diverse peoples that have lived in Britain, from the Stone Age dwellers of Boxgrove, to the Neolithic communities who built Stonehenge, to the Roman invaders of AD 43 to the earliest historic societies such as the Anglo-Saxons, Picts and Vikings. Using the latest archaeological evidence the course will explore the changing landscape and environment through time, how we can use the limited historical sources we have for some of the later societies under consideration and the changing nature of society, subsistence, technology and worldview over the course of around 700,000 years of human habitation of Britain.

PLEASE NOTE this course incorporates a compulsory one-day study trip to the Scottish Crannog Centre at Loch Tay where we will visit a reconstructed Iron Age dwelling and take part in some experimental archaeology. A small cost will be associated, likely to be in the region of £15 - £25.

Group Work 50%

Object Context Essay 50%

There are no assessments for this course.