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ARCH30990

Academic Year 2025/2026

Between Newgrange & Stonehenge (ARCH30990)

Subject:
Archaeology
College:
Social Sciences & Law
School:
Archaeology
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Assoc Professor Neil Carlin
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

The past was very different to the present. In this module, we examine the various ways in which the social worlds of Ireland and Britain emerged between and beyond the iconic sites of Newgrange and Stonehenge in the third and fourth millennia BC. During this timeframe, different kinds of communities emerged, the monuments they built changed, and the dead were treated in increasingly diverse ways. Lifeways, including what and how people ate, how they moved and interacted with one another, all underwent radical transformations.

This module provides a detailed outline of the evidence encountered for these changes in relationships (between people, places, animals, plants, things and various other beings in Ireland and Britain between 3900 and 1700 BC within their wider European context). You will develop an advanced understanding of the complexities of interpreting this evidence by critically examining key recent debates. Here, you will evaluate the contribution of various approaches and how the arguments underlying competing interpretations are produced.

To understand how the past emerged differently across space and time, you will be stimulated to think deeply about how we (as archaeologists) interpret and assess the evidence for changes in material culture and past practices. We also reflect on how these differences shape the past and the present, including our self-perception.

To achieve this, the practices of “writing as thinking” and 'learning by doing' play a key role in encouraging active critical thinking and learning within the module. You will be required to document your thoughts weekly about a key reading in a reflective learning journal. You will use this to demonstrate how your thinking has evolved over the course of this module. This enables you to develop the kind of original creative and critical conceptual leaps that AI cannot recreate.


NOTE: During our class on Tues 9th September (2-4pm), we will go on a field trip to a megalithic tomb. Your first assessment is based on this, so attendance is highly recommended. I will arrange for a bus to pick us up at 2 and drop us back to UCD for 4. More details will be provided in class etc.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module, you will be able to:
1. Demonstrate critical knowledge of the key developments in the 3rd & 4th millennia BC in Ireland and Britain, and the debates about these
2. Evaluate and contrast the main sources of evidence and theoretical assumptions used to underpin different interpretations
3. Outline how current theoretical approaches can be applied to build critically informed alternatives to obsolete narratives of life in Ireland during the deep past
4. Consider how approaches to the past shape our understanding of present-day Ireland and Britain.
6. Demonstrate competencies in a wide range of transferable skills, such as:
---------------------- comparing and contrasting different forms of archaeological information
----------------------- evaluating evidence and alternative ideas
---------------------- investigating interpretations and identifying problems
---------------------- articulating your observations and arguments about these
---------------------- contributing to and leading group discussion
---------------------- clear, concise, and analytical writing skills
---------------------- increased tolerance for ambiguity

Indicative Module Content:

Topics include settlements, monuments, material culture, burial rites, depositional practices, regionality, mobility, kinship, gender, identity, innovations, power, and posthumanism.

The module focuses most closely on Ireland and Britain, but international examples across north-west Europe will also be drawn upon where appropriate to show how the Irish evidence fits/contrasts with that from the near Continent.

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

12

Small Group

12

Seminar (or Webinar)

12

Field Trip/External Visits

4

Specified Learning Activities

100

Autonomous Student Learning

60

Total

200


Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Flipped-classroom with student-led discussion, lectures that include active/task-based learning; peer and group work; reflective learning, debates; case-based learning; student presentations.
Each week you will be expected to do work in advance (e.g. complete at least one reading and keep a reflective learning journal) and be prepared to contribute in class.
Each topic will also have an associated seminar for which students will each read a text and discuss it with the rest of the class and the seminar leader(s).
The module also has trips to a key archaeological site and to the National Museum of Ireland

NOTE: You may choose to use generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) assessments for this module for the following purposes ONLY:
(1) for correction (to correct spelling, grammar and punctuation)
(2) for citation (to arrange references according to a particular citation style).
(3) to organise the structure of an essay (though this is not encouraged because it deskills you)
(4) to find, learn about and understand suitable resources (i.e. for background research - though this is not encouraged because it deskills you).
Other uses of AI are NOT permitted (e.g. to generate ideas and text). Do not use AI to do your critical thinking for you because this deprives you of the opportunity to maintain or sharpen your thinking processes.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Group Work Assignment: Work with a team to lead class discussion during a seminar throughout the trimester (over the 12 weeks). Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11 Graded No
15
No
Individual Project: Interpretation board for an archaeological site Week 5 Graded No
20
No
Reflective Assignment: Having completed logbook entries (c.500 words) reflecting on each weekly key reading, you must write a critical 2500 word reflection on how your understanding of a key topic changed through 3 of these Week 14 Graded No
65
No

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

UCD School of Archaeology uses grading rubrics to provide feedback in Brightspace for all modules. Feed forward details are provided to help you think about how you to improve your approach in future assignments. Self-assessment activities: students complete self-assessment prior to submission of assignments and revist post-assessment. Written individual feedback & Group/class feedback provided 3 weeks after submission deadline for assignments

There is no core text book for this module. Here are some key general overviews that cover important ground in different ways. Most of these are frelly available from the library as E-Books or other sources (you are certainly NOT expected to buy any of these):

Bradley, R. 2019. The Prehistory of Britain and Ireland. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Brück, J. 2019. Personifying prehistory: relational ontologies in Bronze Age Britain and Ireland. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Crellin, R.J., 2020: Change and archaeology, London: Routledge

Cummings V. 2018 The Neolithic of Britain and Ireland. London, Routledge

Fokkens, H. and Harding, A. (eds). 2013. The Oxford Handbook of the European Bronze Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Fowler, C., Harding, J. & Hoffman, D. (eds). 2015 The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Harris, O & Cipolla, C. 2017. Archaeological theory in the new millennium. Introducing current perspectives. London & New York: Routledge

Johnston, R. 2021: Bronze Age Worlds. A Social Prehistory of Britain and Ireland. London & New York: Routledge

RAY K. and THOMAS J. (2018) – Neolithic Britain: the transformation of social worlds, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Name Role
Professor Joanna Bruck Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Mark Haughton Lecturer / Co-Lecturer

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Mon 14:00 - 14:50
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Tues 14:00 - 15:50