AQA 7017 SP 2017

Topics are clearly and logically structured and learning includes: • an understanding of the nature of archaeological evidence and what examining such evidence can tell us about past hum

DRAFT SPECIFICA

5 Non-exam assessment administration 31

6.6 Access to assessment: diversity and inclusion 36

6.8 Private candidates 37

Are you using the latest version of this specification?

• You will always find the most up-to-date version of this specification on our website at

aqa.org.uk/7017

• We will write to you if there are significant changes to the specification

1 Introduction

1.1 Why choose AQA for A-level Archaeology

Archaeology is a great way to explore the past It also helps develop valuable skills to ensure your

students stand out from the crowd Higher education and businesses value the independent

research, teamwork, leadership and project management skills you’ll help your students to

develop

1.1.1 A specification designed for you and your students

This new qualification retains much of the content that we know you and your students enjoy

Topics are clearly and logically structured and learning includes:

• an understanding of the nature of archaeological evidence and what examining such evidence

can tell us about past human societies

• an understanding and practical application of archaeological techniques, including

contemporary techniques

• the practice of responsible archaeology

• how to analyse archaeological material and data

1.1.2 Clear, well structured exams, accessible for all

To enable your students to show their breadth of knowledge and understanding, we’ve created a

simple and straightforward structure and layout for our papers, using a mixture of question styles

You can find out about all our Archaeology qualifications at aqa.org.uk/archaeology

1.2 Support and resources to help you teach

We’ve worked with experienced teachers to provide you with a range of resources that will help

you confidently plan, teach and prepare for exams

1.2.1 Teaching resources

Visit aqa.org.uk/7017 to see all our teaching resources They include:

• specimen papers and mark schemes to show the standards required and how your students’

papers will be marked

• sample schemes of work and teacher guides to help you plan your course with confidence

• a phone and email based subject team to support you in the delivery of the specification

• training courses to help you deliver AQA Archaeology qualifications

1.2.2 Preparing for exams

Visit aqa.org.uk/7017 for everything you need to prepare for our exams, including:

• past papers, mark schemes and examiners’ reports

• specimen papers and mark schemes for new courses

• Exampro: a searchable bank of past AQA exam questions

• example student answers with examiner commentaries

1.2.3 Analyse your students' results with Enhanced Results Analysis

(ERA)

Find out which questions were the most challenging, how the results compare to previous years

and where your students need to improve ERA, our free online results analysis tool, will help you

see where to focus your teaching Register at aqa.org.uk/era

For information about results, including maintaining standards over time, grade boundaries and our

post-results services, visit aqa.org.uk/results

1.2.4 Keep your skills up-to-date with professional development

Wherever you are in your career, there’s always something new to learn As well as subject

specific training, we offer a range of courses to help boost your skills

• Improve your teaching skills in areas including differentiation, teaching literacy and meeting

Ofsted requirements

• Prepare for a new role with our leadership and management courses

You can attend a course at venues around the country, in your school or online – whatever suits

your needs and availability Find out more at coursesandevents.aqa.org.uk

1.2.5 Help and support

Visit our website for information, guidance, support and resources at aqa.org.uk/7017

If you'd like us to share news and information about this qualification, sign up for emails and

This draft qualification has not yet been accredited by Ofqual It is published to enable teachers to

have early sight of our proposed approach to A-level Archaeology Further changes may be

required and no assurance can be given that this proposed qualification will be made available in

its current form, or that it will be accredited in time for first teaching in September 2017 and first

award in August 2019

2 Specification at a glance

This qualification is linear Linear means that students will sit all their exams and submit all their

non-exam assessment at the end of the course

2.1 Subject content

Core content

1 Archaeology in practice (page 9)

2 Debates in world archaeology (page 13)

3 Themes in world archaeology: depth studies (page 14)

4 Themes in world archaeology: breadth studies (page 16)

2.2 Assessments

Paper 1

What's assessed

• Archaeology in practice

• Debates in world archaeology

How it's assessed

• Written exam: 2 hours 30 minutes

Paper 2

What's assessed

• Themes in world archaeology: depth studies

• Themes in world archaeology: breadth studies

How it's assessed

• Written exam: 2 hour 30 minutes

• 80 marks

• 40% of A-level

Questions

A combination of extended writing questions

Non-exam assessment (NEA)

