Short Course Description
Prehistoric archaeology focuses on the earliest evidence of human presence in the Old World, encompassing the Southern Levant and the modern boundaries of Israel. This course offers a deep dive into the extensive timeline of human culture in this area during the Paleolithic periods, starting around 1.5 million years ago and ending with the Neolithic revolution approximately 10,000 years ago. Throughout this journey of human cultural and biological evolution, we will explore the cultural complexes, types of stone tools, and hominin species found in the Paleolithic Periods in Israel. The archaeological data will be integrated with insights derived from the fields of paleoanthropology, biology, paleontology, and ethnography. We will critically examine and discuss pivotal topics in Prehistoric archaeology, such as early human dispersals out of Africa, the nexus between animals and technology, the origin of Homo sapiens and the extinction of Neanderthals, the Paleolithic art enigma, the advent of agriculture, and early human perception of the cosmos.
grade: 10% participation, 90% final paper
Full syllabus will be available to registered students only
