| Unit name | Unlocking Ancient Diet |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ARCH30043 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Cramp |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Anthropology and Archaeology |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Archaeologists currently have an array of scientific approaches at their fingertips to extract dietary information from ancient materials. This information is, in turn, invaluable for investigating resource exploitation and management, individual life histories, environmental change, mobility/transhumance and cultural responses to internal and external stimuli. This unit seeks to equip students with the skills required to understand the scientific principles underpinning these approaches, enabling students to apply, interpret and critically assess the various techniques which are commonly utilised for palaeodietary reconstruction.
This unit aims to provide students with
1. A critical understanding of the principles underpinning different palaeodietary approaches
2. The ability to evaluate the scope and possible biases of different methodologies
3. The ability to critically interpret the types of data used in palaeodietary studies and hence evaluate the application, interpretation and utility of published palaeodietary studies
4. Skills to write up scientific projects, including generating figures, tables, charts
5. The ability to assess the wider significance of palaeodietary studies to our understanding of past human behaviour
A successful student will be able to:
1) explain the underlying principles and in turn, the strengths and limitations of approaches to palaeodietary reconstruction.
2) evaluate the most appropriate scientific methods to address a research question and available material.
3) critically assess the application of scientific techniques for palaeodietary reconstruction.
4) handle and present scientific data
5) interpret and interrogate scientific data (e.g., stable isotope values, pollen diagrams, mortality profiles)
6) demonstrate laboratory skills and reporting results
Nine one-hour lectures
Nine two-hour workshops
One three-hour learning support surgery
Formative assessments:
Weekly workshops involving data interpretation, and including reporting of findings to the group (in particular ILOs 4-6).
Summative assessments:
One 3000 word essay (50%; ILOs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 )
One laboratory notebook (50%; ILOs 1 - 6)
Brothwell, D & Pollard, M. (eds., 2000) Handbook of Archaeological Sciences. John Wiley & Sons.
Evershed, RP. (2008) Organic residue analysis in archaeology: the archaeological biomarker revolution. Archaeometry 50: 895-924.
Payne S. 1973. Kill-off patterns in sheep and goats: the mandibles from Asvan Kale. Anatolian Studies 23: 281: 303
Rice, P. (2015) Pottery Analysis: a sourcebook. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Zohary D &Hopf, M. (2000) Domestication of plants in the Old World. New York: Oxford University Press
