Prehistory and Ancient History
Code: 100013 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2502758 Humanities | OB | 2 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Raquel Piqué Huerta
- Email:
- Raquel.Pique@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- catalan (cat)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Teachers
- Cesar Sierra Martin
Prerequisites
Although there are no specific prerequisites for this subject, it is recommended to review the knowledge previously acquired throughout the student's academic career.
Any other subject related directly or indirectly to the syllabus can serve the students to obtain an excellent degree of understanding and learning.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The main aim of the subject is the knowledge and understanding of the historical realities of the Prehistory and the Antiquity, analyzing their basic characteristics in social, economic and cultural terms. To achieve this goal the students must be familiar with the direct sources (archaeological and documental record) and with the methods of investigation that define the study of the prehistory and of the ancient world. These methods will relate the historical interpretations that along the time have been produced with the historical context of each moment.
The recent advances in the two disciplines show a constant evolution. Both, the interpretative theories of some historical phenomena and the application of some archaeologic technics have changed through the time. The knowledge on the Prehistory or on the Antiquity is constantly under construction. The students has to perceive that their training will provide them a set of practical knowledges that can allow they to understand the advances and the context of the new interpretations of the historical processes .
Both Prehistory and Ancient History have an outstanding corpus of interpretations that make up the explanation of the world as we know it. From these interpretations the students can know the main milestones of these disciplines when explaining their field of study.
The priority objective is to train people with a critical spirit, who have basic knowledge but, above all, who know both the methodology and the main works and theories of reference. It is expected that these theories are subject to analysis, reflection and even, may be put into question, reasonably and with arguments, by future graduates.
Competences
- Critically analysing today's culture and its historical conditions.
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
Learning Outcomes
- Critically analysing the past, the nature of the historical speech and the social function of historical science.
- Drawing up an academic text using the discipline's specific vocabulary.
- Effectively working in teams and respecting different opinions.
- Engaging in debates about historical facts respecting the other participants' opinions.
- Identifying the main and secondary ideas and expressing them with linguistic correctness.
- Interpreting the regulatory information that is located in the web pages of regulatory institutions.
- Organising and planning the search of historical information.
- Properly using the specific vocabulary of History.
- Recognising the most appropriate bibliographic databases in order to obtain sources of a specific issue.
- Using the characteristic computing resources of the field of History.
- Using the characteristic investigation sources of the history of Catalonia.
Content
BLOCK 1. - The views on prehistory and the ancient world. How the historical processes have influenced the studies of the Prehistoric and Ancient past.
BLOCK 2 - Methods for Prehistoric and Ancient world research
BLOCK 3.- Archeology of origins: what makes us human? Technology and humanization
BLOCK 4. -The modern humanity. Symbolism and colonization
BLOCK 5.- Social complexity: the end of the hunter-gatherer world and the origin of the domestication of plants and animals.
SECTION 6. - The emergence of political institutions. The origins of ancient states: Mesopotamia and Egypt
BLOCK 7. -Emergence of representative political institutions: the polis.
BLOCK 8.- Apogee and decadence of representative institutions: the republic and the empire in Rome
Methodology
The subject is mainly theoretical. The sessions will consist of the presentation of the syllabus combined with the reading and commentary of articles, chapters of monographs, visits to museums and other practical activities in the classroom.
The explanations of the different sessions will be accompanied by teaching material that the student can find in the Virtual Campus.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Lectures | 40 | 1.6 | 1 |
| Practical sessions | 5 | 0.2 | 7, 10 |
| Seminars | 5 | 0.2 | 1, 5, 3 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorial | 15 | 0.6 | 7 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Readings and written report | 80 | 3.2 | 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 8, 10 |
Assessment
The evaluation will be continuous. For the evaluation of the subject, the following will be taken into account:
The presentation in writing of the results of the practices carried out in the classroom
Participation in the discussion seminars in the classroom.
Participation in the control tests
partial exams
The continuity in the quality of the work carried out, as well as the excellence and the progressive improvement will be valued.
Students who have not been evaluated for at least 30% of the evaluable activities that will be carried out during the course will be considered as Not Evaluable and will not be able to take the final test of the subject.
Students who have not passed the course will have the option to take an exam that includes the entire subject syllabus. The treatment of any particular cases should be discussed directly with the teachers.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outputs of practical work and seminars, continuous assessment | 30% | 3 | 0.12 | 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 4, 9, 3, 8, 10, 11 |
| Written assignment | 70% | 2 | 0.08 | 2, 8 |
Bibliography
Agustí, Jordi; Anton, Mauricio 2011: La gran migración. La evolución humana más allá de África. Editorial Crítica
Antela Bernárdez, Borja 2009: Pèricles no hi és, Barcelona: Editorial UOC.
Arsuaga, José Luis, Martínez, Ignacio., 2001: La especie elegida: La larga marcha de la evolución humana. Editorial Destino
Aurenche, Olivier, Kozlowski, Stefan Karol 2003: El Origen del neolítico en el Próximo Oriente: el paraíso perdido. Editorial Ariel
Binford, Lewis .R., 1983: En busca del pasado. Descifrando el registro arqueológico.
Ehrenberg Margaret, 1989: Women in Prehistory. University of Oklahoma Press
Gómez Espelosín, Francisco Javier 2001: Historia de Grecia antigua, Madrid: Akal.
Harding, Anthony. 2003. Las sociedades europeas de la Edad del Bronce. Barcelona. Ariel
Kuhrt, A. 2017: El oriente Próximo en la Antigüedad, 2 vols., Barcelona: Crítica.
Liverani, Mario 2006: Uruk: la primera Ciudad, Barcelona: Bellaterra.
Nicolet, Claude 1982: Roma y la conquista del mundo Mediterráneo, Barcelona: Labor.
Oller Guzmán, Joan 2011: Breu història de l’antiga Roma, Barcelona: Editorial UOC.
Reinchholf, Joseph, 2009:La invención de la agricultura. Editorial Crítica
Tattersall Ian. 2015. El mundo desde sus inicios hasta 4000 a.c.. Fondo de Cultura Económica