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Beastly Questions: Animal Answers to Archaeological Issues

Module description

Human-animal relationships in their multifarious forms are fundamental to all societies – they shape diet, health, economies, landscapes and beliefs, but they also reflect cultural ideologies. The study of human-animal interactions can, therefore, provide detailed information about the structure and worldviews of past societies. By integrating evidence from zooarchaeology, archaeology, cultural geography, social anthropology, history and iconography, this module sets out to provide new insights into mainstream archaeological questions.

Module aims - intentions of the module

In archaeology the analysis of animal remains is often considered to be a niche specialism, providing little information beyond ‘what people ate’. This module aims to demonstrate that by studying the multifarious inter-relationships between humans and animals it is possible to obtain a much more nuanced appreciation of past societies. The period coverage of the module is broad but students may, if they so choose, concentrate on particular periods or particular themes, especially in their discussion papers. The aim is that you will contribute new ideas that materially add to our understanding of past societies but also to think how this understanding can be made relevant for the present. This will be achieved through the self-generation of robust research questions and the subsequent undertaking of primary research.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

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

• 1. Understand the methods of examining archaeological animal remains (in various forms)
• 2. Show knowledge of how these methods can be deployed to provide insights into cultural complexity and change.
• 3. Have an understanding of how different cultures (in time and space) have interacted with animals.
• 4. Have an understanding of how different cultures (in time and space) have interacted with animals.
• 5. Have an understanding of the problems within existing (zoo)archaeological research and how these might be mitigated.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

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

• 6. Ability to assemble diverse archaeological evidence and synthesise it into a coherent linear argument to support a particular view or interpretation
• 7. Show understanding of current high-profile topics in archaeology and how zooarchaeological research can contribute to these.

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 in critical discussions of complex issues
• 10. Write clearly and concisely in good English
• 11. Gain confidence in oral presentation, both informally within class and through one formal presentation

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:

• A critique of existing intellectual paradigms in relation to (zoo)archaeology and archaeological science
• Animal ‘Revolutions’ (approaches to Domestication, Secondary Products and the Enlightenment)
• The role of animals within ritual, magic and religion.
• The rise and fall of pet-keeping cultures
• The rise and fall of hunting cultures and of blood sports
• How ‘Empires’ (e.g. Greco-Roman, Byzantine, Norman, British) have deployed animals in consistent ways for millennia.
• The origins and significance of food taboos
• Animals and their role in the creation of cuisine
• Animals and the creation of landscape archaeology

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

Basic reading:

• Albarella, U., Rizzetto, M., Russ, H., Vickers, K. and Viner-Daniels, S. eds., 2017. The Oxford Handbook of Zooarchaeology. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
• Bulliet, R. W. 2005. Hunters, Herders, and Hamburgers: The Past and Future of Human-animal Relationships. Columbia University Press: New York.
• Campbell, G. L. 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
• Ingold, T. (ed.) 1994. What is an Animal? London: Routledge.
• Manning, A. and Serpell, J. 1994. Animals & Human Society: Changing Perspectives. London: Routledge.
• Mullin, M. H. 1999 ‘Mirrors and Windows: Sociocultural Studies of Human-Animal Relationships’, Annual Review of Anthropology 28, 201-224.
• Russell, N. 2011. Social Zooarchaeology: Humans and Animals in Prehistory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• Serpell, J. 1986. In the Company of Animals; A Study of Human-Animal Relationships. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
• Sykes, N. 2014. Beastly Questions: Animals Answers to Archaeological Issues. Bloomsbury: London.

Key words search

Archaeology, Human-Animal Studies, Zooarchaeology