Postgraduate Course: From Foraging to Farming: the Beginnings of Agriculture in the Mediterranean and Europe (PGHC11243)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course provides students with the opportunity to study the archaeological and other evidence relating to one of the most important events in human prehistory - the transition from hunting and gathering to farming. The main issues surrounding the economic, technological and social developments that marked the transition are explored for specific regions of Europe. |
| Course description |
The aim of the course is to instil in students:
- a sound knowledge and understanding of the principal sources of evidence that can be used to reconstruct the behaviour of the last hunting-gathering and earliest food producing societies in Europe;
- an appreciation of the difficulties involved in interpreting that evidence, and the major areas of controversy;
- the ability to critically assess current hypotheses of the transition to agriculture as applied in three geographically distinct regions of Europe, the Balkan Peninsula, the Mediterranean, and Northwest Europe;
- a critical awareness of how archaeological perceptions and approaches to research have historically influenced interpretations of the evidence.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework, command of the body of knowledge considered in the course
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework, an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship;
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework, an ability to understand, evaluate and utilise a variety of primary source material;
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework, the ability to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence;
- Demonstrate independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
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Reading List
Barker, G. 2006. The Agricultural Revolution in Prehistory: Why did Foragers Become Farmers? Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bellwood, P. 2005. First Farmers: the Origins of Agricultural Societies. Oxford: Blackwell.
Diamond, J. 2002. Evolution, consequences and future of plant and animal domestication. Nature 418: 700-707.
Colledge, S. & Conolly, J. (eds) 2007. The Origins and Spread of Domestic Plants in Southwest Asia and Europe. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press.
Colledge, S. & Conolly, J. (eds) 2013. The Origins and Spread of Domestic Animals in Southwest Asia and Europe. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press.
Lichter, C. (ed.) 2005. How Did Farming Reach Europe? Anatolian-European Relations from the Second Half of the 7th through the First Half of the 6th Millennium cal BC. BYZAS 2. Istanbul: Ege Yayinlari.
Price, T.D. (ed.) 2000. Europe's First Farmers. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
N.B. The timetable is arranged annually |
| Keywords | Foraging Farming |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Clive Bonsall
Tel: (0131 6)50 2375
Email: Clive.Bonsall@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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