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Palaeolithic Archaeology of Homo Sapiens 100,000-12,000 BP

Module description

Latest evidence suggests our species Homo sapiens has lived on planet earth for around 350,000 years, with >95% of this existence dominated by hunter-gatherer lifeways often in global climatic contexts very different from the Holocene interglacial climate of today. Studying the human experience of these Palaeolithic periods before the advent of farming is therefore critical to understanding the human condition.

This module will focus on the Palaeolithic archaeology of Homo sapiens, with particular attention given to the period after 100,000 BP and the Upper Palaeolithic of Eurasia. Students will engage with a series of key topics including the lifeways of Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, climate and environmental reconstruction, the interpretation of Palaeolithic art, use of fire through the latitudes, burials and status, dwelling construction, intra-site spatial analysis, and the recent revolutions in ancient DNA studies that are continuing to revolutionise our understanding of this period.

The module will be taught assuming no prior knowledge of Palaeolithic archaeology.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims to introduce you to the archaeology of Homo sapiens expansion across the world. You will engage with a variety of different data and assignments will require you to synthesise complex ideas and interpretations into coherent arguments. You will engage with a series of key topics including the lifeways of Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, climate and environmental reconstruction, the interpretation of Palaeolithic art, use of fire through the latitudes, burials and status, dwelling construction, and the recent revolutions in ancient DNA studies that are continuing to revolutionise our understanding of this period.The module will be taught assuming no prior knowledge of Palaeolithic archaeology.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Develop knowledge of the archaeology of Homo sapiens expansion and colonisation of the world
• 2. Develop knowledge of ice age climates and methods used to reconstruct them
• 3. Demonstrate ability to gather evidence generated using a wide range of methods and analytical techniques
• 4. Develop knowledge of key techniques that have been used to investigate Upper Palaeolithic archaeology
• 5. Develop knowledge of key themes and topics in Palaeolithic archaeology that chart continuity and change through time

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Ability to assemble diverse evidence and synthesise it into a coherent linear argument to support a particular view or interpretation
• 7. Show understanding of specific challenges faced by Palaeolithic archaeologists due to taphonomy, including the various effects acting at a local scale on archaeological deposits over geological time.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 8. Ability to weigh competing interpretations of the same evidence and reach own reasoned judgements
• 9. Engage discussions of complex issues
• 10. Write clearly and concisely in good English

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Upper Palaeolithic archaeology
• Hunter-gatherer lifeways of the Upper Palaeolithic
• First colonisation of the northern latitudes and the Arctic Circle
• Climate and environment of the last ice age
• Diet and subsistence
• Encounters between Homo sapiens and other extant hominins including Neanderthals
• Upper Palaeolithic art, burials and society
• Fire, subsistence and dwellings
• After the ice: the Late Upper Palaeolithic

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment. 

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Gamble, C. (1999) The Palaeolithic societies of Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Hoffecker, J.F. (2002) Desolate landscapes: Ice-Age settlement in Eastern Europe. London: Rutgers University Press.
• Kelly,R.L. 2013. The Lifeways of Hunter-Gatherers: The foraging spectrum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Mellars, P., Boyle, K. and Bar-Yosef, O. (2007) Rethinking the human revolution: new behavioural and biological perspectives on the origin and dispersal of modern humans. Cambridge: McDonald Institute of Archaeological research.
• Pettitt, P. (2011) The Palaeolithic origins of human burial. Oxon: Routledge.
• Pettitt, P.B. and White, M.J. (2012) The British Palaeolithic: human societies at the edge of the Pleistocene world. London: Routledge.
• Pettitt, P. B. (2016). Darkness visible. Shadows, art and the ritual experience of caves in Upper Palaeolithic Europe. In The Archaeology of Darkness. Dowd, M. & Hensey, R. OxBow. 11-23.
• Roebroeks, W., Mussi, M., Svoboda, J. and Fennema, K. (eds.) (2000) Hunters of the golden age: the Mid Upper Palaeolithic of Eurasia 30,000-20,000 BP. Leiden: University of Leiden.
• Sankararaman, S., Mallick, S., Dannemann, M., Prufer, K., Kelso, J., Paabo, S., Patterson, N. and Reich, D. (2014). "The genomic landscape of Neanderthal ancestry in present-day humans." Nature 507(7492): 354-357.
• Sklená?, K. (1976) Palaeolithic and Mesolithic dwellings: An essay in classification. Památky archeologické, 47, 249-340.
• Speth, J.D. (2010) Boiling vs roasting in the Paleolithic: broadening the "broadening food spectrum"". Journal of The Israel Prehistoric Society, 40, 63-83.
• Soffer, O. and Praslov, N.D. (1993) From Kostenki to Clovis : Upper Paleolithic Paleo-Indian adaptations. New York ; London: Plenum Press.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=6721  

Key words search

Archaeology, Palaeolithic