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INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY BA/BSc MODULE (15 credit): ARCL0029 EMERGENCE AND SPREAD OF MODERN HUMANS MODULE HANDBOOK 2019-2020 Upper Palaeolithic Cave Art from Peche Merle, France (Lewis-Williams 2002) Co-ordinator: Dr. Andrew Garrard E-mail: [email protected] Room 408. Telephone 020-7679-4764 Deadlines for coursework for this module are Monday 2 March and Monday 6 April AIMS The module will examine the evolution and spread of modern human hunter-gatherers from their first appearance in Africa until their successful colonization of Europe, Asia, Australasia and the Americas. It will examine the archaeological evidence for the emergence of cognitively modern humans, and the technological, economic and social adaptations which enabled the colonization of the late glacial and early post-glacial world. Case studies will be taken from each of the continents, but with a special emphasis on Europe and the Near East. OBJECTIVES On successful completion of the module, students will be well informed on: - the key research issues relating to the emergence, spread and adaptations of modern human hunter-gatherers - the methodological and theoretical approaches which have been taken to understand these issues - and on the archaeology of the late Pleistocene and early Holocene periods in selected study areas from Africa, Eurasia, Australasia and the Americas. LEARNING OUTCOMES The module is multi-disciplinary in coverage and will help student’s develop their skills in: - the critical evaluation of research from a range of academic fields - and in the presentation of complex ideas in essays and discussion. TEACHING METHODS This 15 credit module will be taught weekly though the spring term in 10 two hour sessions. Each session will comprise of a lecture followed by discussion. It is essential that students read the weekly recommended readings so they can follow the lectures and contribute to discussion. PREREQUISITES There are no formal prerequisites for this module. WORKLOAD There will 20 hours of lectures with discussion. Students are expected to undertake around 70 hours of reading for this module, and spend roughly 60 hours preparing for and producing the assessed work. This adds up to a toal workload of some 150 hours. METHODS OF ASSESSMENT The module is assessed by means of a 1,425-1,575 word site summary and a 3,325-3,675 word essay. The site summary counts for 30% of the marks and the essay for 70%. Details of the assessments are given on pages 12-16 of this handout. The module co-ordinator will be willing to discuss an outline of the student’s approach to the assignment, provided this is planned suitably in advance of the submission date. LIBRARIES AND OTHER RESOURCES In addition to the Institute of Archaeology’s library, students will also need to use UCL’s Science Library (particularly the Anthropology Section). Libraries outside of UCL which have relevant holdings include those at the University of London at Senate House and the British Library. TEACHING SCHEDULE Teaching sessions will be held on Fridays between 11-1 pm through the spring term in Room 209. It is hoped that students will attend all the sessions, but a minimum attendance of 70% is required, except in the case of illness or other adverse circumstances which are supported by medical certificates or other documentation as appropriate. 2 MODULE SYLLABUS Essential Background 1. January 17: a) The nature of recent hunter-gatherer societies. b) Introduction to late Pleistocene and early Holocene environments. 2. January 24: a) The evolution and spread of modern humans. b) Technology through the Middle and Later Stone Age. The emergence of Modern Humans 3. January 31: The emergence of modern humans in Africa. 4. February 07: Neanderthals and first modern humans in the Near East and Europe. Hunter-gatherers of the Last Ice Age in Europe 5. February 14: Adaptations of hunter-gatherers to the last glaciation in Europe. February 17-21: READING WEEK 6. February 28: Upper Palaeolithic art – its nature and interpretation. Responses to climate change at the end of the Pleistocene 7. March 06: The emergence of sedentism in the Near East. 8. March 13: Adaptations to the post-glacial in North-West Europe. Colonisation of Australasia and Americas 9. March 20: The Colonisation of Australasia. 10. March 27: The Colonisation of the Americas. 