The Last Hunters and First Farmers of Europe

Pre-requisites for enrolment

No previous knowledge required.

Content of Course

1. The Upper Palaeolithic: An overview of the hunter-gatherer settlement in Europe at the height of the last glaciation and the spatial distribution of settlement

2. The Late Glacial: The colonisation of northern Europe and developments in the Late Glacial occupation after the colonisation as humans settle in northern Europe and the British Isles. Especial emphasis will be placed on the instability in the climate and the challenges to identifying these sites.

3. The Late Glacial to the Holocene: A study of the end of the Ice Age and the changes in occupation that occur and the continuing connexions between Britain and the continent over the North Sea in the Early Mesolithic

4. The Late Mesolithic: Human occupation in response to a rapidly warming environment and the loss of the North Sea landmass as habitable land. A look at Scottish shell-middens and their implications for economic adaptations.

5. The Structure of Late Mesolithic Society: Complex hunter-gatherers and the importance of permanent sites to the creation of competitive social structures; the ethnographic analogues for this process from the Pacific coast of North America and elsewhere

6. The Introduction of Agriculture: The theories concerning the introduction of agriculture and a look at the first agricultural societies north of the Alps

7. The Post-LBK: The relationship amongst the LBK and the indigenous hunters and cultural diversification

8. The TRB Culture: Introduction of agriculture to the North European Plain and South Scandinavia and the process of ritual elaboration

9. Introduction of Agriculture to the British Isles: The evidence for early agriculture in the British Isles

10. Trends and Problems: A discussion of trends in research and the problems still associated with understanding the introduction of agriculture to northern Europe

Teaching method(s)

Lecture based with class discussion.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Understand the basic cultural sequences for the Late Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Early Neolithic;

• Interpret the basic material culture for each major period;

• Name the principal sites in Scotland and northern Europe;

• Be critically aware of the current interpretations and debate surrounding cultural change, social organisation, economy, and ritual.

Sources

Core Readings

Essential:

• Midgley, M., 1993. TRB Culture: The First Farmers of the North European Plain. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press.

• Smith, C., 1997. Late Stone Age Hunters of the British Isles. London: Routledge.

• Whittle, A., 1999. Europe in the Neolithic: Creation of New Worlds. (Cambridge World Archaeology). Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.

Recommended:

• Barton, N. and Roberts, J. A., Roe, D. A., editor. 1991. The Late Glacial in North-West Europe: Human Adaptation and Environmental Change at the End of the Pleistocene. (Report No. 77). London: Council for British Archaeology.

• Bogucki, P., 1989. Forest Farmers and Stockherders: Early Agriculture and its Consequences in North-Central Europe. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.

• Waddington, C., 2007. Mesolithic Settlement in the North Sea Basin: A Case Study from Howick, North-East England. Oxford: Oxbow Books.

Web Sources

http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_articles/europes_first_farmers_1_europes_last_huntergatherers_0

Class Handouts

Handouts will be provided.

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.