Experimental Archaeology - ARC00087M
Module summary
In this module you will learn what experimental archaeology is, what its limitations are and why it is important. You will have the opportunity to design, execute and record your own experiment, with the method of assessment (a short documentary film) enabling you to think critically about how best to present experimental research to the general public.
Module will run
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Semester 1 2025-26 |
Module aims
This module aims to:
- equip students with the practical skills required to design, conduct and critique experiments related to material culture.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should:
- Have a comprehensive understanding the key role experimentation plays within artefact studies
- Be able to demonstrate a systematic understanding of experimental project design and implementation, with clearly stated aims, methods and consideration of variables
- Be able to communicate complex ideas in an analytical framework through report writing to a professional standard
- Be able to demonstrate originality in the application of knowledge, together with a practical understanding of how established techniques of experimental archaeology and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in the discipline
- Be able to communicate results of an experimental research project clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences
Module content
During this module students will get hands-on practical experience through the implementation of an archaeological experiment based on an outstanding question relating to a specific form of material culture. Practical work will be undertaken outdoors, fireside, at the YEAR Centre. A short documentary film based on their experimental research, and requiring close consideration of the target audience, will be exhibited and judged at the end of the course. By which time students will have acquired the theoretical and planning skills required to design, implement, record and critically reflect on their own experimental research project. An overview of experimental archaeology, including the ethical and gender debates, as well as a brief history of this approach will help provide broader theoretical context.
Indicative assessment
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Formative: oral feedback from module leaders
Summative: written feedback within the University's turnaround policy
Indicative reading
Outram, A. K. (2008). Introduction to Experimental Archaeology. World Archaeology 40: 1–6
Planel, P., & Stone, P. G. (2003). The Constructed Past: Experimental Archaeology, Education and the Public. London: Routledge
Bell, M. (2014). ‘Experimental Archaeology at the Crossroads: A Contribution to Interpretation or Evidence of ‘xeroxing’?’. In R. Chapman and A. Wylie (eds), Material Evidence. Learning from Archaeological Practice, pp.62–78. London: Routledge