Contexts for Human Origins Research

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Courses / Modules / ARCH6121 Contexts for Human Origins Research

When you'll study it: Semester 1
CATS points: 15
ECTS points: 7.5
Level: Level 7
Module lead: Simon Davies
Academic year: 2025-26

Module overview

The module will focus on the major questions which have been, and are being, asked of Palaeolithic data. These include such issues as language origins, global colonisation, population replacement, and hominin responses to palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental change. We shall explore these in two ways: thematically, showing how each independent research framework contributes to origins research (conducted in the seminars), and site-based, using records from key sites to evaluate the extent and durability of traits in the Palaeolithic (achieved within oral presentations).

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Integrate theoretical issues and archaeological questions with published data from key archaeological sites
Identify key areas of research in the study of human origins and Palaeolithic archaeology

Cognitive Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Understand how to evaluate research questions
Integrate data and concepts to answer research questions
Critically assess the concepts of others
Evaluate the interpretation of data

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Present information to a group through regular seminar contributions
Evaluate information on an independent basis
Distil a wide variety of data and ideas to address key issues within oral presentations and a PowerPoint summary of a seminar discussion
Demonstrate effective use of a variety of information sources – book, journal, internet
Undertake oral presentations

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

Understanding of the major research themes for the period
Evaluation of the applicability of different conceptual frameworks to the investigation of Palaeolithic data
Understanding of the interdisciplinary environment of Palaeolithic studies
Knowledge of the historical basis for Palaeolithic research

Syllabus

Typically, the syllabus will cover the following: Seminar: - - Orientation & introduction to the course - The use of analogy in archaeological interpretation - Evolutionary and social models: frameworks for analysis. - Palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions - Integrity & resolution in the archaeological record - Groups and individuals in the Palaeolithic - Time & temporality - Place and space - Transitions (i): biological (brains, populations and genes). - Transitions (ii): social (technology, mind and identity/ethnicity) - Transitions (iii): society (language, symbolism and social evolution). - Hominins on the move Presentations: - - Chimpanzee technology; Oldowan and Acheulean. - Acheulean makers and lifestyles; Acheulean as a technological mode. - Middle Pleistocene regional variability; the “Acheulean World.” - Homo ergaster colonisation; Lower Palaeolithic chronologies - The origins of Prepared Core Technologies; PCT as a technological mode - Neanderthal specialised hunting; characterising Neanderthal society - Homo sapiens & Neanderthals; European Upper Palaeolithic “revolution.” - Defining “modern humans”; why is “modernity” an odd concept? - Aurignacian dispersal; Gravettian as truly “Upper Palaeolithic.” - Cave art and refugia; characterising the late Upper Palaeolithic. - Colonisation of Australia; Tasmanian prehistoric settlement & technology. - Colonising the Americas; dispersal routes into the Americas.

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

The module examines in detail the leading questions of contemporary enquiry into the Palaeolithic. Who are we, and how did we come to be the way we are? Discussion is conducted through student-led seminars and presentations on given topics given by students. The approach is essentially theoretical, but the practical applications of this theory to the Palaeolithic record will be emphasised. You will have the opportunity of testing ideas with leading figures in interpreting the Palaeolithic record. The module will be taught through a mixture of student-led seminars and presentations, for which reading lists are provided. Independent study will include preparation for an essay, for presentations and seminars.

��TV time
Type	Hours
Preparation for scheduled sessions	60
Wider reading or practice	6
Seminar	24
Completion of assessment task	60
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

General Resources

Resources. The module relies on the continued availability of equipment and software, specifically ArcGIS and ERDAS Imagine (for which we currently have Chest licenses) and availability of Survey equipment. The module also requires continued availability of the Digital Humanities workstation cluster in B65a.

Textbooks

Klein, R. (2009). The Human Career: Human biological and cultural origins. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Stringer, C. & P. Andrews (2005). The Complete World of Human Evolution. London: Thames & Hudson.

Gamble, C.S. (1999). Palaeolithic Societies of Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Binford, L.R. (2001). Constructing Frames of Reference: An analytical method for archaeological theory building using ethnographic and environmental datasets. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Gosden, C. (1999). Anthropology and archaeology: a changing relationship. London: Routledge.

Gamble, C.S. (2007). Origins and Revolutions: Human identity in earliest prehistory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

van Andel, T.H. & W. Davies (eds.) (2003). Neanderthals and modern humans in the European landscape during the last glaciation. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Monographs.

Petraglia, M. & R. Korisettar (eds.) (1998). Early human behaviour in global context. London: Routledge.

Gamble, C. & M. Porr (2005). The Hominid Individual in Context: Archaeological investigations of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic landscapes, locales and artefacts. London: Routledge.

Lowe, J.J. & M.J.C. Walker (1997). Reconstructing Quaternary Environments. Longman.

Mithen, S. (2003). After the Ice: A Global Human History, 20,000-5000 BC. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Dobres, M.-A. (2000). Technology and social agency. Oxford: Blackwell.

Assessment

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Class discussions

Assessment Type: Formative
Feedback: Formative feedback conveyed orally and via e-mail to the student seminar leader.
Final Assessment: No
Group Work: No

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Presentation	25%
Essay	50%
Presentation	25%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Resubmit assessments	100%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External

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