| CODE | ARC1008 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Material Culture in Archaeology | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Classics and Archaeology | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Material culture are the physical remains of ancient societies, and make up the primary dataset from which archaeologists interpret the past. This study-unit is intended to introduce students to the study of material culture in archaeology. The first part will briefly introduce students to the main types of materials and objects, both organic and inorganic, found during archaeological excavations, such as lithics, metal objects, glass and ancient textiles. The second part of the study-unit will focus in more detail on pottery, by exploring the origins of pottery technology, manufacturing techniques, methods used to study and interpret pottery, and recording pottery assemblages. The class-based lectures will be complemented by several hours of hands-on practicals intended to familiarise students with handling and identifying pottery and other artefacts, as well as undertaking supervised post-excavation work. Study-unit Aims: 1. To familiarise students with the main types of archaeological artefacts recovered during excavation; 2. To explain the development of pottery manufacture and technology in the past; 3. To show students how to extract useful information from material culture and pottery; 4. To teach students how to set up a basic ceramic typology; 5. To allow students to handle archaeological material by undertaking basic post-excavation activities. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: 1. Explain the role which material culture studies has in archaeological research; 2. Define the crucial roles which ceramic studies have in archaeological research; 3. Interpret pottery finds according to established academic criteria; 4. Define the main historical and technological events that characterise the development of pottery manufacture. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: 1. Carry out a basic ceramic classification; 2. List the key criteria which can be used in pottery typologies; 3. Identify the main types of material culture found during archaeological excavations; 4. Define the key terminology commonly used to describe material culture; 5. Carry out basic post-excavation activities on pottery during a supervised practical session. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts Andrefsky, W. 2005. "Lithics: Macroscopic Approaches to Analysis", 2nd edn. Oxford: Routledge [Main library CCN799.T6A53 2005] Hunt, M. W. 2017. "The Oxford Handbook of Archaeological Ceramic Analysis", Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Main library CC79.5.P6 H859] Henderson, J. 2000. "The Science and Archaeology of Materials", Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Main library CC79.C5H4] Orton, C., Hughes, M. 2013. "Pottery in Archaeology", 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Main library CC79.5.P6 O7 2013] |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Fieldwork, Lectures and Practicum | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Maxine Anastasi |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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