Students complete an individual investigation which must include data collected in the field The

individual investigation must be based on a question or issue defined and developed by the

student relating to any part of the specification content

3 Subject content

3.1 Archaeology in practice

This section of the specification takes account of the dramatic impact of scientific techniques,

particularly in reconnaissance and post-excavation and dating, and the impact of new discoveries

on our understanding of human evolution

3.1.1 The nature and types of archaeological evidence

This section underpins all other parts of the specification Students should be familiar with the

range of artefacts, features and environmental evidence most commonly encountered in the

archaeological record and which are used to construct understandings of past human activity Theyshould be able to explain and illustrate not only their value but also their limitations both generally

and in given scenarios They should be familiar with the evidence available in a range of different

types of sites including burials (including human remains), buildings and other structures, sites andsettlements, botanical and faunal remains and landscapes

Students should understand that the principle of stratification is central to all archaeological

investigation and the key concept of archaeological context (referring to the layer in which

archaeological material is found)

Students should become able to understand and translate the recording formats found in site

reports These include maps, plans, sections and matrices, photographs and drawings, data tablesfor ecofacts and artefacts, summative dating tables and written reports

Students should understand the value of secondary sources used by archaeologists, particularly

for desktop surveys They should be able to understand and translate from maps, plans,

photographs (including aerial photography), illustrations, historic accounts and records and written

sources

3.1.2 Site formation processes

The archaeological record is never static and archaeologists need to understand the processes

which shape the evidence from the past which is available to study These are termed

transformation or formation processes

• Transformation processes:

• formation processes

• post-depositional processes

• recovery processes

• How material entered the archaeological record:

• behavioural processes ‒ how was material acquired and used by humans

• depositional processes ‒ how was it discarded or became buried

• curation and structured deposition

• The natural (N-transforms) and cultural (C-transforms) factors which impact on archaeological

sites and materials

3.1.3 Discovery and survey

This section covers the range of ways that archaeological sites and landscapes are discovered,

explored and recorded without excavation Students will need to understand the principles

underlying each method and their value and limitations to archaeology both generally and in given

scenarios

• Desktop survey:

• historic accounts and illustrations

• old maps and plans

• surface survey including transects

• field walking including set up and process

• micro-contour survey

• standing building survey

• the use of total stations and GPS systems

• sampling techniques (random, stratified, systematic and stratified-systematic)

• coring, augering and shovel-pit testing

• geochemical prospection (phosphate, lipids and heavy metals)

• Geophysical survey:

• resistivity

• magnetometry including the use of Caesium Magnetometers and use in underwater survey

• Ground Penetrating Radar

• metal detectors

• sonar

• Remote sensing:

• aerial photography including the identification of vertical and oblique photographs, crop, soil

and parch marks, shadow sites

• lidar

• satellite survey

3.1.4 Excavation, recovery and on-site recording

This section focuses on the destruction of the archaeological record through excavation and its

translation into the archives and reports of the record preserved by archaeologists Archaeological

sites are individual and once excavated are lost Students should understand the reasons for

excavation and the strategies employed by archaeologists to recover as much data as possible

from the process

• Archaeological decision making:

• reasons for excavation: rescue, salvage and research

• ethical considerations and local community issues

• excavation strategy

• preservation ‘in situ’ and ‘preservation by record’

• Principles of excavation:

• stratigraphy and context

• ethical considerations and local community issues

• excavation strategies including identification of trial trenching, test pits/sondages, open area,box grid, trenches, planum method, block lift and micro-excavation

• Process of excavation:

• tools and techniques

• recovery of artefacts and environmental evidence including sieving, metal detection and

flotation

• features, sections and cuts

• issues related to standing buildings

• issues related to underwater or waterlogged sites

• issues related to urban contexts

• recovery of human remains including techniques and ethical considerations

• on-site ‘first aid’ for fragile finds and materials

• Recording of excavation:

• context sheets, section drawings and plans

• photographs and digital records

• note books

• site matrix

3.1.5 Post-excavation analysis

This section focuses upon the techniques used by archaeologists to analyse and record the most

common types of material recovered from the archaeological record Students should understand

the principles behind each technique and their value and limitation both generally and in given

scenarios Students should be able to translate from the most common types of illustration and

tables produced by archaeologists

• Processing of finds and samples:

• stabilising and conserving finds and materials

• cleaning

• initial sorting and use of reference materials

• use of specialists and the nature of their reports

• Analysis of lithics, ceramics and metals:

• visual examination including use of microscopes and SEM

• categorisation by physical properties and typology

• characterisation including petrology

• identification of manufacturing techniques including use of x-rays

• drawing finds process and what it can reveal; comparison with photographs

• Analysis of organic materials:

• the nature of organic materials and reasons for their survival

• analysis and recording of organic artefacts

• animal bones: sexing and ageing and how numbers and size are calculated and recorded

• microfauna and their value in reconstructing environments

• soils and sediments

• analysis and recording of plants and pollen and their value in reconstructing past

environments including interpretation of common graphs and tables

• Analysis of human remains:

• hard and soft tissue

• analysis of age, sex, disease and trauma, diet, lifestyle and cause of death

• DNA analysis for relationships and population studies

• Analytical techniques from physics and chemistry:

• basic principles and value and limitations of characterisation and trace-element analysis

using x-ray fluorescence, spectrometry and neutron activation analysis

• basic principles and value and limitations of organic residue analysis including lipid analysis

• basic principles and value and limitations of isotope studies into diet and sources of material

and populations

3.1.6 Dating

This section focuses upon the principles and techniques used to date archaeological sites and

materials Students should understand the principles underpinning each technique and their value

and limitation both generally and in given scenarios Students should be able to translate from the

most common types of dating tables produced by archaeologists

• Relative dating:

• archaeological periods and their relationship to geological and historical periods

• historical dating, superposition and the terms Terminus Post Quem and Terminus Ante Quem

• typology and seriation

• varves, sea cores and ice cores

• radiocarbon dating including the application of Bayesian statistical methods

• thermoluminescence dating

• potassium Argon dating

• calibration of radiometric techniques

3.1.7 Interpretation

This section focuses on the techniques archaeologists use to make sense of archaeological data in

order to construct versions of what life was like in the past including how tools were used and what

people believed Students need to understand the principles behind these techniques and their

value and limitation both generally and in given scenarios They need to be able to apply this

understanding synoptically alongside an understanding of archaeological methods in order to

explain and assess reasons for different interpretations by archaeologists

• Identification and interpretation of patterns:

• repeated patterns including both faunal assemblages and assemblages of artefacts

• signatures of different activities

• analysis based on stratigraphy or site formation processes including the concept of

palimpsests and taphonomic studies

• spatial patterns including intersite and intrasite analysis and activities in ‘off-site areas’ or the

‘taskscape’

• The use of analogies in archaeology:

• historical analogies

• ethnographic analogies and ethnoarchaeology

• analogies from animal behaviour

• experimental archaeology.