3 SEMINAR / LECTURE SUMMARIES The following pages give details of the lectures for the module and identify highly recommended () and optional readings relevant to each session. Information is provided as to where in the UCL library system individual readings can be found and whether they are available online. However, this should be checked against the UCL library computer system to see if the material is out on loan or whether there are copies available in other branches/sections of the library. The recommended readings are considered important for keeping up with the topics covered in the lectures, and it is expected that students will check these prior to the session under which they are listed. Arch. = item in Archaeology library Anthrop., Geology etc are held in the Watson Science Library. Digitised Reading = Chapter available from Digital Reading List () = highly recommended reading PLEASE NOTE there is an online reading list for this module with links to some BUT NOT ALL of the journal articles and digitized readings. This will be found at: http://readinglists.ucl.ac.uk/lists/A98BB8B2-23C4-7876-96F2-A99A035D3E81.html 1a. THE NATURE OF RECENT HUNTER-GATHERER SOCIETIES This session will examine the range of adaptations found amongst recent hunter-gatherer societies, focusing on subsistence strategies, demographic structure and social organization. There will also be discussion of the care which needs to be taken in the application of ethnographic parallels to the archaeological record. Ames K.M. (2003) The Northwest Coast. Evolutionary Anthropology 12: 19-33. (Online) Binford L.R. (1982) In pursuit of the past. London, Thames & Hudson. (Arch: AH BIN; Issue Desk BIN 4) Binford L.R. (2001) Constructing frames of reference. Berkeley, University of California Press. (Arch: AH Qto BIN; Issue Desk BIN 9) Cummings V., Jordan P. & Zvelebil M. (eds.) (2014) The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers. Oxford University Press. (Online; Arch: BD 10 CUM) Kelly R.L. (2013) The lifeways of hunter-gatherers: the foraging spectrum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (Arch: BD10 KEL; book available online) Lee R.B. & Daly R. (eds.) (1999) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers. Cambridge University Press. (Arch: BD LEE) Lee R.B. & DeVore I. (eds.) (1968) Man the hunter. Chicago, Aldine. (especially Lee, Woodburn, Suttles, Balikci). (Arch: HB LEE; Issue Desk LEE 4) Marlowe F.W. (2005) Hunter-gatherers and human evolution. Evolutionary Anthropology 14: 54-67. (Online) Testart A. (1982) The significance of food storage amongst hunter-gatherers: residence patterns, population densities and social inequalities. Current Anthropology 23: 523-37. (Online) Wobst H.M. (1978) The archaeoethnology of hunter-gatherers or the tyranny of the ethnographic record in archaeology. American Antiquity 43: 303-9. (Online) Woodburn J. (1982) Egalitarian Societies. Man 17: 431-51. (Online) 1b. INTRODUCTION TO LATE PLEISTOCENE AND EARLY HOLOCENE ENVIRONMENTS An evaluation of the impact of global climate changes on regional environments and resources through the Upper Pleistocene and early Holocene. The review will discuss their likely effects on human communities and on the survival of archaeological sites. Bell M. & Walker M.J.C. (2005) Late Quaternary Environmental Change. Physical and Human Perspectives. 2nd ed. Edinburgh, Pearson. (Arch: BB 6 BEL; Issue Desk BEL 2; Geog: E 20 BEL). 4 Lowe J.J. & Walker M.J.C. (2015) Reconstructing Quaternary Environments. 3rd ed. (chapter 7). London, Longmans. (Geology G90 LOW; also available online) Lowe J.J. (2008) Synchronisation of palaeoenvironmental events in the North Atlantic region during the Last Termination: a revised protocol recommended by the INTIMATE group. Quaternary Science Reviews 27: 6-17. (Online) Petit J.R. et al. (1999) Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostok ice core, Antarctica. Nature 399: 429-436. (Online) Roberts N. (1998) The Holocene: an environmental history. 2nd ed. Oxford, Blackwells. (Arch: BA ROB) van Andel T.H. & Tzedakis P.C. (1996) Palaeolithic landscapes of Europe and environs,150,000- 25,000 years ago: an overview. Quaternary Science Reviews 15: 481-500. (Online) Walker M. (2005) Quaternary Dating Methods. Chichester, Wiley. (Geology: G90 WAL) 2a. THE EVOLUTION AND SPREAD OF MODERN HUMANS An examination of the fossil and genetic evidence for the evolution of biologically modern humans in Africa and their spread across Eurasia and eventually to Australasia and the Americas. There will also be a discussion of the nature of the behavioural changes associated with modern humans and how they may be observed in the archaeological record. EVOLUTION OF MODERN HUMANS Alves I. et al. (2012) Genomic data reveal a complex making of humans. PLOS Genetics 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002837. (Online) Green R.E. et al. (2010) A draft sequence of the Neandertal Genome. Science 328: 710-722. (see also comment by Gibbons: Science 328: 680-684) (Online) Humphrey L & Stringer C. (2018) Our Human Story. London, Natural History Museum. (Arch: on order for library) Klein R.G. (2009) The Human Career: Human Biological and Cultural Origins. 3rd edition. Chicago, University of Chicago Press (Chapters 7-8) (Arch: BB 1 KLE; Issue Desk KLE 4). Lewin R. & Foley R. (2004) Principles of human evolution. 2nd ed. Oxford, Blackwell. (part 3) (Arch: BB 1 LEW, Issue Desk LEW; Anthrop: B 30 LEW) Reich D. et al. (2010) Genetic history of an archaic human group from Denisova Cave in Siberia. Nature 468 (7327): 1053-60. (Online). Reich D. (2018) Who we are and how we got here.