| Unit name | History of Archaeology (Diploma Archaeological Studies) |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ARCH20033 |
| Credit points | 10 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Mr. Paul Driscoll |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Anthropology and Archaeology |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit will provide you with an introduction to the history and theory of archaeology. It will focus on the emergence of modern archaeology during the 18th and 19th centuries and will examine the history of the discipline as a series of shifting paradigms or models of the past, with each new model emerging as a reaction to the prevailing dogma of the day. To understand how and why paradigms change we must place archaeology – and archaeologists – in the broader context of developments in the arts and sciences (e.g. the Enlightenment), as well as consider the effects of wider social trends. Starting with the Antiquarians, the course will explore the origins of British archaeology, but will also focus on how developments in Britain were influenced by and eventually came to influence, continental methodologies during the 19th and 20th centuries. The unit will also examine how the subject has evolved into a modern discipline with the defined methodologies and techniques that we use today.
Archaeological theory will be introduced to provide an overview of this historical background to current archaeological theory and practice. It will include the development of the Cultural Historical and Diffusionist theories of Childe et al. between the wars, and the Processual and Post-Processual archaeology of the 1960s and 1970s, along with a focus on some of the related sub-theories such as Cognitive Archaeology. The Contextual or Post-Processual archaeology of the 1980s can be seen as a reaction to the overtly scientific and a-historical Processual archaeology, which was in turn a reaction to the obsessively descriptive and classificatory archaeology of earlier generations.
You will gain a basic knowledge of modern archaeological theory, which will be expanded to more advanced archaeological theory at Level 3.
The unit provides you with an overview of the history of the discipline of archaeology and includes an introduction to the topics and debates of contemporary archaeological theory, which is essential for understanding the models and interpretations in Prehistoric and later archaeology.
Students will:
You are required to write one essay of 2750 words from a choice of topic, either History of Archaeology or Archaeological Theory. The essay will count towards 100% of the History of Archaeology Unit.
Bahn, P. 1996. The Cambridge Illustrated History of Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Daniel, G. 1975. A Hundred and Fifty Years of Archaeology. London: Duckworth.
Hodder, I. 2003. Reading the Past: current approaches to interpretation in archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Johnson, M. 2010. Archaeological Theory: An Introduction (2nd ed). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Schnapp, A. 1996. The Discovery of the Past. London: British Museum Press.
Trigger, B. 2006. A History of Archaeological Thought (2nd ed). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gamble, C. 2001. Archaeology: the basics. London: Routledge.
Johnson, M. 2010. Archaeological Theory: an introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.
Praetzellis, A. 2000. Death by Theory: a tale of mystery and archaeological theory. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira.
Renfrew, C. and Bahn, P. (eds.). 2005. Archaeology: the key concepts. London: Routledge.
