Application deadline

Type of course

This course is an optional course within the Bachelor's Degree Programme in Archaeology.

It may also form part of the Bachelor Degree Programme in History or Social Anthropology.

The course may be taken as a single course.

It is offered every other year in the autumn semester.

Course content

This course will provide insight into how the northern hunter-fisher-gatherer societies coped with extreme climatic and environmental conditions and changes from the pioneer settlement right after the Ice Age into the 1st millennium BC.

In a global context, Northern Scandinavia offers a unique possibility to study the relationship between humans and environment because both archaeological and environmental data are preserved from coast and inland back from the end of the Ice Age.

The course gives an overview of the natural-historical development in the North (melting of the inland ice, land- and sea level changes, change in vegetation and fauna, etc.). Examples will be given of how the northern societies organized themselves culturally and according to the changing environment, regarding social aspects, settlement patterns, resource use, transport, communication, and technology.

The course provides insight into the variability in time and space of these key-issues of our northern, early prehistoric hunter-gather-fisher societies

Objectives of the course

Students who successfully complete this course should have achieved the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge and analytical understanding:

• Insights and understanding of the relationship between human societies and the environment in Northern Scandinavia from the pioneer settlement right after the Ice Age into the 1st mill BC
• Knowledge of the analytical theories, methods, and techniques employed in such studies

Language of instruction and examination

The teaching is in English.

The examination should be written in English, but can also be written in Norwegian, Swedish or Danish.

Teaching methods

The course consists of 10 double hours with lectures and 2 seminars. Through the lectures, students will be given in-depth insight into the natural-historical conditions in the extreme North and the strategies Northern societies have employed to cope with these conditions.

The seminars will be used to discuss different topics related to the course contents.

Assessment

Coursework requirement:

Participation in 7 of the lectures and at least one of seminars is mandatory.

Examination:

The final exam consists of a take-home examination. The examination is to be based on a given topic and is to be written at the end of the semester. Students have one week to complete the examination. Approximate length: 3500 words, (about 10 pages).

Marking is according to a grading scale from A to F, where F is fail.

Examination results will be announced in the StudentWeb at the latest three weeks after submission of the examination paper.

The course is open for re-sit examination for candidates obtaining the mark F for their exam.

Recommended reading/syllabus

*) Bjerck, H.B. 2008 Norwegian Mesolithic Trends: A Review. In G.Bailey and P. Spikins (Eds.): Mesolithic Europe. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. Pp. 60-106.

*) Forsberg, L. 1996. The Earliest Settlement of Northern Sweden -Problems and Perspectives. In L. Larsson. (ed.): The Earliest Settlement of Scandinavia and its relationship with neighbouring areas. Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8o, 24, 241-250

*) Kleppe, J.A. 2010 Klubbvik 1. Tidlig bosetning og klima I Varangerfjorden i lys av nye undersøkelser nær Mortensnes, Nesseby kommune. Varanger Årbok 2010.

*) Pitulkov, V. 1995 High Arctic Mesolithic Culture: man and Environment. In A. Fischer(ed.): Man and Sea in the Mesolithic. Coastal settlement above and below present sea level. Oxbow Monograph 53: 351-360.

*) Sanjaume, E. & J. Tolgensbakk 2009. Beach ridges from Varanger Peninsula (Arctic Norwegian coast): Characteristics and significance Geomorphology 104:82-92.

*) Sporrong, U. 2003 The Scandinavian landscape and its resources. In K. Helle (ed.): The Cambridge History of Scandinavia. Volume I. Prehistory to 1520. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. Pp. 15-42.

*) Siiriäinen, A. 2003. The Stone and Bronze Ages. In K. Helle (ed.): The Cambridge History of Scandinavia. Volume I. Prehistory to 1520. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. Pp. 43-59.