AR3P22: The First Europeans: The Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology of the Lower Palaeolithic

Module code: AR3P22

Module provider: Archaeology; School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science

Credits: 20

Level: 6

When you’ll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Rob Hosfield , email: r.hosfield@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 3 April 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module aims to provide you with an understanding and knowledge of the Lower Palaeolithic period in Europe, including key aspects of hominins (e.g. skeletal morphology, encephalisation and new life history stages), their behaviour (e.g. technologies and subsistence strategies), Pleistocene chronologies (e.g. the earliest occupation of Europe), landscapes and geology (e.g. the formation of Lower Palaeolithic 'sites'), environments (e.g. the nature of Middle Pleistocene landscapes and habitats), and the techniques used to investigate the period (including anthropological perspectives from recent hunter-gatherers). 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. To analyse and present Lower Palaeolithic sites and/or data; 
2. To critically assess the nature and quality of archaeological and/or palaeoanthropological evidence for the European Lower Palaeolithic; 
3. To develop knowledge and understanding of topics introduced in lectures and seminars through further independent study and learning, and demonstrate understanding through written coursework and screencast presentation; 
4. To critically select and present archaeological and/or palaeoanthropological evidence appropriate for different, non-academic, audiences. 

Module content

The module focuses upon themes relevant to the current study of Lower Palaeolithic archaeology and hominins in Europe (technology, subsistence, life history, settlement histories, spatial structuring of behaviour). In outlining these themes the module also emphasises the varied geological contexts of the available archaeological evidence, and the relationships between the structure of the data and the questions which can be realistically answered. Regional and site-based data and specific examples from Europe (e.g. Soucy, Schöningen and Bilzingsleben, Atapuerca, Boxgrove and Swanscombe) will support the presentation and discussion of these themes. 

Archaeological (e.g. lithic and zooarchaeological assemblages), palaeoanthropological (e.g. hominin fossil specimens) and geological/environmental (e.g. landscape fragments and biological proxies) evidence are presented throughout the module, alongside methodological and theoretical frameworks (e.g. the short vs. long chronology for the earliest European occupation; life history modelling) and anthropological perspectives from recent hunter-gatherers which have influenced the interpretation of the data. 

The module also adopts a site-based and regional approach to the examination of the earliest period of European colonisation - the Lower Palaeolithic. The archaeology of the Palaeolithic period is characterised by a mixture of short-lived primary context archaeology (e.g. individual lithic scatters) and large-scale spatial and chronological data palimpsests. The impacts of these contrasting scales of analysis upon behavioural models and research methods are emphasised, e.g. with reference to the value of site-based approaches in understanding tool-making, raw material exploitation and subsistence strategies, and to the importance of regional data in the study of hominin colonisation patterns and settlement histories. Spatial scales of analysis will therefore vary from the individual site to inter-regional comparisons. 

Structure

Teaching and learning