ARCH07047 2019 Landscape Archaeology
The objective of this module is to introduce students to the ways in which archaeologists study and interpret landscapes and to provide students with an understanding of the concepts, sources and techniques used in the discipline. A main element of the course is practical work using electronic survey equipment including GPS and total station, which includes data collection and output of maps and plans. The course looks at various methodologies of landscape archaeology using case studies and practicals, and encourages an integrated multidisciplinary approach to the research of archaeological sites and regions.
On completion of this module the learner will/should be able to;
Evaluate the merits and shortcomings of different methodological and theoretical approaches to archaeological landscapes.
Demonstrate ability of collect and output 2D and 3D monument(s) and map data
Express data and concepts about archaeological landscapes in written and oral formats.
Teaching and Learning Strategies
This module will be delivered full-time. This will include lectures and on-campus field practicals, augmented by independent learning and directed learning. The on-campus field practicals include surveying a replica ring barrow and ringfort on campus grounds along with basic map making. This approach is expected to address student learning needs
Module Assessment Strategies
This module is 100% Continuous Assessment
This is broken down 50% for a course project, 40% for a field monument survey and 10% for a presentation based on the project work.
The course project involves each student carrying out a landscape analysis of a particular monument or cluster of monuments in an essay format which must be agreed by the course tutor by week 3 of the course. The field monument survey can relate to the project and comprises a detailed monument description along with a completed digital plan of the site. The presentation relates to a 15 minute oral presentation on a description and key findings of the project work.
'Repeat Continuous Assessment
Topics in this module include how archaeologists ‘read' a landscape; and the tools they possess to do aid this; a review of the basics in archaeological surveying; using the total station and its applications; demonstration and use of of geographical positioning system (GPS); data collection and management; making maps; investigating, interpreting landscapes and using ArcGIS and vector drawing software to make plans.
Coursework & Assessment Breakdown
|Title||Type||Form||Percent||Week||Learning Outcomes Assessed|
|1||Landscape analysis of an archaeological site(s)||Continuous Assessment||Essay||50 %||Week 13||1,2,3,4,5,6|
|2||Field monument survey||Continuous Assessment||Assignment||40 %||Week 13||2,4,5,6|
|3||Presentation of project results||Continuous Assessment||Assessment||10 %||Week 13||2,3,5,6|
Full Time Mode Workload
|Lecture||Computer Laboratory||Landscape archaeology and Digital data processing||1||Weekly||1.00|
|Practical||Computer Laboratory||Digital surveying||2.5||Weekly||2.50|
|Independent Learning||UNKNOWN||Self Study||3.5||Weekly||3.50|
Required & Recommended Book List
1995 LANDSCAPE OF THE MONUMENTS Stockholm
ISBN 9171929452 ISBN-13 9789171929457
The Cuil Irra region on the west coast of Ireland is one of the richest areas of passage tombs in western Europe. The monuments range from small, simple, dolmens to complex monuments with gigantic cairns, and cover the timespan c. 4000-3000 BC. Landscape of the Monuments is the first modern, detailed account of this important group of monuments from a regional and spatial perspective, and includes a corpus of all monuments. The book focuses on a number of aspects relating to the location of the monuments in the landscape, and discusses the nature of Neolithic man's intentions to organise his physical and symbolic world. The great variation of monuments is discussed in terms of ritual and social complexity, and seen to reflect an ambition in Neolithic society to manipulate the way the social and physical landscape should be comprehended. The relation between the Cuil Irra monuments and the nearby passage tomb complex of Carrowkeel-Keshcorran is analysed, and the Cuil Irra region is furthermore seen in its wider context of the Irish passage tomb tradition. Contents: Preface, Irish Megalithic Tombs, Aims, The Landscape, The Passage Tomb Tradition, The Monuments, Chronology, The Monuments in the Landscape, The Role of the Monuments, Landscape of the Monuments, Bibliography, Appendix - The Passage Tombs in the Cuil Irra Region.
1999-10-21 Landscapes of Neolithic Ireland Routledge
ISBN 0415169771 ISBN-13 9780415169776
Landscapes of Neolithic Ireland Landscapes of Neolithic is the first volume to be devoted solely to the Irish Neolithic, using an innovative landscape and anthropological perspective to provide significant new insights on the period. Full description
2012-03-15 Handbook of Landscape Archaeology (World Archaeological Congress Research Handbooks in Archaeology) EDS Publications Ltd. (Consignment)
ISBN 1598746162 ISBN-13 9781598746167
1994-11-01 A Phenomenology of Landscape: Places, Paths and Monuments (Explorations in Anthropology) Berg 3PL
ISBN 1859730760 ISBN-13 9781859730768
x + 221pp, inc many illusts, 4 tables, laminated card, 8vo This book is an extended photographic essay about topographic features of the landscape.
2012-02-29 Interpreting Landscapes: Geologies, Topographies, Identities; Explorations in Landscape Phenomenology 3 Routledge
ISBN 1598743759 ISBN-13 9781598743753
This book takes a new approach to writing about the past. Instead of studying the prehistory of Britain from Mesolithic to Iron Age times in terms of periods or artifact classifications, Tilley examines it through the lens of their geology and landscapes, asserting the fundamental significance of the bones of the land in the process of human occupation over the long duree. Granite uplands, rolling chalk downlands, sandstone moorlands, and pebbled hilltops each create their own potentialities and symbolic resources for human settlement and require forms of social engagement. Taking his findings from years of phenomenological fieldwork experiencing different landscapes with all senses and from many angles, Tilley creates a saturated and historically imaginative account of the landscapes of southern England and the people who inhabited them. This work is also a key theoretical statement about the importance of landscapes for human settlement.
Ashmore, W. & Knapp. A. B. 1999. Archaeologies of Landscape: Contemporary perspectives. Blackwell, Oxford (particularly chapter 1). Library Ref: 930.1 ASH
Howard, P . 2007 Archaeological Surveying and Mapping. Routledge, London
Tilley, C. 1994, A Phenomenology of Landscape, Berg, Oxford (particularly chapter 1). Library Ref: 936.29 TIL
Wheatley, D. and Gilings, M. 2000 Spatial Technology and Archaeology. Taylor and Francis, London.
Bergh, S. 2000, 'Transforming Knocknarea - the archaeology of a mountain', Archaeology Ireland Vol 14 No 2, p.14-17
Bergh, S. 2002, ‘Knocknarea: the ultimate mountain’ in Chris Scarre (ed) Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe, Routledge, London, 139-51.
Bergh, S. 2003. ‘Two Stones Make a Line’. In Lost and Found: Discovering Ireland’s Past. J. Fenwick (ed), Wordwell, Bray
Cooney, G. Condit, T. & Byrnes, E. 1999 ‘Timescapes: understanding and managing archaeological landscapes in Ireland’, Policies and Priorities for Ireland’s Landscapes: Conference papers, Tullamore Co Offaly, Ireland, The Heritage Council, Kilkenny, 61-71
Cooney, G. Condit, T. & Byrnes, E. 2002, Archaeological Landscapes, The Heritage Council, Kilkenny
A considerable part of this module is conducted in the field. It is advisable that practical warm and waterproof clothing and footwear be worn.