Hunting and gathering societies

ARC00019M

Module leader: Penny Spikins

Aims

In this course we will discuss key issues in interpretations of Upper Palaeolithic societies, with a particularly focus on the contributions that ethnographic analogies can make to our understanding. We focus on three key elements of the distinctive hunting and gathering adaptations of the upper Palaeolithic – art, colonisations of new regions and status/social relationships – and we discuss ethnographic analogies which have contributed to our understanding of these issues. We then consider the characteristics of hunting and gathering societies, some detailed examples of recent hunter-gatherers and the potential for expanding existing interpretations through further ethnographic paralells.

You each present one seminar on a specific ethnographically documented group (as this seminar will involve more research than your others and using library books and you may wish to start this seminar preparation over the Christmas break) as well as seminars on archaeological evidence and ethnographic interpretations.

In the final week we will go on a fieldtrip to see Upper Palaeolithic cave art at Creswell Crags

Research aim:

To provide an understanding of the nature of hunter-gatherer lifestyles, and how studies of hunter-gatherers can contribute to interpretations about past societies, with a particular focus on the Upper Palaeolithic.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of this module students should:

have developed an understanding of key characteristics of hunter-gatherer societies
have developed an understanding of how hunter-gatherer studies contribute to interpretations in Early Prehistory
have developed a critical awareness of archaeological and anthropological approaches to hunter-gatherer societies