Fakultet for humaniora, samfunnsvitenskap og lærerutdanning

This course is optional within the Bachelor`s Degree Programme in Archaeology. It may also form part of the Bachelor Degree Programme in History or Social Anthropology, and may be taken as a single course. The course is offered every other year in the autumn semester.

This course will provide insight into how the northern hunter-fisher-gatherer societies coped with extreme climate- and environmental change from the pioneer settlement right after the Ice Age to the end of the Late Stone Age, ca. 1800 BC. In a global context, Northern Scandinavia offers a unique possibility to study the relationship between humans and extreme environmental change 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 insights into the variability in time and space of these key-issues of our northern, prehistoric Stone Age societies

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

Knowledge and analytical understanding:

• Insights and understanding of the relationship between humans and environmental change in Northern Scandinavia from the pioneer settlement right after the Ice Age to the end of the Late Stone Age
• Knowledge of the analytical theories, methods, and techniques employed in such studies

English

The course consists of 10 double hours with lectures and 2 seminars. Through the lectures, students will be given in-depths insights into the natural-historical conditions in the extreme North and to 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.

COURSEWORK REQUIREMENT
Participation in 70 % of the lectures and at least one of seminars is mandatory.

EXAM
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: 10 pages (3500 words). Marking is made according to a grading scale from A to F, where F is fail.

The examination should be written in English, but can also be written in Norwegian, Swedish or Danish. Examination results will be announced in the StudentWeb three weeks after submission of the examination paper.

Students who want to know the reason for their examination result are invited to contact the teacher immediately after having received their result.

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

A list of approximately 700 pages required reading.
A list with required reading will be ready in June.