Materiality and Meaning: Exploring Prehistoric Britain Through Material Culture

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Concessionary fees for short courses

The aim of this course is to understand how the medium of Materiality can contribute to our understanding of the British prehistoric past.

Course objectives: 

1) to understand the medium of Materiality as applied to archaeological enquiry

2) to recognise the specific classes of material evidence, ie artefacts, ecofacts, the built and natural environments of prehistoric Britain

3) to assess the effectiveness of the archaeological approach of Materiality in achieving a greater understanding of the cultural and socio-economic aspects of life in prehistoric Britain

The teaching methods will involve the opportunity to gain an understanding of how materials offer key evidence that helps us to understand how prehistoric Britons engaged with their world: How did they engage with and modify the natural landscape? What did they construct? What tools did they make? What crafts were developed to ensure survival in evolving circumstances? What interactions did they have with neighbouring and more distant communities? What can we know about their daily lives and their cosmologies (belief systems) through investigations of surviving materials?

Teaching will take the form of lectures enhanced with Powerpoint Presentations, in interactive sessions that encourage the students to ask questions and offer opinions during the course. Each presentation will involve specific case studies. There will be handling sessions of archaeological materials provided by the tutor. These will include artefacts (pottery, worked stone, tools, ornaments) and ecofacts (animal bones, preserved plant materials). The field trip will offer the opportunity to investigate the prehistoric built environment within a natural landscape setting at Butser Ancient Farm.

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

1) Understand the concept and medium of Materiality as applied to archaeological enquiry

2) Recognise some specific classes of material evidence, ie artefacts, ecofacts, structures and natural environments of different periods of prehistoric Britain (Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age)

3) Explain the effectiveness of the study of materials in achieving a greater understanding of some cultural, social, and economic aspects of life in prehistoric Britain

The formal coursework requirement is one or more pieces of work amounting in total to no
more than 1,500 words or equivalent.

Two options are available. Option A involves completion of three short exercises of 500 words on topics recommended by the tutor or chosen by the student from the course material. Option B involves a single extended essay of 1500 words on a single topic recommended by the tutor or selected by the student from the course material.
For both options, students will submit the formal assessments at the end of the course.

Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work the required standard.

Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form

The Department's Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, i.e. first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)

To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.