3.1.8 Cultural resource management

This section focuses upon the professional, legislative and advisory frameworks within which

archaeology operates and the way in which archaeological remains are protected and utilised

Students should understand their impact and limitations, particularly in terms of protection of

archaeological remains

• Threats to archaeological remains and protective measures:

• environmental and human threats to archaeology including assessing risk and actual impact

• international protection for archaeology including the role of UNESCO, World Heritage Sites

and the Valetta Convention

• protective legislation in England including scheduled sites (Ancient Monuments and

Archaeological Areas Act 1979), listed buildings and the use of registers

• protection through the planning process in England (National Planning Policy Framework

2012) including the concept of preservation in situ and heritage assets

• The Treasure Act and Portable Antiquities Scheme

• Archaeologists and archaeology:

• the roles of professional and amateur archaeologists

• the roles of Universities and contracting units

• the role of museums

• how archaeological sites are presented

3.2 Debates in world archaeology

This section focuses upon two broad areas of contemporary debates in archaeology and provides

an opportunity for students to develop an understanding in depth of one of these and to integrate

with news and discoveries during their course Students should develop balanced understandings

of the issues and to be able to construct a reasoned argument in response to a statement about

one or more of the sub-issues listed here

3.2.1 Political and ethical debates in world archaeology

These debates are characterised by issues around ‘access to’ and ‘ownership’ of the past and the

way in which contemporary groups use archaeology or archaeological remains

• Controversies about metal detecting and detectorists

• Controversies over the funding of archaeology and the preservation of archaeological remains

in competition with other priorities

• Debates about the social or economic value of archaeology or archaeological sites including themodern concept of ‘heritage assets’ and archaeology as a community asset

• Debates around the validity and use of the concept of World Heritage

• Debates about community archaeology and whether amateurs should undertake archaeologicalwork

• Controversies around the use of archaeology in the construction of national identity by modern

states, indigenous peoples, groups within modern states

• Controversies around the relationship between ‘western’ archaeologists and local populations

including the excavation of sacred or burial sites

• Controversies around the relationship between indigenous groups and scientists including the

study of human remains

• Relationships between ‘western’ museums and foreign governments and indigenous groups

including debates about repatriation of artefacts

• Controversies about the ethics and impact of the trade in antiquities

• Debates about the impact of war and political extremism on archaeological sites and collections

• Debates about the place of archaeology in education

3.2.2 Debates about human evolution and human interaction with the

environment.

These debates focus upon the impact of scientific evidence based on our understanding of key

changes in the development of hominins over the last three million years Students should have a

basic understanding of changes from seven million years ago but emphasis is upon evolution from

the Australopithecines to anatomically modern humans

• Debates about the relative importance of the contribution of archaeology and other disciplines to

our understanding of evolution

• Debates about the development and significance of key indicators of modern human patterns of

behaviour including pair bonding, meat-eating, residential bases, tool use and hunting

• Debates around the lineage of anatomically modern humans with particular reference to the role

of Africa and the impact of recent discoveries in Asia

• Debates around the reasons for and significance of key physiological changes including upright

locomotion and the development of language

• Debates about the impact of climate and environmental change upon human evolution

• Debates about the relative importance of other factors impacting on human evolution including

competition, natural selection and diet

• Debates about the changing place of humans in nature and human interaction with their

environment over the long term including evidence for mass-extinctions

• Debates about the changing evidence base for evolution and the relative importance of

developments in dating, DNA, primate studies and recent fossil discoveries

• Debates about how humans were able to adapt to ice age Europe

• Controversies around the reasons for the demise of the Neanderthals

• Debates about whether there was a ‘creative explosion’ during the Upper Palaeolithic and what

were the causes and impacts

• Debates about the earliest evidence for symbolic behaviour and what it represents

3.3 Themes in world archaeology: depth studies

This topic develops students' knowledge and understanding of the culture of two particular past

human society based on what archaeological evidence can tell us The economic basis and

settlements of each culture must be studied along with four other key areas:

• social organisation and why this may have developed

• the belief system(s) and rituals

• art

• technology

Students will study the two prescribed archaeological contexts below These are made up of the

five prescribed sites or pairs of sites also listed below An archaeological context is defined as a

time span and place where the activity of a past human society can be studied using data,

buildings, artefacts and remnants left behind

The archaeological contexts we have selected for the A-level depth study are preliterate to ensure

that all students can focus upon physical evidence They have distinctive art and ritual practices

associated with them

The study of these depth contexts will give students a foundation in understanding European

prehistory This understanding will be further developed via their breadth studies, either through thestudy of later periods in Europe or through contrasting study of contexts on other continents

