Last modified: 31 May 2022 13:05
For over a million years, our Palaeolithic ancestors lived a hunter-gatherer life. Sometimes their world was gripped by an Ice Age; at other times it was warm enough that hippos swam in the River Thames. Drawing on evidence from Britain and Europe, this course explores how humans lived in these environments. In doing so we look at the archaeological evidence for key questions, such as how humans first occupied the north, whether Neanderthals made art, and when “modern” human behaviour first appeared.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | First Term | Credit Points | 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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The course covers more than one million years of the Palaeolithic, examining the period in much more detail than Year 1 and 2 courses. It is (broadly) structured chronologically, going from the earliest known humans in Europe to the end of the last Ice Age. Along the way we focus on key questions, such as how successfully we can reconstruct past environments, what adaptations humans needed to first occupy northern Europe, whether Neanderthals made art, and when different aspects of “modern” human behaviour first emerged.
Lectures, seminars and an artefact handling session will therefore provide students with a broad overview of the period, while also providing an in-depth understanding of certain issues. The often-fragmentary archaeological evidence, as well as the limitations of some archaeological methods, mean that significant disagreement is common in Palaeolithic archaeology. This course’s focus on some of these debates means that students will become familiar with important archaeological principles and methods, their potentials and limitations. As well as revealing past societies, this course therefore also has a considerable focus on how we do Palaeolithic archaeology.
Through the course, students will:
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 13 | Feedback Weeks | 16 | |
| Feedback |
Presentation (with visual aids) critically analysing the argument of an academic paper. Presentations will be done in groups of two. The other students will peer-review each presentation, to help with the subsequent self-reflective report - see below. Feedback will be given by other students. Formal feedback will be given via combined comments on the presentation and reflective report (see below). |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Create | Produce and present well-organised, critical syntheses of different types of archaeological data relevant to a specific issue |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Develop critical skills by assessing the merits and drawbacks of different approaches and methods used in Palaeolithic archaeology |
| Procedural | Understand | Acquire a detailed knowledge and understanding of specific methods, types of evidence and archaeological questions |
| Reflection | Analyse | Develop a critical understanding of the terminology and classification systems used by Palaeolithic archaeologists |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 60 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 17 | Feedback Weeks | 20 | |
| Feedback |
Detailed feedback will be given via annotation of the essay and an accompanying feedback summary. |
Word Count | 3000 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Create | Produce and present well-organised, critical syntheses of different types of archaeological data relevant to a specific issue |
| Conceptual | Understand | Gain a broad knowledge and understanding of the evidence we have for European Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers and their societies, as well as evidence for the environments in which they lived |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Develop critical skills by assessing the merits and drawbacks of different approaches and methods used in Palaeolithic archaeology |
| Procedural | Understand | Acquire a detailed knowledge and understanding of specific methods, types of evidence and archaeological questions |
| Reflection | Analyse | Develop a critical understanding of the terminology and classification systems used by Palaeolithic archaeologists |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 14 | Feedback Weeks | 16 | |
| Feedback |
Formal feedback will be given via combined comments on the presentation and reflective report. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Reflection | Evaluate | Effectively reflect on feedback for assessed work and propose best routes for future development and improvement |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Detailed feeback will be given via annotation of the essay and an accompanying feedback summary |
Word Count | 4000 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | Gain a broad knowledge and understanding of the evidence we have for European Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers and their societies, as well as evidence for the environments in which they lived |
| Reflection | Analyse | Develop a critical understanding of the terminology and classification systems used by Palaeolithic archaeologists |
| Procedural | Understand | Acquire a detailed knowledge and understanding of specific methods, types of evidence and archaeological questions |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Develop critical skills by assessing the merits and drawbacks of different approaches and methods used in Palaeolithic archaeology |
| Conceptual | Create | Produce and present well-organised, critical syntheses of different types of archaeological data relevant to a specific issue |
| Reflection | Evaluate | Effectively reflect on feedback for assessed work and propose best routes for future development and improvement |
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