PAPVB_44 Palaeolithic Stone Industries of the Near East and the Mediterranean

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2016
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Francesca Romagnoli, Ph.D. (lecturer), Mgr. Inna Mateiciucová, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Eliška Kazdová, CSc.
Department of Archaeology and Museology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Lucia Miškolciová
Supplier department: Department of Archaeology and Museology – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 9 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The course is designed to present the current data about Palaeolithic evidences in Near East and Europe and to show how multidisciplinary analysis of stone industry techniques can be used to understand and interpret past human activities within theoretical frames. Students will learn how to analyse knapped stone tools and how to relate knapped stone tools to socio-economic phenomena. They will also become familiar with the present understanding of the evolution of Palaeolithic cultures in the Near East and in the Mediterranean regions. The course will be organized in topics and will be given in English.
Syllabus
  • 1. The evolution of techniques in Prehistory: from the archaeology of objects to the archaeology of processes. 2. Walking through the Near East: Out of Africa and the peopling of Europe 3. The Acheulean and the Middle Palaeolithic. 4. Neanderthals and the Upper Palaeolithic European colonization by Sapiens 5. From linear to branched, from simple to complex: how is changing our knowledge of the European Middle Palaeolithic? 6. Neanderthal coastal adaptation on Mediterranean Sea shore. 7. High-resolution approach: reconstructing social and technical dynamics. 8. Nothing is wasted! Recycling behaviour during Middle Palaeolithic.
Literature
  • 1. Bamforth DB., Finlay N., 2008. Introduction: Archaeological approaches to lithic production skill and craft learning. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 15:1-27.
  • 2. Carbonell E., Sala R., Rodríguez X. P., Mosquera M., Ollé A., Vergès J.M., Martínez-Navarro B., Bermúdez de Castro J.M., 2010. Early hominid dispersals: a technological hypothesis for “out of Africa”. Quaternary International 223-224:36-44.
  • 1. Akazawa T., Nishiaki Y., Aoki K., (Eds.), 2013. Dynamics of Learning in Neanderthals and Modern Humans. Volume 1 Cultural Perspectives. Springer, Tokyo.
  • 2. Akazawa T., Aoki K., Bar-Yosef O. (Eds.), 1998. Neandertals and Modern Humans in Western Asia. Plenum Publishers, New York.
  • 3. Bar-Yosef O., Belmaker M., 2011. Early and Middle Pleistocene faunal and hominins dispersals through Southwestern Asia. Quaternary Science Reviews 30:1318-1337.
Assessment methods
essay-instructions: "The role of technology in human evolution" Essay must be no longer than 4 pages. References are not included in page count and have to be listed at the end of the text. Students can choose case studies using examples presented during the lessons or others found in scientific literature. Chronology and regional setting of their choice (obviously within these limits: from Early Palaeolithic to the beginning of Upper Palaeolithic; Europe, Near East, or East Africa).
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is taught: in blocks.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2014, Spring 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2016, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2016/PAPVB_44