THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2026/2027

Draft Edition - Due to be published Thursday 9th April 2026

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of History, Classics and Archaeology : Archaeology

Undergraduate Course: Celtic Connections: the Archaeology of Iron Age Europe (ARCA10109)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryIn many parts of Eurasia, the 1st millennium BC encompassed fundamental changes and turning points towards social structures, economies and connections that still shape our world and worldviews today. The course connects you with the idea of the Celts in Iron Age Europe and how east, west, north and south connected. You will investigate, interrogate and make new connections between this so-called 'Celtic', Northern and Mediterranean ways of living and seeing the world - and the ways we see this world today.
Course description Welcome to a challenge-led approach to the European Iron Age north of the Alps. You will research and critically assess archaeological evidence and scholarly debates in an international field. You will produce new data by "asking" the material for its evidence: artefacts, burials and settlements - to then interrogate these datasets within theoretical models and practical frameworks: gender, power, future thinking. Working with your peers, you will seek new pathways to original solutions. The so-called 'Celtic' Iron Age becomes the medium to address wider social and political issues, then and now. Your new research practices and problem-solving skills will equip you to work in academia or in professional practice, for heritage institutions/charities, government or government-agencies or the information industries sector.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Students MUST NOT also be taking The Archaeology of Iron Age Europe: Hillforts, Burials and Landscapes (ARCA10093) AND Archaeology of 'Celtic' Europe: Communities and Interactions (PGHC11508) AND The Celtic World (Online) (PGHC11577)
Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting 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 ** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the CAHSS Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course **.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2026/27, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  0
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 11, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 11, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 174 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Coursework (100%)
1,000 word Annotated Data Report (20%)
3,500 word Illustrated Essay (80%)
Feedback Students will receive written feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, a detailed and critical command of the body of knowledge concerning the European Iron Age north of the Alps;
  2. demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship;
  3. demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to understand, evaluate, analyse, interpret and utilise a variety of source material;
  4. demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, the ability to develop and sustain original scholarly arguments in oral, visual and written form, by independently formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence;
  5. demonstrate originality and independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
Reading List
- Collis, J. (2006): The Celts. Origins, Myths and Inventions. Tempus, Stroud.
- Cowley, D., Fernández-Götz, M., Romankiewicz, T., Wendling, H. (eds.) (2019): Rural Settlement: Relating buildings, landscape and people in the European Iron Age. Sidestone Press, Leiden.
- Cunliffe, B. (2018): The Ancient Celts (2nd edition). Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- Fernández-Götz, M. (2014): Identity and Power: The Transformation of Iron Age Societies in Northeast Gaul. Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam.
- Fernández-Götz, M., Wendling, H. and Winger, K. (eds.) (2014): Paths to Complexity: Centralisation and Urbanisation in Iron Age Europe. Oxbow Books, Oxford.
- Haselgrove, C. and Moore, T. (eds.) (2007): The Later Iron Age in Britain and beyond. Oxbow Books, Oxford.
- Haselgrove, C. and Pope, R. (eds.) (2007): The Earlier Iron Age in Britain and the Near Continent. Oxbow Books, Oxford.
- Haselgrove, C., Rebay-Salisbury, K. and Wells, P. (eds.) (2023): The Oxford Handbook of the European Iron Age. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- Moore, T and Armada, X.-L. (eds.) (2011): Atlantic Europe in the First Millennium BC. Crossing the Divide. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- Romankiewicz, T., Fernández-Götz, M., Lock, G., Büchsenschütz, G. (eds) (2019): Enclosing Space, Opening New Ground: Iron Age studies from Scotland to Mainland Europe. Oxbow Books, Oxford.
- Romankiewicz, T. (2018): The line, the void and the current: Iron Age art from a Design Theory perspective, in: Oxford Journal of Archaeology. 37(1): 45-59.
- Wells, P.S. (2011): The Iron Age. In S. Milisauskas (ed.), European Prehistory. A Survey (2nd edition). Springer, New York: 405-460.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Tanja Romankiewicz
Tel:
Email: T.Romankiewicz@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Claire Brown
Tel: (0131 6)50 3582
Email: cbrown20@exseed.ed.ac.uk
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