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ARCH31050

Academic Year 2025/2026

Being Human in Prehistory (ARCH31050)

Subject:
Archaeology
College:
Social Sciences & Law
School:
Archaeology
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Dr Mark Haughton
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

The modern world is saturated with definitions and understandings of ‘who we are’. Our identity is supposedly defined by our DNA, our gender, our nationality, to name but a few. In this way, our ‘humanity’ is assigned, bounded and classified, in ways which are often taken to be solid and stable. In the past, however, bodies and their capabilities could be understood in vastly different ways. Who counted as human, and in which contexts, or what that even meant is far more open to question than we might think. The prehistory of Europe reveals developments in thinking about humans in striking and often contradictory ways. This course will examine the evolving ideas of what makes us human over the long-term and how these reflect keys concerns in the societies we study. The course is structured around three key windows: i) evolving ideas of the gendered body and how gender came to matter, ii) kinship, relatedness and family, and iii) nonhuman personhood.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

- Develop a broad familiarity with theoretical ideas underpinning archaeological concepts of gender, personhood and agency
- Have a broad understanding of how ‘fixed’ ideas, such as gender or age, developed and changed over time
- Critically evaluate established social models in European prehistory
- Develop the ability to identity, articulate and defend a social interpretation based on archaeological evidence

Indicative Module Content:

Lecture 1: Introduction to course and main topics

Part I: Gender

Lecture 2: Were we always gendered?
Lecture 3: Gender in the European Neolithic
Lecture 4: Linearbandkeramik gendered differentiation
Seminar 1: Bickle 2020

Lecture 5: Bronze Age diversity
Lecture 6: Queer identity in later prehistory
Seminar 2: Frieman et al. 2019

Part II: Kinship & Family

Lecture 7: Lineages, genetics, etc. (Hazelton North)
Lecture 8: Marriage patterns and mobility (Kinship and marriage in the Lech Valley)
Lecture 9: Motherhood in Prehistory (Unterhauzental)
Seminar 3: Rebay-Salisbury et al. 2022

Lecture 10: Who counts as a child? (Later Mesolithic Northern Europe)
Lecture 11: Childhood and learning (Bronze Age Britain and Ireland)
Seminar 4: Le Roy et al. 2018

Part III: Nonhuman Personhood

Lecture 12: Grievability and non-persons/unfree
Lecture 13: Thinking through pastoralism
Lecture 14: Development of wool
Seminar 5: Eriksen and Kay 2022

Lecture 15: Agency and things
Lecture 16: Objects as persons

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

16
Seminar (or Webinar)

5
Specified Learning Activities

60
Autonomous Student Learning

19
Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The module is built around three themes, each comprising five lectures and two seminars (one seminar in the third case). The seminars will discuss a key reading relating to the theme and build towards the two assessment elements.

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
Assignment(Including Essay): Plan for interpretation of archaeological evidence to reveal an aspect of prehistoric personhood. To follow template provided by module coordinator. Week 7 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
30
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): Written assignment exploring prehistoric personhood at a particular archaeological site (selected by student in agreement with module coordinator). To build on Assignment 1. Week 12 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
70
 No

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn 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?

Not yet recorded.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Mon 10:00 - 10:50
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Tues 13:00 - 13:50
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