Module overview
This module examines the central role of technology in archaeological constructions of social life. It integrates techniques for the investigation of materials in archaeological science with discussions of social theory. Case studies from a range of different forms of material culture, places and periods are examined. You are encouraged to read widely and to explore inter-disciplinary approaches to materials and technology including those derived from archaeology, anthropology, sociology, technology studies and materials science.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Analyse complex written texts
- Produce independent research
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- How archaeologists use social theories to explore the development of technologies and the changing use of materials in past societies
- The role of social relations and networks in the creation and maintenance of technological practices and skills
- Scientific techniques for the analysis of archaeological materials and technologies
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Critically assess past and current archaeological approaches to the study of materials and technology
- Evaluate the usefulness of a range of scientific techniques for the analysis of archaeological materials and technologies
- Critically assess the value and appropriate application of a range of social theories employed to understand materials and technology in past and contemporary societies
Subject Specific Practical Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Engage with archaeological and ethnographic objects in order to describe and understand the technology of their production, and how this is embedded in fields of knowledge and social relations
Syllabus
Typically the syllabus will cover:
- Introduction to the module: material worlds
- Making things, making relations: technological processes and choices
- Embedded technologies
- Art and technologies of enchantment
- Materials
- Fieldtrip (Pitt Rivers Museum)
- Project presentations
- Technologies of remembrance and forgetting
- Wayfaring and mapping: technologies of travel and space
- Building
- Feedback on assessed work
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
This is primarily a seminar-based course, although fieldtrips will be incorporated where practical and relevant. Discussions in seminars will enable you to develop your knowledge, understanding, intellectual skills and critical abilities. The seminar sessions will also include hands-on study of archaeological and ethnographic objects as a focus for discussion.
Teaching methods include:
- Seminars Group work Tutorials
Learning activities include:
- Individual study Artefact study
- Preparing and delivering student-led seminars Discussion groups
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| External visits | 4 |
| Independent Study | 124 |
| Seminar | 22 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Journal Articles
Ingold, T. (1997). Eight themes in the anthropology of technology. Social Analysis, 41, pp. 106-38.
Pfaffenberger, B. (1992). Social Anthropology of Technology. Annual Review of Anthropology, 21, pp. 491-516.
Ingold, T. (2007). Materials against materiality. Archaeological Dialogues, 14(1), pp. 1-16.
Sofaer, J (2006). Pots, Houses and Metal. Technological Relations at the Bronze Age tell at Százhalombatta, Hungary. Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 25(2), pp. 127-47.
Sigaut, F (1994). Technology. Companion Encyclopedia of Anthropology, pp. 420-59.
Textbooks
Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the Social: an introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jones, A. (2002). Archaeological Theory and Scientific Practice. Cambridge: CUP.
Schlanger, N. (ed) (2006). Marcel Mauss. Techniques, Technology and Civilisation. Oxford: Durkheim Press / Berghahn Books.
Dobres, MA and Hoffman CR (eds). The Social Dynamics of Technology: Practise, Politics and World Views. Washington.
Adams, J. (2003). Ships, Innovation and Social Change. Stockholm: Stockholm Studies in Archaeology 24. Stockholm Marine Archaeology Reports 3.
Lemmonnier, P. (ed.) (1993). Technological Choices: transformations in material culture since the Neolithic. London: Routledge.
Gell, A. (1998). Art and Agency: an anthropological theory. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Leroi-Gourhan, A (1945). Milieu et Technique. Paris.
Conneller, C. (2011). An Archaeology of Materials: substantial transformations in early prehistoric Europe. London: Routledge.
Toren, C. (1999). Mind, Materiality and History. Essays in Fijian Ethnography. London.
Assessment
Assessment strategy
Assessment 1: through the hands-on, self-directed study of an individual object (either archaeological or ethnographic), this assignment helps you understand processes of making and the social relations that exist within technology. Assessment 2 provides the opportunity to develop in detail a chosen aspect of the module through a case study, decided in consultation with the module coordinator.
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Object study | 50% |
| Essay | 50% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Coursework | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External