3.3.1 The Ice Age settlement of central and western Europe

Prescribed sites:

1 Rock shelters and caves of the Vézère Valley

2 Dolní Věstonice and Pavlov

3 Pincevent and the Paris Basin

4 Stellmoor-Meiendorf

5 Star Carr.

This context is best known for the cave art of France and Spain It also saw the spread of a rising

population of humans northwards into hostile habitats and the development of new kinds of tools,

weapons and settlements The most well known debate, which links art and beliefs, continues to

be around the nature and meaning of cave art and associated carvings on stone, bone, ivory and

antler

The use of ethnographic analogies for shamanism have been particularly influential both for cave

sites and the later hunting sites of northern Europe Another key debate revolves around whether

the survival and expansion of human populations was due more to technological innovations such

as fish-hooks or social adaptations such as division of labour, specialisation and long distance

networks

The selection of prescribed sites reflects both key developments during this period as well as

accessibility in terms of resources The sites of the Vézère Valley and those of the Dolní Věstonicecomplex enable exploration of different modes of adaptation at the height of the Ice Age and to

compare and contrast evidence for religion, art and social organisation Pincevent and related sitesand the Stellmoor complex represent movement away from core areas by pioneer groups and

different adaptation strategies for survival in tundra conditions Star Carr, represents the final stage

in this process as the ice retreated to be replaced with more wooded environments in the early

Mesolithic Europe

Key methodological links include the challenges of excavating in deeply stratified caves, rock

shelters and wet sites and the associated problems of recovery and preservation Ethnography andexperimentation has been particularly influential in interpretations The impact of scientific

techniques is particularly evident in the application of DNA studies to determine the direction of

human migration and to establish the relationships between early European populations

3.3.2 The Neolithic transformation of Europe

Prescribed sites:

1 Karanovo and Stara Zagora

2 Langweiler and Vaihingen

3 West Kennet and Windmill Hill

4 Skara Brae and Ness of Brodgar

5 Eulau and Talheim.

This context features the earliest farming, houses and villages across Europe and the emergence

of distinctive but stable ways of life across the continent Alongside domesticated plants and

animals the key technological developments include agricultural tools, field systems, ceramics and

polished stone axes Art ranges from petroglyphs to ceramic, largely female, figurines Ritual focus

is initially associated with houses but by the late Neolithic large scale monuments are being built in

the north west

Debates include the nature, mechanism and speed of the replacement of Mesolithic cultures and

around the thesis of the feminist archaeologist Marija Gimbutas and her conception of the culture

of a peaceful, matriarchal ‘Old Europe’

Explanations of change include invaders from the Steppes, cultural influences from Eurasia, long

distance exchange and indigenous developments Other key issues include the significance of

houses and the concept of a ‘secondary products revolution’ Modern scientific studies are having

a transformative impact on our understanding of the Neolithic including dating, diet, population

movements and social relationships

The selection of prescribed sites reflects different modes of adaptation in different parts of Europe

over this period Karanovo represents the earliest permanent farming villages and a tell-site model

with features familiar from Anatolia The Linear Pottery sites from forested central Europe are

radically different, particularly in terms of the massive timber longhouses which typify such

settlements The two sites from the British Isles are very different again and both share an

emphasis on the importance of ancestors in their monuments Eulau and Talheim are both

massacre sites from the end of the Neolithic in Europe and are particularly valuable for what they

can tell us about social relationships

Key methodological links include the challenges of excavating in deeply tell sites, major modern

developments and the analysis of human remains and environmental data The impact of scientific

techniques is particularly evident in the application of DNA studies to determine the direction of

human migration and to establish the relationships between early European populations Other

techniques are being applied to re-analyse existing collections of material including applying

