ANTD18H3

Palaeolithic Archaeology

This seminar style course provides a foundation in the anthropology and archaeology of small-scale societies, particularly hunter-gatherers. The seminar’s temporal remit is broad, spanning ~2.5 million years of human evolution from the earliest tool-making hominins to living human societies. A selection of critical topics will therefore be covered. These include theoretical aspects of and evolutionary trends in forager subsistence strategies; technologies; mobility and use of space; sociopolitical organization; cognition; symbolism, ritual and religion; and transitions to food production. Topics will be illustrated using diverse case studies drawn from throughout the Paleolithic.