Greece and the Balkans in the Neolithic - 20 credits (HST440)
This module covers the period from c.7000-3000 BC, including the Copper Age, in eastern Europe. In terms of geography, the module encompasses Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and the former Yugoslavia. The module's main topics focus on issues of social and material development and the shifting organisation and structure of communities in the region. Eastern Europe in the Neolithic is normally taught in the spring semester through small group discussion and tutorials. Assessment is by one extended essay (4000 words). Major topics studied: the origins, forms and developments of settled existence; continuity and innovation in economy; the development of a new materiality; the origins of ceramic technology; the emergence of extravagant burial practice; the socio-politics of the fifth millennium BC; the rise of the individual; the complex changes which characterise the end of the Copper Age.