SYLLABUS
ANTHROPOLOGY 3250 - PREHISTORY OF EUROPE
INSTRUCTOR: Dr.
Ervan Garrison, Departments of Anthropology and Geology
TEACHING ASSISTANT: TBA
LEVEL: Undergraduate
FORMAT: Lecture
and Demonstration
TIME & LOCATION: Maymester,
Estavayer-le-lac, Switzerland
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Prehistory of Europe explores the
archaeological evidence for mankind’s prehistoric experience in Europe.
The emphasis placed on the archaeology of the Western Europe
is due to three principal factors: (1) far more research has been conducted and
published there; (2) time – we only have 4 weeks and (3) your instructor has
done his own field research there. The course examines the development of Old
World cultures based on the archaeological support for these ideas. Paleoecology,
climatology, and geoarchaeology models will also be used to examine the
cultural and environmental phenomena associated with the spread of humans
across the European continent in the Pleistocene.
The Maymester experience emphasizes a “hands on” approach to
the prehistory of Europe. One student visits and
“touches” this prehistory in several field trips to various museums and
archaeological sites of western Switzerland.
Switzerland is
a microcosm of the full sweep of European prehistory and provides a unique
locale for the setting of this innovative look at prehistory. Lecturers and
guides from Switzerland
will broaden the experience for the student.
GRADING: Student progress and mastery of course materials
will be evaluated by class participation, performance on examinations, and a
research paper. A scale of A-F will be used with 90-100=A, etc. Honors option
students will be asked to present additional work in the form of an extended
version of the research paper. Lack of performance and participation will
result in dismissal and a failing grade. Cost of a student’s return to the U.S.
who does not complete the courses will not be borne by the program.
TEXT: People of the Earth, 10th
edition. Brian M. Fagan
COURSE OUTLINE:
Week One: Archaeology – theory and practice, kinds
of archaeology, prehistoric, classical, etc. Historical background of Old
World prehistory – important personalities and sites. “Three Age System” – Stone, Bronze, Iron. Early
“Europe” – the Paleolithic.
Readings:
Fagan, Chapter 1
__________________
- Videos
are presented as supplemental instructional vehicles. Students will be
required to fill out worksheets with questions during the videos. The
questions will appear on exams.
Week One Cont:
End of the Paleolithic. The Human
“Diaspora”. AMH/Cro Magnon (“anatomically modern humans”). Climate change and
human culture. Post-Mousterian cultures –
Aurignacian/Gravettian; Sontrean, Magdalenian.
Art and cave discoveries – Chauvet, Lascaux, Cosquer.
Jean Clottes.
Readings:
Fagan, Part II, Chapter 4
Week Two: The Mesolithic. The Holocene and the “end”
of the Ice Age. Population and environmental change. Carrying capacity and
cultural adaptations. Marine and coastal cultures. Sedentary settlements.
Readings:
Chapters 6, 7
The Neolithic. Plant and animal
domestication in the Middle East and Southwest
Asia. V. Gordon Childe and other theories. Cereals – einkorn and
emmer wheats.
Europe -
Ferdinand Keller and the Swiss lake dwellings. Balkans.
Danubian colonists and Bandkeramik kultur. Cardium
wares and the “West – Italy,
France, Iberia
and Switzerland.
Megaliths. (Stonehenge, Avebury,
Sion).
Readings:
Chapters 8, 9, 10
Weeks Three & Four:
Europe –
Metallurgy in Europe. Neolithic farmers. The
Chalcolithic. Bell Beakers and Stonehenge.
Hallstatt. Urnfields. Hochdorf. Vix. The “Iceman”. Keller and Vouga. Europe
and the 2nd Iron Age. The Celts. Etruscans to Rome.
The “Fall of Europe”. La Tene. Maiden
Castle. Sir Mortimer Wheeler.
Readings:
Chapter 20
Weeks Three & Four Cont.
Post-Roman Europe.
The early Middle Ages. Castles and the archaeology of Medieval Europe.
ADDITION INFORMATION:
Office Hours (by
Appt. only); Locations, Phone Numbers and Email:
Room 255, Baldwin Hall; FAX 542-3998
Room 307, GG Building; 542-1097; FAX 542-2425
Email: egarriso@uga.edu:
egarriso@gly.uga.edu