Undergraduate Course: Island Worlds: prehistoric societies in the western Mediterranean from Malta to Minorca (ARCA10061)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course investigates connections and disconnections between island cultures and larger continental landmasses in the western Mediterranean in selected prehistoric periods (ranging from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age). With particular reference to Malta, Sicily, the Aeolian archipelago, Pantelleria, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics, it surveys the earliest human colonisation of Mediterranean islands, and proceeds with case studies that focus primarily on certain periods of conspicuous cultural development or florescence: e.g. the temple period on Malta, the Nuraghic and Talayotic phases in Sardinia and the Balearics, the Late Bronze Age in Sicily. A range of evidence is considered, primarily from archaeological sites, including monumental architecture, while considering explanations for cultural change in the light of theoretical propositions and debates about island worlds as specific and potentially divergent entities, or laboratories, variously stimulated by isolation or contact. |
| Course description |
Not entered
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Pre-requisites: Archaeology 2A and 2B, or Honours entry to degrees in Classics, or equivalent. |
| Additional Costs | None. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 Archaeology courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
Students who complete the course successfully will be able by the end of the course to demonstrate in written examination and course work as well as in class discussion:
? knowledge and understanding of island archaeology in the prehistoric periods and of relevant theoretical debates surrounding questions of the first colonisation of islands and processes of cultural evolution in island or isolated societies
? the ability to utilize and evaluate critically a range of different categories of archaeological, environmental and visual evidence
? an understanding of the geographical characteristics of the region
Transferable Skills:
Students will also demonstrate that they can:
? gather material independently on a given topic and organise it into a coherent data set;
? compare differing sets of data from varying situations and draw conclusions from them;
? evaluate different approaches to and explanations of material, and make critical choices between them;
? express clearly ideas and arguments, both orally and in writing;
? organise complex and lengthy sets of arguments and draw these together into a coherent conclusion;
? organise their own learning, manage their workload and work to a timetable.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Island Worl |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Robert Leighton
Tel: (0131 6)50 8197
Email: Robert.Leighton@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Amanda Campbell
Tel: (0131 6)50 3782
Email: amanda.campbell@ed.ac.uk |
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