Special Topic: Plants and people - ARC00105H

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Module summary

Very much like today, plants played an essential role in past people’s lives. The relationship between communities and plant resources and their environments are deeply ingrained not only in their socio-economic activities but also in their cultural choices and ultimately their identity. People have utilised plant resources in a variety of ways from the Palaeolithic to now including: food procurement to production, fuel, crafting, clothing, arts, etc. Throughout this module, we will explore the different types of archaeological evidence and methodologies for studying the use of plants by ancient peoples and what they can tell us about life in the past, with a focus on scientific approaches, environmental change, culture and identity.

Related modules

A directed option - students must pick a Special Topic module and have a choice of which to take

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Semester 1 2025-26

Module aims

Special Topics focus upon the archaeology of a well defined time, space or theme and the modules seek to allow students, in small groups, to focus upon primary source material and to apply to it the theoretical and thematic perspectives learned over your first and second years. The aim is to facilitate the acquisition of deeper knowledge of one aspect of the past than has been possible in more general courses.

Specifically this module aims:

• To develop knowledge and understanding of the varied sources of evidence for the use of plants by ancient communities.
• To examine key methods utilised in the study of ancient plants.
• To develop a critical perspective on interpretations of archaeological evidence for plant use from an interdisciplinary perspective, and through the study of a range of problems in different periods and areas of the archaeological record.

Module learning outcomes

In completing this module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate a broad and comparative knowledge of the types of archaeological evidence available for the study of ancient plant use.
• Demonstrate that they are familiar with the literature on archaeobotany and Palaeoethnobotany.
• Exhibit a firm understanding of the theoretical, ethical and methodological issues in plant use reconstruction.
• Demonstrate an awareness of the methods applied to the study of plants in archaeology.
• Critically evaluate primary data and evidence.
• Communicate an in-depth, logical and structured argument, supported by archaeological and biomolecular evidence.

Module content

Once regarded as a rather unexciting field of study, Palaeoethnobotany and Archaeobotany have been rejuvenated in recent years both by new scientific methods and new theoretical perspectives. The relationship between people and plants stands at the intersection between ecological, biological, social and ideological processes, and provides a rich source of evidence with which to view these different perspectives. Paleoethnobotanical studies involve a consideration of the plant remains recovered from archaeological deposits as well as issues of taphonomy, differential preservation, culinary choices, gender and identity, seasonality and environmental change. This module will review the different approaches and scientific methods available to study these issues, with special focus on understanding past food systems; from plant resources procurement to changes in food production (such as domestication and agriculture), food preparation and cooking and social and ideological factors associated with food consumption practices.

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Oral presentation/seminar/exam	100.0

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Oral presentation/seminar/exam	100.0

Module feedback

Formative: oral feedback from module leaders in class

Summative: written feedback within the University's turnaround policy

Indicative reading

• Gosden, C. and Hather, J.G. eds., 2004. The prehistory of food: appetites for change. Routledge.
• Marco Madella, Carla Lancelotti, and Manon Savard. 2014. Ancient Plants and People: Contemporary Trends in Archaeobotany. (Eds.). The University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
• Gonzalez Carretero, L., & Fuller, D. Q., 2023. Food and Feasting. In E. Nikita, & T. Rehren (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Archaeology, Second Edition.