Undergraduate Course: From Foraging to Farming: The Beginnings of Agriculture in the Mediterranean and Europe (ARCA10051)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology | 
College | College of Humanities and Social Science | 
 
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) | 
Availability | Available to all students | 
 
| SCQF Credits | 20 | 
ECTS Credits | 10 | 
 
 
| Summary | The course provides students with the opportunity to study the archaeological and other evidence relating to one of the most important events in human prehistory - the transition from hunting and gathering to farming. The main issues surrounding the economic, technological and social developments that marked the transition are explored for specific regions of Europe. | 
 
| Course description | 
    
    The aim of the course is to instil in students: 
- a sound knowledge and understanding of the principal sources of evidence that can be used to reconstruct the behaviour of the last hunting-gathering and earliest food producing societies in Europe; 
- an appreciation of the difficulties involved in interpreting that evidence, and the major areas of controversy; 
- the ability to critically assess current hypotheses of the transition to agriculture as applied in three geographically distinct regions of Europe, the Balkan Peninsula, the 
- a critical awareness of how archaeological perceptions and approaches to research have historically influenced interpretations of the evidence. 
    
    
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites | 
 | 
Co-requisites |  | 
 
| Prohibited Combinations |  | 
Other requirements |  Pre-requisites: Archaeology 2A and 2B or Honours entry to degrees in Classics, or equivalent. | 
 
| Additional Costs |  None | 
 
 
Information for Visiting Students 
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 Archaeology courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses | 
 
		| High Demand Course? | 
		Yes | 
     
 
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |   
Learning Outcomes 
    On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
    
        - demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, command of the body of knowledge considered in the course;
 - demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship;
 - demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to understand, evaluate and utilise a variety of primary source material;
 - demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, the ability to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence;
 - demonstrate independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
 
     
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Reading List 
Barker, G. 2006. The Agricultural Revolution in Prehistory: Why did Foragers Become Farmers? Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
 
Bellwood, P. 2005. First Farmers: the Origins of Agricultural Societies. Oxford: Blackwell. 
 
Diamond, J. 2002. Evolution, consequences and future of plant and animal domestication. Nature 418: 700-707. 
 
Colledge, S. & Conolly, J. (eds) 2007. The Origins and Spread of Domestic Plants in Southwest Asia and Europe. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press. 
 
Colledge, S. & Conolly, J. (eds) 2013. The Origins and Spread of Domestic Animals in Southwest Asia and Europe. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press. 
 
Lichter, C. (ed.) 2005. How Did Farming Reach Europe? Anatolian-European relations from the second half of the 7th through the first half of the 6th millenium cal BC (Proceedings of the International Workshop Istanbul, 20-22 May 2004). Istanbul, Turkey : Ege Yay¿nlar¿.  
 
Price, T.D. (ed.) 2000. Europe's First Farmers. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. |   
 
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills | 
Not entered | 
 
| Keywords | FFF | 
 
 
Contacts 
| Course organiser | Prof Clive Bonsall 
Tel: (0131 6)50 2375 
Email:  | 
Course secretary | Mr Jonathan Donnelly 
Tel: (0131 6)50 3781 
Email:  | 
   
 
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