History of Archaeology

Code:

ARQU034

Acronym:

HARQ

Instance: 2013/2014 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Heritage Studies
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
ARQU	36	Study plan since 2008/2009	1	-	6	-

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

Reasons and contexts for the emergence of this area and confirmation of its importance.

Learning outcomes and competences

At the end of the course it is expected that students have knowledge, skills and competencies that enable them to better:

 

understand the developmental contexts of archaeology;

learn principles and theories related to the development of archeology;

support analysis and critical evaluation of different ideas, arguments and points of view.

Working method

Presencial

Program

1. From Renaissance to the 19th century: cultural, political, economical and social changes which explain the emergence of archaeology as a scientific field. 2. 19th centuries’ pioneers in a colonial, racist and evolutionist context (Europe’s absolute supremacy and the idea of progress). The influence of physical and cultural anthropology and other areas. 3. The first half of the 20th century and the anti-evolutionist reaction. Historical culturalism and its relativist, historicist and diffusionist versions. Gordon Childe: Marxism, evolutionism, historical culturalism in a great researcher’s personality. André Leroi-Gourhan and the attempt of creating a general “grammar” of techniques and technical gestures. The structuralist influence. 4. Post-war (from the 1960s onwards) setting the American supremacy. The “new archaeology” as a form of global (“imperial”) optimism. Carbon 14 and processualism. Lewis Binford (USA) and Colin Renfrew (UK) as paradigmatic figures with a “scientist” neo-positivist mentality, but with different versions. 5. Crisis (from the 1970s/1980s onwards) of the alleged “scientists” and positivists of new archaeology, neo-evolutionism and processualism. Discovery of objects, not as “passive mirrors of the past”, but as active actors of social relations. The ambiguity of the “archaeological register”. The divisive figure of I. Hodder. The “political” role of Michael Shanks and C. Tilley. 6. Highly complex contemporary influences and crossroads. In a background mainly characterized by the “industry of culture and heritage” and by rescue archaeology, new paradigms are drawn under the influence of phenomenology (Julian Thomas, for instance) and other trends, coming from areas such as anthropology, performing arts, sociology, etc. There is a tendency for a “multispeed archaeology” with several different goals: however, what looks like an implosion may lead to a dissemination of archaeology among knowledge and practices, notwithstanding its subordinate position within “ministries of culture”, another “invention” of the modern times.

Mandatory literature

Renfrew, Colin e Bahn, Paul; Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice, London, Thames and Hudson, 2004 (4ª ed.). ISBN: 0500284415

Complementary Bibliography

Trigger, Bruce; Historia del Pensamiento Arqueológico, Barcelona, Ed. Critica, 1992
Thomas, Julian; Archaeology and Modernity, London, Routledge, 2004
Bahn, Paul; Arqueologia - uma breve introdução, Lisboa, Gradiva, 1998
Childe, Gordon; Introdução à Arqueologia, Lisboa, Ed. Europa-América, s/d

Teaching methods and learning activities

Expositive lessons and debates with students.

keywords

Humanities > History > Archaeology

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	40,00
Trabalho escrito	60,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	104,00
Total:	104,00

Eligibility for exams

Mandatory attendance at a minimum of 75% of classes, except in cases foreseen by the Evaluation Rules.

Calculation formula of final grade

Final exam: 100%

Examinations or Special Assignments

Not applicable

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Accordance with Assessment Regulations in force.

Classification improvement

Accordance with Assessment Regulations in force.