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Module

ARA1028 : Prehistoric Britain

  • Offered for Year: 2025/26
  • Module Leader(s): Professor Chris Fowler
  • Owning School: History, Classics and Archaeology
  • Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Semester 1 Credit Value: 20
ECTS Credits: 10.0
European Credit Transfer System

Aims

This course is designed to introduce you to the material, sites and communities that characterize the prehistoric archaeology of Britain. We will study these remains period by period, from the earliest human occupation to the Roman invasion.

This module aims:
- to provide a general grounding in the prehistoric archaeology of Britain;
- to emphasise the role of landscapes, archaeological sites and monuments, and material culture in how archaeologists interpret life in prehistoric Britain.

Outline Of Syllabus

The module will cover the following topics

-Introduction to British prehistory
-Palaeolithic Britain
-Mesolithic Britain
-The Mesolithic/Neolithic transition
-Neolithic Britain
-Interpreting cosmology and social relations
-Chalcolithic Britain
-Bronze Age Britain
-Iron Age Britain

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities
Category Activity Number Length Student Hours Comment
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesLecture221:0022:00N/A
Guided Independent StudyAssessment preparation and completion801:0080:00N/A
Guided Independent StudyDirected research and reading221:0022:00N/A
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesSmall group teaching111:0011:00N/A
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesFieldwork17:007:00Fieldtrip
Guided Independent StudyIndependent study581:0058:00N/A
Total200:00
Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures will provide a weekly introduction to each period, plus focus on individual sites, artefacts and mortuary evidence. A key theme in British Prehistory will be explored each week through seminar activities, enabling students to understand different perspectives on debates and how archaeologists use evidence to create interpretations. A fieldtrip to visit henges and stone circles in Cumbria will enhance student's ability to interpret the remains from this period and allow them to exercise their skills in analysing prehistoric architecture in its landscape setting first hand. The fieldtrip provides practical experience of the observation and study of physical remains of past societies, and, in conjunction with classroom based-learning, allows the student to gain experience with the diverse sources of evidence used in archaeology and build links between class-room based learning and application of knowledge in the field.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment
Description Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Essay1M501750 words
Essay1A501750 words
Formative Assessments

Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.

Description Semester When Set Comment
Written exercise1MEssay plan to be submitted for brief feedback via Canvas. c. 400 words
Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The first section of the module (Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) is assessed by a single essay. This is supported by a formative assessment involving submission of an essay plan and bibliography, on which brief written feedback will be provided. The second essay question will cover the Bronze Age or Iron Age.

The above arrangements provide for a structured progression through the module content and a close connection between the material covered, the learning outcomes, and the assessment.

Submitted work tests intended knowledge and skills outcomes, develops key skills in research, reading and writing.

Reading Lists

Timetable