Undergraduate Course: Human Origins and the Genesis of Symbolic Thought (SCAN10055)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Social Anthropology |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | The course covers human origins from a social anthropological point of view. Topics include the history of the idea of 'human origins' in social anthropology and in other disciplines; comparisons between humans and chimpanzees; fossil finds from Sahelanthropus (ca. 7mya) to Homo (from 2.4mya); group size and settlement from early prehistory to the Neolithic (from 14,000 BP); hominin pedagogy, sharing and exchange; origins of language and symbolism; the evolution of kinship structures; and the relevance of social anthropology to ideas from sociobiology, evolutionary psychology and other disciplines. A key focus of the course will be the period from the African Middle Stone Age evidence of symbolic culture (200,000 - 77,000 BP) to the Out of Africa H. sapiens migrations of the ancestors of non-African populations (125,000 - 60,000 BP) and early rock art (from 32,000 BP), all interpreted through methods and theories from within social anthropology. The thematic heart of the course is the explosion of art, religion and language at the 'Symbolic Revolution', and the social consequences of these. That is normally dated at between 130,000 and 60,000 BP. The course will involve debate on such issues, and will concentrate on the contribution social anthropology can make, and is now making. Students will be encouraged to employ their general social anthropological (theoretical and ethnographic) knowledge to answer questions all too often left to those in other disciplines. Since the 1990s, these themes have re-emerged within British social anthropology - after having lain dormant for many decades.
The course stems directly from the course convener's two most recent books: Social Anthropology and Human Origins (2011) and Genesis of Symbolic Thought (in preparation). Although the course will touch lightly on some material also in Human Origins (ARCA10003), taught in Archaeology, the focus will be quite different. Combined degree students would be encouraged to do both courses. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| By the end of the course students will have a critical understanding of the debates and issues in social anthropological aspects of human origins, and especially of the origins of symbolic culture. They will learn to engage in discussion of issue of great importance to understanding the social nature of humanity, and will do so from a though knowledge of relevant data and issues from other disciplines. By way of background, it is expected that students will learn species names and reputed cognitive abilities, important archaeological sites, and dates. More importantly, they will be able to debate with confidence issues such the social anthropological significance of the relation between neocortex size and group size; how and why language emerged; the place of myth and totemism in cognitive, linguistic and social evolution; whether MSA kinship systems possessed socio-centric categories or not, embedded symbolic structures or not. And they will know how to employ ethnographic evidence from modern hunter-gatherer societies to examine such issues, as well as being able to assess the limitations of such endeavours. |
Assessment Information
| a short essay of 1000-1500 words (20 percent), and a long essay of 3000-3500 words (80 percent). |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
10 weeks: 2-hour weekly lecture slots. |
| Keywords | Social Anthropology and Human Origins |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Alan Barnard
Tel: (0131 6)50 3938
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Katie Teague
Tel: (0131 6)50 4001
Email: |
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