Outline of Prehistoric Archaeology - obligatory lecture

The course is focused on changes in human culture from the Palaeolithic to the Early Middle Ages, especially in prehistoric Europe, but some issues concerning Africa, Asia and the Near East are also included.

The subject of the course is prehistory of man, from the first appearance of the Homo genus in Africa to the formation of the first states in Western Eurasia. It covers the period from the Palaeolithic to the Early Middle Ages and focuses on communities operating outside the civilization centers of the ancient world.

Participants will learn the basics of chronological division of prehistoric times, human evolution, diversity and changes in material and spiritual culture and early forms of social organization.

The main subjects discussed during classes are:

– Stone Age (basis of chronology, origins and the earliest history of human kind, origins modern man, beginnings of art, mammoth hunters, agricultural/Neolithic revolution);

– Bronze Age (manufacturing techniques and types of bronze artefacts, trading routes, cultural diversity);

– Early Iron Age (technology of iron production, impact of the steppe nomads: Cimmerians and Scythians, Hallstatt culture);

– La Tène/Pre-Roman Period (Celts and the La Tène culture, Germanic tribes in central and northern Europe);

– Roman and Migration Periods (Germanic, Slavic, Balt and nomad cultures at the dawn of mediaeval Europe);

– Middle Ages (Slavs, nomads, Vikings, Balts and the first mediaeval states).

Ancient Europe 8000 B.C. - A.D. 1000. Encyclopedia Of The Barbarian World, vol. I-II, P. Bogucki, P.J. Crabtree, New York 2004.

B. Cunliffe, Europe between the Oceans. Themes and Variations: 9000 BC-AD 1000, New Haven 2008.

The Past Societies. Polish Lands from the First Evidence of Human Presence to the Early Middle Ages, vol. 1-5, P. Urbańczyk (ed.), Warszawa 2016.

– knowledge of basic archaeological sources related to the societies of the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages in Europe (K_W03, K_W04);

- basic knowledge about the main directions of development and the new achievements in the field of archeology of the Old World (K_W08);

- general knowledge of the properties of raw materials and ways of their use by past societies (KW_15);

- ability to use basic termins specific to prehistoric and early mediaeval archaeology (K_U09);

- ability of identification of the key artefacts related to the main archaeological phenomena (K_U12);

- ability to use the knowledge and skills in the field of prehistoric and early mediaeval archaeology and the awareness of the need to confront them with the opinions of experts (K_K01);

- awareness of the importance of material remains as an element of human cultural heritage (K_K02);

- understanding the unique value of archaeological sources and their role in recreating the human past (K_K03);

- awareness of the need for multi-faceted interpretation of archaeological sources (K_K04).

Written exam.