Archaeology: Highlights of Pre-History

This course is a comprehensive introduction to British prehistory, with a particular focus on the developments and advancement in knowledge of British prehistory across the last fifty years. You will begin by considering what the cultural evidence of prehistory there is in Northern Europe as a whole before focussing in on the British Isles. Topics covered during this course will include European Neolithic housing and its associated material culture and their transfer to Britain, Gene Transfer, Trade and Exchange, the Emergence of the Elites, the origins of Bronze Age field systems in the eastern Fenland, and the importance of the Scilly Isles. You will also explore a detailed case study of the late Bronze Age crannog at Must Farm, Cambridgeshire, the product of a filing land. Your experienced tutor will enable you to debate how Neolithic houses have been identified in Britain over the last fifty years, why prehistoric metalworking led to the emergence of Elites, what conditions allowed the extraordinary site at Must Farm to be found, and why our views of British Prehistory have changed so much in the last fifty years. No previous or knowledge of the study of prehistory or archaeology is necessary. Everyone is welcome to join this fascinating course.