HST416 Bronze Age Worlds

The module introduces the prehistory of Britain and Ireland during 2500-750 BCE. This period witnessed dramatic and lasting changes in the constitution of society, the formation of the landscape, and the meanings of material culture. These changes included transformations in agriculture, the construction of major ceremonial monuments such as Stonehenge, the flourishing and decline of novel burial rites, the development of metallurgy, and the widespread enclosure of the countryside into field systems. Through seminars and field trips, we will consider the major themes, sites and artefacts that have dominated archaeological narratives of the period. Along the way, we will review many of the less well-known regions and assemblages, and debate new ways of interpreting social change. The module includes field trips to visit key later prehistoric landscapes in our region.