Bayesian dating techniques to identify individual events and lipid analysis of ceramics to identify

the start and spread of dairying

3.4 Themes in world archaeology: breadth studies

A-level students will complete two breadth studies Each breadth study must focus on a different

thematic area and extend across a minimum of three archaeological contexts, though centres may

draw from more than three archaeological contexts if they wish

Each archaeological context must cover a minimum of five sites which schools and colleges

choose themselves Ensure that the chosen sites collectively provide sufficient examples to

discuss all the concepts and issues listed under the selected themes, can be used to compare and

contrast between societies, and also discuss continuity and change over time

Schools and colleges must choose from the list of prescribed breadth contexts below Note that

certain archaeological contexts are not suitable for studying particular themes Guidance about

which archaeological contexts can be used to study of each theme is given in the following

sections:

1 the Cradle of Humanity ‒ Lower Palaeolithic Africa

2 the spread of human species across the world

3 Ice Age hunting societies of Eastern Europe

4 Mesolithic Europe

5 the origins of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent

6 the origins of agriculture in East Asia and Oceania

7 the European Chalcolithic

8 the emergence of civilisations in Mesopotamia and Egypt

9 the emergence of civilisations in Meso America and the Andes

10.the emergence of civilisations in South and East Asia

11.the development of unequal societies in the Bronze Age of Central and Northern Europe

12.palace civilisations of the Eastern Mediterranean

13.the Iron Age in Northern Europe

14.Roman Europe

15.the early Medieval (migration) period in Northern Europe

16.Medieval Europe

17.the archaeology of forager and herder societies in North America and Northern Eurasia

18.post Medieval Europe.

We have selected most of the prescribed contexts to include cultures where schools and colleges

already have teacher expertise, materials and links to local resources Schools and colleges

continue to have the freedom to construct a course which makes educational and logistical sense

to them, reflecting the increasing diversity of student heritage in their selection

3.4.1 People and their activities in relation to sites in the landscape

This theme is concerned with the relationship between human groups and the landscape, includingsites, structures, boundaries and the relationships between them Students should be familiar with

the sources used by archaeologists to investigate sites, landscape and structures and the

analogies used to recognise and interpret them

Models drawn from ethnography, geography and engineering will be useful but these must be

rooted in consideration of archaeological examples

The following issues should be considered when teaching this theme:

• the adaptation of people to their landscapes, including the human impact on the environment,

the constraints on human activity imposed by the environment; human exploitation of the

landscape, mobility and sedentary strategies and the location of sites

• the functions of particular sites or areas within sites, including the archaeological signatures of

different activities, how sites are identified and differentiated from other areas of human activity;the siting, growth, reorganisation and abandonment of particular sites; the relationship between

contemporary sites

• continuity and change in settlements and settlement patterns including the emergence of

complex and specialised settlements

• reconstruction and understanding of structures and buildings, their significance and form,

including the classification of different functions of buildings and structures (including ritual,

defensive, economic and social)

• territory and boundaries, including the way human groups identified with particular areas of the

landscape and the nature of boundaries in the past

The following prescribed archaeological contexts are suitable for teaching this theme:

• Ice Age hunting societies of eastern Europe

• Mesolithic Europe

• the origins of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent

• the origins of agriculture in East Asia and Oceania

• the European Chalcolithic

• the emergence of civilisations in Mesopotamia and Egypt

• the emergence of civilisations in Meso America and the Andes

• the emergence of civilisations in South and East Asia

• the development of unequal societies in the Bronze Age of central and northern Europe

• palace civilisations of the eastern Mediterranean

• the Iron Age in northern Europe

• Roman Europe

• the early medieval (migration) period in northern Europe

• Medieval Europe

• the archaeology of forager and herder societies in North America and northern Eurasia

• post medieval Europe

3.4.2 People and their activities in relation to economics and material

culture

This theme is concerned with the economic strategies employed by past populations and the

material culture they developed, including art and technology Students should be familiar with the

sources used by archaeologists to investigate economic activities and the analogies used to

recognise and interpret them This includes a broad understanding of the scientific methods used

to investigate sites and materials

The following issues should be considered when teaching this theme:

