An Introduction to World Archaeology BC

Module code: AR1004

• When were the earliest stone tools made?
• Why did people invent metalwork?
• Why did people build monuments?
• What was it like to live in the distant past?

Tracing our history from the first use of stone tools at least 2.3 million years ago up to the Roman conquest of Britain, this module will introduce you to the extraordinary range of evidence we have to draw on as archaeologists. This will involve looking at everything from our earliest ancestors in Africa, via the Neanderthals to the lost civilisations of India and the Near East and the mysteries of Stonehenge. We will look at how people lived, how they got food, how they treated their dead and how they organised their societies. By examining the complex worlds of the deep past we can open up new understandings of who we are in the present and the importance of looking at all societies in their historical, material and social context.

This module includes a field trip to see the site of Upper Palaeolithic cave paintings at Creswell Crags. This module leads directly into 'Introduction to World Archaeology AD'.