ARCH30610 Hunter-Gatherers: archaeological & anthropological perspectives

Academic Year 2019/2020

This module provides an advanced introduction to current understandings of hunting and gathering societies, often seen as one of the most significant and long lived forms of human social organisation. Hunter-gatherers are often defined as human groups who subsist on wild foods and plants. They also play an important role in models of social change over time – being perceived as the origin point from which forms of social complexity have developed, especially in terms of the development of agricultural societies. But a wide range of archaeological and anthropological evidence suggests that hunting and gathering societies were enormously diverse, and often characterised by significant forms of complexity. This includes large scale management and manipulation of the environment, substantial architectural and monumental projects, as well as rich cultural traditions and developed forms of social inequality. This evidence provides a major challenge to common-place notions of what ‘hunter-gatherers’ are and how human diversity relates to subsistence practice.

This module explores the diversity of hunter-gatherers over time and space, and examines how and why such communities change, including as they develop or obtain domesticated plants and animals. We will take a global perspective, and use archaeological and anthropological approaches to explore the fascinating worlds of hunter-gatherers. The module uses seminars and class exercises to encourage students to take the lead in this process.
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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module, you will be able to:

- critically discuss the nature and historical significance of hunting and gathering societies
- compare and contrast anthropological and archaeological perspectives on hunter-gatherers
- contribute meaningfully to seminar discussion
- write an advanced undergraduate essay

Indicative Module Content:

This is the outline for 2018-19, to be revised slightly for this year:

Week Lecture Theme
1 1 What is a hunter-gatherer? A History of Hunter-Gatherer studies
1 2 SEMINAR: guidance on posters
2 3 Hunter-Gatherers Past and Present
2 4 SEMINAR
3 5 NO CLASS: work on your posters!
3 6 NO CLASS: work on your posters!
4 7 Key themes: Mobility
4 8 SEMINAR
5 9 Key themes: Egalitarianism and sharing
5 10 SEMINAR
6 11 Key themes: social complexity & anarchism
6 12 SEMINAR: POSTER DISPLAY ASSESSMENT ONE
7 13 Key themes: resource and landscape production
7 14 SEMINAR
8 15 NO CLASS: READING WEEK
8 16 SUBMIT: REFLECTION ON POSTER/GROUP WORK
9 17 Key themes: religion and world view
9 18 SEMINAR
10 19 The Adoption of Agriculture
10 20 SEMINAR
11 21 Hunter-Gatherer Futures
11 22 SEMINAR
12 SUBMIT ASSIGNMENT TWO

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

12

Seminar (or Webinar)

12

Specified Learning Activities

50

Autonomous Student Learning

26

Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
- lectures supported by seminars

- initial assessment creating a poster working in groups

- training and support for group work provided

- final assignment writing academic essay 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Continuous Assessment: Posters, produced in small group Week 7 n/a Graded No

30

Essay: c3000 words Week 12 n/a Graded No

70


Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Remediation Type Remediation Timing
In-Module Resit Prior to relevant Programme Exam Board
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Poster: assessment based on peer review and staff review of poster content and self-assessment of task. Feedback in time to contribute to understanding essay topic. Essay: feedback provided on summative assignment

Your key reading is

Kelly RL 2013 The lifeways of Hunter-Gatherers: The Foraging Spectrum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (available as an e-book via the library)

The following overviews are also very useful:

Bettinger RL, Garvey R, Tushingham S 2015 Hunter-Gatherers: Archaeological and Evolutionary Theory. Second edn. New York: Springer (mainly for the introduction)
Cummings V 2013 The Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers: key themes for archaeologists. London: Bloomsbury, Debates in Archaeology
Cummings V, Jordan P, Zvelebil M (eds) 2014 The Oxford handbook of the archaeology and anthropology of hunter-gatherers. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Finlayson B, Warren G 2010 Changing Natures: Hunter-Gatherers, First Farmers and the Modern World. London: Duckworths
Lee R, Daly R (eds) 1999 The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Hunters and Gatherers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
Name Role
Dr Neil Carlin Lecturer / Co-Lecturer