AY2006: TEST TUBES AND TROWELS: AN INTRODUCTION TO ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE (2017-2018)

Test Tubes & Trowels presents an overview of the key scientific approaches used in archaeological science today that allow field archaeologists to maximize the quantity and quality of the material they can recover from sites, and which enhance the understanding, dating and interpretation of archaeological sites and materials. Using a combination of lectures and practical workshops, the course will cover scientific methods of dating, artefact provenancing and ancient technologies, methods used for the study of diet, health, and movements of humans and animals in the past, and the identification of the environmental impacts of past human activities. 

This course provides a key knowledge base needed by all archaeologists, and provides a springboard for honours-level archaeological research projects on archaeological science topics, and for level 3 and 4 science courses such as Geoarchaeology and Bioarchaeology.

 The course will give students with an understanding of the principal scientific approaches and techniques employed within Archaeology and will:

•  introduce participants to the field of modern archaeological science and the history, development and scope of the discipline
• provide students with knowledge of principle scientific approaches and techniques used to explore the past
• offer students an overview of the contribution made by the archaeological sciences to archaeological research, and an understanding of the practical relationship between the field and laboratory
• present novel case studies and introduce new within-discipline debates
• create awareness of the role of scientific techniques in addressing and highlighting key archaeological questions
• develop skills required to better access scientific publications and critically review the work of others
• provide the ability to process, interpret and critically evaluate basic data

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

More Information about Week Numbers

1st Attempt: Continuous assessment, consisting of practical exercises (60%) and a written critical review report (40%)

There are no assessments for this course.

Formal feedback from the summative assessment is given in the form of an annotated copy of the student’s work and a detailed written critical review feedback sheet. Feedback for practical reports/write-ups comes in the form of a detailed written practical feedback sheet and an annotated copy of the student's work.