Postgraduate Course: Social Bioarchaeology: Living Conditions, Lifestyles and the Impact of Disease in the Past (PGHC11494)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | What was life like in the past? How can bioarchaeology help us understand the impact of social change and catastrophic events such as famines and war? What factors have influenced health and longevity in past societies? These are some questions that will be discussed in this course, which focuses on current research topics in social bioarchaeology.
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| Course description |
This course will introduce students to current research topics in social bioarchaeology that focus on health and disease in the past and the application of social theory in bioarchaeology. Different themes will be explored, such as the current understanding of the impact of the introduction of agriculture and more sedentary lifestyles, as well as work environment and general living condition to overall health in past societies. Similarly, the detrimental impact of social injustice, discrimination and racism on human well-being will be discussed.
Using archaeological and bioarchaeological sources, interpreted in an interdisciplinary setting, students will explore how people have responded or adjusted to these factors. They will learn how studies of burials and archaeological skeletons can give us an insight into how social relations were constructed and formed in the past. Other than discussing these topics in an archaeological/historical settings, students will be given the opportunity to reflect on factors that determines health in contemporary society today.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2022/23, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 31,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
163 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
70 %,
Practical Exam
30 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
[1] Annotated Bibliography (30%) - (1,500 words)
[2] Book Review (40%) - 1 monograph (2,500 words)
[3] Presentation (30%) - The Social Impact of Disease in the Past (15 min) |
| Feedback |
Students will receive feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser during their published office hours for this course or by appointment. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of how social conditions have affected health in the past and what the long-term societal consequences of deprived human health may be;
- Demonstrate a basic knowledge of how disease is studied from archaeological human remains;
- Source research and study material using an interdisciplinary approach;
- Critically evaluate and assess research and source materials, and how to apply social theory to archaeological/bioarchaeological research;
- Perform outreach and science communication
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Reading List
Agarwal, S. C. & Glencross, B. A. (Eds.) (2011), Social Bioarchaeology. Chicester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Cohen, M. N., & Armelagos, G. J. (Eds.) (2013). Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture (2nd ed.). Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.
Geber, J. (2015). Victims of Ireland's Great Famine: The Bioarchaeology of Mass Burials at Kilkenny Union Workhouse. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.
Gowland, R & Knüsel, C. (Eds.) (2006). Social archaeology of funerary remains. Oxford: Oxbow Books.
Harding, V. (1998). Burial on the margin: Distance and discrimination in early modern London. In M. Cox (Ed.), Grave concerns: Death and burial in England 1700 to 1850 (pp. 54-64). York: Council for British Archaeology.
Hutchinson, D. L. (2016). Disease and discrimination: Poverty and pestilence in Colonial Atlantic America. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.
Klaus, H. D., Harvey, A. R. & Cohen, M. N. (Eds.) (2017). Bones of Complexity: Bioarchaeological Case Studies of Social Organization and Skeletal Biology. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.
Murphy, M. S. & Klaus, H. D. (Eds.) (2017). Colonized Bodies, World Transformed: Toward a Global Bioarchaeology of Contact and Colonialism. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.
Rathbun, T. A., & Steckel, R. H. (2002). The health of slaves and free blacks in the east. In R. H. Steckel & J. C. Rose (Eds.), The backbone of history: Health and nutrition in the Western Hemisphere (pp. 208-225). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Razzell, P., & Spence, C. (2006). The Hazards of Wealth: Adult Mortality in Pre-Twentieth-Century England. Social History of Medicine, 19(3), 381-405.
Steckel, R. H., & Rose, J. C. (2002). Patterns of health in the Western Hemisphere. In R. H. Steckel & J. C. Rose (Eds.), The backbone of history: Health and nutrition in the Western Hemisphere (pp. 563-579). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tilley, L. (2015). Theory and Practice in the Bioarchaeology of Care. New York, NY: Springer. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jonny Geber
Tel: (0131 6)50 3534
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Danielle Jeffery
Tel: (0131 6)50 7128
Email: |
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