People, Ritual & Death - Life in Early Prehistoric Europe

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course introduces and evaluates evidence from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods in Europe and beyond, to create a context for the understanding of the early prehistory of Ireland. The overall focus of the course is based on the themes of Life, Ritual and Death and various aspects of these and their interplay over time. Through these themes, an understanding of the history of prehistoric Europe will be gained. We will discuss the environmental and geographic factors that contributed to the cultural, political, and ideological development in the time period. The module is structured per week with a mix of power-point presentations, videos or texts focusing on particular angles of the main themes. The course starts with a focus on the societies of the Mesolithic hunters and gatherers in Western Europe. The origin of farming in Western Asia and the changes that these new lifeways brought to Europe constitute a central part of the second half of the course. In this section the development of large-scale stone-built monuments will be explored, and particularly their role in the social and mental landscapes of the societies. A combination of archaeological evidence and historian accounts will be used to gain a complex understanding of the cultures.