• the exploitation of plants and animals, including identification of past subsistence and diet, the

different ways animals and plants were exploited for food and non-food uses of animals and

plants (including trees)

• extraction and production, including technology and organisation, artefacts and their

manufacture and use and evidence of specialist production in the past, the function of art in the

past

• economic strategies, including ways of coping with uncertain food supplies, the relationships

between resources and site location, and permanence and function, different modes of

exchange of goods (including reciprocity and redistribution) and the nature and function of trade

• economic change, including major changes in the economic basis of societies in the past,

changes in past technology and intensification of production and the impact of these changes

The following prescribed archaeological contexts are suitable for teaching this theme:

• the Cradle of Humanity ‒ Lower Palaeolithic Africa

• the spread of human species across the world

• Ice Age hunting societies of eastern Europe

• Mesolithic Europe

• the origins of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent

• the origins of agriculture in East Asia and Oceania

• the European Chalcolithic

• the emergence of civilisations in Mesopotamia and Egypt

• the emergence of civilisations in Meso America and the Andes

• the emergence of civilisations in South and East Asia

• the development of unequal societies in the Bronze Age of central and Northern Europe

• palace civilisations of the eastern Mediterranean

• the Iron Age in northern Europe

• Roman Europe

• the early Medieval (migration) period in Northern Europe

• Medieval Europe

• the archaeology of forager and herder societies in North America and Northern Eurasia

• post Medieval Europe

3.4.3 People and their activities in relation to society in the past

This theme is concerned with past societies and the ways in which people have organised

themselves to achieve economic, social and political goals Students should be familiar with the

sources used by archaeologists to research past societies This should include burial evidence,

human remains, building and other structures, artefacts and sites or settlements Other evidence

may be useful, including literary texts and art, but these will not be the sole focus of questions

Candidates should also understand the analogies used to recognise and interpret aspects of the

societies they have studied

The following issues should be considered when teaching this theme:

• migration of populations in the past including the contribution of typology and genetics to our

understanding

• organisation of human societies in groups, including the organisation of social units, families

and households, variations in basic social organisation (including seasonality), the nature and

workings of religious and military organisations; the usefulness of labels such as band,

egalitarian, tribe, transegalitarian, chiefdom, state/empire and civilisation and how we might

identify them

• social differentiation, including the nature of, and reasons for, differences between individuals orgroups in the past (including status differences, age, gender, ethnicity), evidence for presence

or absence of ranking or stratification and its causes, evidence for specialists and how they

operated within society

• power and social control, including evidence for individuals or groups having power over others,how it was maintained in the past and the nature of warfare in the past

• social change, including identification and causes of social change in the past and the impact oftrade and large scale surpluses on society in the past

The following prescribed archaeological contexts are suitable for teaching this theme:

• the Cradle of Humanity ‒ Lower Palaeolithic Africa

• Ice Age hunting societies of eastern Europe

• Mesolithic Europe

• the origins of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent

• the origins of agriculture in East Asia and Oceania

• the European Chalcolithic

• the emergence of civilisations in Mesopotamia and Egypt

• the emergence of civilisations in Meso America and the Andes

• the emergence of civilisations in South and East Asia

• the development of unequal societies in the Bronze Age of central and Northern Europe

• palace civilisations of the Eastern Mediterranean

• the Iron Age in Northern Europe

• Roman Europe

• the early medieval (migration) period in Northern Europe

• Medieval Europe

• the archaeology of forager and herder societies in North America and Northern Eurasia

• post Medieval Europe

3.4.4 People and their activities in relation to religion and ritual

This theme is concerned with ritual and beliefs in past societies including the reasons for and

functions of different forms Students should be familiar with the sources used by archaeologists toresearch past religions This should include burial evidence, human remains, building and other