This is an archived handbook for a previous year. The current undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks can be viewed using the links above.
Undergraduate Handbook 2005-2006 (archived)
Module ARCH3521: HUNTERS & GATHERERS PAST & PRESENT (AR)
Department: Archaeology
ARCH3521: HUNTERS & GATHERERS PAST & PRESENT (AR)
| Type | Level | Credits | Availability | Module Cap | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 3 | 20 | Available in 2005/2006 | None. | Durham |
Pre-requisites
- Archaeological Method and Theory (ARCH2121) OR Prehistoric Europe: From Foragers to State Formation (ARCH2081).
Corequisites
- None.
Excluded Combinations
- Art, Anthropology and Archaeology (AR).
Aims
- 1. To provide an integrated approach to the study of past and present hunter-gatherer societies.
- 2. To demonstrate the fruitful conjunction of archaeological and anthropological methods with regard to the study of culture and the environment.
Content
- Lectures:
- Is hunting and gathering a distinctive mode of subsistence? The evolution of hunter-gatherer technology. Resource ecology and optimal foraging. Reciprocity and co-operation in modern hunter-gatherers, and the evidence for social behaviour in the Palaeolithic. Rock art. Hunter-gatherer politics and the concepts of immediate and delayed return. The transition between hunting and gathering, and farming. Hunter-gatherer/farmer interaction. Hunter-gatherers in the modern world.
- Seminars:
- Is hunting and gathering a unique adaptation? Settlement and society, past and present. Optimality theory: territory and technology. The interpretation of Palaeolithic art. The behaviour of premodern humans. Egalitarian societies. The origins of agriculture. Strategies for survival in the modern world.
Learning Outcomes
Subject-specific Knowledge
- Understanding and evaluation of current theories concerning hunter-gatherer society and economy;
- critical appreciation of hunter-gatherer survival in the modern world
Subject-specific Skills
- Learning about Hunter-Gatherer ways of life, subsistence, settlement, change, environmental exploitation.
- Comparing anthropological and archaeological understanding of hunter-gatherers
Key Skills
- Independent study
- Research
- Problem solving
- Historical human-environment interaction
Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module
- TEACHING & LEARNING: Lectures; seminars; self-guided learning
- ASSESSMENT: Examination; essays
Teaching Methods and Learning Hours
| Activity | Number | Frequency | Duration | Total Hours | Attendance Monitored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 19 | 1 Per Week | 1 Hour | 19 | |
| Seminars | 8 | 1 Per Fortnight | 1 Hour | 8 | |
| Preparation and Reading | 172 | ||||
| Total | 200 |
Summative Assessment
| Component | Component Weighting | Element | Length/Duration | Element Weighting | Resit Opportunity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Examination | 66% | Written examination | 2 hours | 100% | |
| Essays | 34% | Essay 1 | 1,500 words | 50% | |
| Essay 2 | 1,500 words | 50% |
Formative Assessment
Two seminar presentations, scheduled at appropriate times.
Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods
and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative
assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress
procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be
required to leave the University.