Archaeology
Journeys into the past: an introduction to Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology
Digging? Looking at old stuff? Sifting through ancient documents? Creating museum exhibitions? Wearing dodgy jumpers?
Archaeology is all this and more. Today archaeology is a broad ranging subject encompassing many ways of studying the human past and its relationship to the present. This course introduces students to some of these approaches through analysis of the Prehistoric and Roman remains found in the British Isles and North-West Europe.
Whether you are directly interested in archaeological physical remains or care more for the processes of deduction, this course will attempt to show you how archaeologists reach valid interpretations about the past. Students will learn about evidence accumulated through excavations, survey of standing remains, study of artefacts and the analysis of written records. Studying archaeology enables students to develop their problem solving skills, encourages observation of details and combines artistic and scientific thinking.
Archaeology is new at Christ Church University and as yet there are no 'in-house' archaeological research projects. It is hoped that, should the course prove popular, fieldwork will be incorporated in future years. Students will however, be given guidance and information on recommended voluntary excavations. The teaching staff have contacts within the southeast and further afield for those wanting to develop their on-site skills. There will be a series of voluntary, private, non-CCCU field trips to museums and ancient monuments both locally and further afield, led by members of the staff, during the course of each academic year. In-class teaching will consist of illustrated lectures, seminars and group projects.
Within History it is possible to take a pathway in Archaeology as follows:
Level 1
Journeys into the past: an introduction to Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology (20 credits)
This module aims to give students a grounding in archaeological methodology and in so doing to introduce them to a wide range of source material dating from the Neolithic period through to the end of Roman Britain'. As well as some appreciation of the range of material studied by archaeologists, including environmental archaeology and osteoarchaeology, the module explores the connections between archaeology and historical studies and equips students with a methodological toolkit for the contextualisation of material culture. In addition, the module inculcates in students the kinds of study skills necessary for their own subsequent learning development in history.
Level 2
The Archaeology of the Anglo-Saxon Viking World c.450-c.1100 (20 credits)
This module equips students with a thorough knowledge and critical understanding of the material culture of the insular world between c.450 and c.1100, and fosters an appreciation of the use of archaeology as a tool for developing an understanding of what were largely oral societies. The module surveys a number of broad themes: the demise of urban places and their recreation from the later seventh century onwards; the material culture of belief, including the development of churches; and the material culture of death and commemoration.
Level 3
The Archaeology of the British Isles c.1100-c.1540 (20 credits)
This module equips students with an in-depth knowledge and critical understanding of a range of material used by archaeologists of the later middle ages and develops the students' appreciation of the techniques and methods adopted by archaeologists evaluating and analyzing documentary and other material, and of the evidential limits within which archaeology operates. Content of the module includes studies of a range of topics, including a study of the Bayeux Tapestry, studies of twelfth and thirteenth century castle archaeology, medieval ceramics, the medieval skeleton; the recording and interpretation of medieval burials, the development of parish church architecture 1100-1450 and church excavation in Canterbury and beyond.