Expand+ARCH20500 Archaeology of Things
Academic Year 2021/2022
We live in a material world, with objects communicating things about us and our communities. In the modern world we are also increasingly surrounded by things, our relationships to these thing...

Hide-ARCH20500 Archaeology of Things
Academic Year 2021/2022
We live in a material world, with objects communicating things about us and our communities. In the modern world we are also increasingly surrounded by things, our relationships to these things mostly classed as that of consumers rather than producers. ARCH20500 aims to help students look differently and critically at objects from the past (and the present) and to appreciate the huge importance material culture holds for understanding human society. Much, much older than the written record, objects are a major category of archaeological evidence and a vital tool for the archaeologist.

Due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, classes will be delivered online, with a move to face-to-face later in the trimester if conditions allow. An open-air workshop in the Centre for Experimental Archaeology & Material Culture, UCD campus is planned for the mid-trimester fieldwork break if Covid-19 safety protocol permits. Online artefact workshops are planned as complementary and back-up measures.

At the core of the module is a review of key artefact assemblages from prehistory through to the medieval period. While there is a general focus on Irish artefacts, these will be compared with material from Britain and continental Europe. We will explore such topics as object classification (typologies), the scientific analysis of archaeological materials, and the contribution of experimental archaeology. Alongside this, we will examine the many different roles and functions that objects had in the past and how these often diverge from our modern views and practices. We will explore concepts such as ownership and wealth, object deposition and discard, and the life-cycle of objects.