Stone Age societies and environments in Europe

The course is offered as an elective course within the programme H2MAS, Master in Archaeological Sciences.

Admission to the course requires a Bachelor of Arts or the equivalent of 180 higher education credits, of which 90 credits within the discipline of Archaeology.

Applicants must prove their knowledge of English: English 6 or equivalent from Swedish Upper Secondary School or the equivalent level of an internationally recognized test, for example TOEFL, IELTS.

This course investigates the formation of Stone Age societies and their environmental contexts from the Upper Paleolithic to the Neolithic with examples from various regions. It emphasizes the European Stone Age, while also integrating perspectives from other global contexts. The focus is on the critical examination of the transition from hunter-gatherer communities to Neolithic and Megalithic societies, assessing their environmental impacts, contemporaneous climatic shifts, and the legacies of Stone Age human-environment interactions in contemporary landscapes. The course also covers Neolithization processes, and aspects of migrations and mobilities, social complexity and dynamics, monument construction, subsistence strategies, seafaring, pandemias and rock art. Theoretical and methodological approaches, including the impact of scientific methods on current Stone Age research, are also thoroughly addressed.

The course contains two modules:

Module 1. Theories, methods, and case studies, 10 credits.

Here, the most recent theories and methods are presented in lectures, and the students will present regional case studies in seminars.

Module 2. Individual assignment, 5 credits.

Here, the students will produce their essay to a chosen topic.

After completing the course, the students will be able to:

Knowledge and understanding

-account for current bioarchaeological methods in archeology

-summarize these methods and their applications in archeology

Competence and skills

-perform determination exercises on bioarchaeological materials

-interpret and discuss the results of the bioarchaeological laboratories

-discuss archaeological approaches to different scientific methods on biological remains

Judgement and approach

-critically relate to scientific methods and applications on the source material and ethical discussions in bioarchaeology

-evaluate scientific methods and their application in different archaeological explanatory models

-critically analyze original scientific articles and results

This course offers a range of teaching practices such as lectures, -group discussions, and seminars. An excursion to a Nordic Stone Age environment is, if possible, part of the course. A significant part of the course relies on students' studies and thorough reading of the course literature.

Language of instruction: Swedish and/ or English

The course assessment is carried out with the help of various assignments that the student completes and/or presents during the course. Assessing activities requires mandatory attendance. Absence during these moments will require additional complementary assignments. If a student who has been failed twice for the same examination element wishes to change examiner before the next examination session, such a request is to be granted unless there are specific reasons to the contrary (Chapter 6 Section 22 HF).

If a student has received a certificate of disability study support from the University of Gothenburg with a recommendation of adapted examination and/or adapted forms of assessment, an examiner may decide, if this is consistent with the course’s intended learning outcomes and provided that no unreasonable resources would be needed, to grant the student adapted examination and/or adapted forms of assessment.

If a course has been discontinued or undergone major changes, the student must be offered at least two examination sessions in addition to ordinary examination sessions. These sessions are to be spread over a period of at least one year but no more than two years after the course has been discontinued/changed. The same applies to placement and internship (VFU) except that this is restricted to only one further examination session.

If a student has been notified that they fulfil the requirements for being a student at Riksidrottsuniversitetet (RIU student), to combine elite sports activities with studies, the examiner is entitled to decide on adaptation of examinations if this is done in accordance with the Local rules regarding RIU students at the University of Gothenburg.

The course has a 6-point grading scale:
A Excellent, B Very Good, C Good, D Satisfactory, E Sufficient, F Fail

At the end of the course, students are given the opportunity to complete a course evaluation. The results of and possible changes to the course will be shared with students who participated in the evaluation and students who are starting the course.