ARK2140 ¨C The Archaeology of Migration and Mobility

Course content

The course provides a comparative understanding of mobility and migration patterns in prehistory. The course will look into theoretical approaches that explore human adaptation towards changes in society related to migration or increased/decreased mobility. The course will be transdisciplinarily linked to subjects like anthropology, linguistics, genetics and geochemistry. From anthropological models the students will engage in the societal causes and causations of mobility and migration. Linguistics will be implemented as a tool to understand connections between languages and different forms of cultural movement, and novel approaches from the natural sciences like ancient DNA and isotope analysis will be explored to further contextualize physical mobility.

The course has a prominent practical component where the theory form the lectures will be explored in hands-on laboratory work. The laboratory sessions are divided into several topics, each focusing on analysis that can help bridge the gap between the theoretical framework presented in the lectures and the practical application of theory.

Learning outcome

Knowledge:

• Gain a broad understanding of archaeological approaches toward migration and mobility of past societies.
• Gain introductory knowledge to key anthropological concepts and case studies of migration and mobility from around the world and over time.
• Gain knowledge of laboratory practices in the study of migration and mobility patterns.
• Be able to conduct basic data collection and spatial analyses using scientific instruments and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) of migration and mobility in the past.

Skills:

• An ability to engage in cross-comparative analyses of social issues.
• An ability to think source-critically about the interdisciplinarity of archaeology and the natural sciences.
• An ability to apply novel scientific approaches towards the mobility patterns of past societies.
• An ability to conduct a spatial network analysis of mobility utilising GIS.

General competence:

• Understand the connection between theoretical interpretation and applied methods that work with the mobility of humanity on a broad scale.
• Understand the social and political causes and causations behind individual and large-scale movements.
• Acquire a general competence of scientific tools used to study migration and mobility in the past.

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

Overlapping courses

• 10 credits overlap with ARK4140 ¨C The Archaeology of Migration and Mobility.

Teaching

There will be 10 lectures and 5 practical laboratory assignments (based on 5 of the lectures). It is compulsory to attend the weekly labs. Any absence from compulsory activity must be documented and applied for. You can apply for a valid absence from compulsory activities/compulsory attendance here: Absence from compulsory activity/attendance

Qualifier

Students must submit a map and a maximum 3-page essay that answers study questions related to the data collection and analysis. The study questions will connect the data collection aspect of the laboratory work to an analysis of how artefacts and people move through space. Students who do not submit their assignments will not be permitted to take the final exam.

Access to teaching

A student who has completed compulsory instruction and coursework and has had these approved, is not entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework. A student who has been admitted to a course, but who has not completed compulsory instruction and coursework or had these approved, is entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework, depending on available capacity.

Examination

The exam will consist of an independent three-day home-exam on a given topic with a limit of 5 pages, 2250 words +/- 10% (not counting spaces).

In the exam, the students are expected to develop their argument from case studies and methods discussed in the course.

Hand-in procedures: The essay is only to be uploaded in Inspera. The file must be in pdf-format. The candidate number should be on every page as heading text. You will find your candidate number in Studentweb.

The student is responsible for uploading the document on time according to guidelines. Unreadable or unfinished documents will be graded thereafter for a reduced grade.

Language of examination

The examination text is given in English.You may submit your response in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.