This course introduces evidence from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods of Western Asia and Europe, to create a context for the understanding of the Early prehistory of Ireland. We will look particularly at the possible reasons why communities who lived by foraging and hunting adopted agriculture and what implications those changes had. The course begins with an overview, followed by an examination of various aspects of Mesolithic society. The origin of farming in Western Asia is next, followed by the Neolithic of the central and north European plain and the introduction of agriculture to Western Europe, particularly to Britain and Ireland. The development of ritual and burial monuments will be explored towards the end of the course.
Structure
24 lectures in twelve weeks of
Semester one.
Lectures Commence
6 September 2011
Course Weighting
5 ECTS
Lectures End
23 November 2011
Assessment
Written two-hour exam
Lecturer(s)
Dr Stefan Bergh,
Dr. Carleton Jones
Venue & Times
Tuesday
11 am - 12 pm
AC213
Wednesday
11 am - 12 pm
AC213
Core Texts
B. Cunliffe (ed) 1994
Prehistoric Europe: The Oxford Illustrated History of Prehistoric
Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Whittle, A. 1996.
Europein the Neolithic: The Creation of New Worlds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Price, D.T. 1987
The Mesolithic of Western Europe.
Department of Archaeology
National University of Ireland, Galway,
University Road, Galway, Ireland.
Phone: +353 (0) 91 492167 , Fax: +353 (0) 91 525700,
E-mail Archaeology This page was last updated Friday, July 22, 2011