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This 15 credit module will introduce students to the main features of the Iron Age in Europe. It begins with the Late Bronze Age background, and develops through the Hallstatt period of central Europe, the La Tène period, and the Roman Iron Age north of the Roman frontier. Specialist topics covered in detail are drawn from current research foci, and include the spread of iron technology, the nature of specialist knowledge and cosmology, the Mediterranean impact on the north, the roles of votive deposition and funerary practices, and the development of architecture and urbanism.Ìý It will explore the main depositional contexts of later prehistoric archaeology and the corresponding implications of chronological precision, formation processes, theoretical approaches and material evidence for our understanding of social changes across Europe.

Aims

To provide the student with:

1. detailed knowledge of the archaeological evidence for societies in Europe 1000 BC-AD 500;

2. a geographical and chronological understanding of the main artefact, site and organisational categories for the European Late Bronze and Iron Ages;

3. an ability to assess primary data, based on a broad understanding of the formation of the later prehistoric record and its limitations;
4. a good knowledge and understanding of the changes in society in this period;

5. an ability to analyse and reflect critically upon a range of interpretations, particularly in areas of current controversy in Iron Age studies.

Objectives

On successful completion of this module a student should: Knowledge and Understanding:

1) Have a familiarity with major sources of relevant evidence

2) Have a familiarity with the current theoretical and methodological debate in the field

Skills:

1) Be able to produce logical and structured arguments supported by relevant evidence

2) Have developed a critical perusal of literature

Teaching, Learning and Assessment:

1) Have conducted directed reading of specialist literature

2) Have written essays prepared to a defined timetable to assess communication, analytical, and presentation skills

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the module, students should be able to demonstrate/have developed:

1) An understanding of the European Iron Age and its prelude.

2) Critical awareness of context and multiple sources of evidence in the archaeological record for Iron Age Europe.

3) Expansion of written and oral skills to allow for the communication of complex ideas and data derived from a range of academic disciplines.

4) Awareness of current issues, theoretical frameworks and debates in Iron Age archaeology.

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