My OpenLearn Profile
- Personalise your OpenLearn profile
- Save your favourite content
- Get recognition for your learning
This page was published over five years ago. Please be aware that the information provided on this page may be out of date, or otherwise inaccurate due to the passage of time. For more detail, see our Archive and Deletion Policy.
How do archaeologists investigate and understand ancient sites and civilisations? Interpreting archaeological evidence accurately and methodically is the key to obtaining a critical perspective on the development of the human race. This album provides an introduction to archaeology and its methodologies for excavation of sites that can be more than 12000 years old. Like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle but without a picture guide, archaeologists can establish how cities and civilisations developed, why humans started farming, and how empires formed and collapsed. This material forms part of The Open University course A251 World archaeology.
- Duration 1 hour
- Updated Tuesday 13th April 2010
- Posted under History & The Arts, History
Track 1: World Archaeology
A short introduction to this album.
© The Open University 2008
- Read a transcript of this track - you'll need a PDF viewer, such as Adobe's free Adobe Reader
- Download this track from iTunes U - you'll need Apple's free iTunes software
- See details of the Open University course this album comes from
- Discover more from The Open University and iTunesU at open.edu/itunes
Tracks in this podcast:
| Track | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | World Archaeology | A short introduction to this album. Play now World Archaeology |
| 2 | The importance of archaeology | The discipline of archaeology and its methodology. Play now The importance of archaeology |
| 3 | Pompeii: reconstructing the urban past | The challenges of studying the cultural development of urban settlements, including Pompeii. Play now Pompeii: reconstructing the urban past |
| 4 | The origins of agriculture | Why did humans start farming? Play now The origins of agriculture |
| 5 | Interpreting the remains of early cities | Archaeologists discuss early Meso-american and South Asian cities and how they reveal different forms of social organisation. Play now Interpreting the remains of early cities |
| 6 | The challenge of defining a city | What evidence do we need to define archaeological remains as a city? Play now The challenge of defining a city |
| 7 | Understanding empires | Archaeologists discuss the formation of empires and how to interpret archaeological evidence left by them. Play now Understanding empires |
| 8 | Excavating empires | Exploring the development and function of empires, looking at Mayan, Aztec, Roman, and Chinese societies. Play now Excavating empires |
| 9 | Studying human development | Exploring how humans have developed by looking at the remains they have left. Play now Studying human development |
About the author
Tags, Ratings and Social Bookmarking
Ratings
Other content you may like
article icon
Money & Business
Making the conversion: How does being a Rugby World Cup host city help a local economy?
Across England and Wales, rugby fans are being welcomed in numbers. Do hosting big sporting events really help local businesses?
article icon
TV, Radio & Events
Click: A Route 66 of the future - Episode 5
In part 5 of Click’s series, A Route 66 of the future, Gareth Mitchell explores how mapping and mining of data has enriched the lives of tourists.
article icon
History & The Arts
Doctor Who: It runs in the family
Jacquie tells the story of her family's special relationship with Doctor Who.
article icon
History & The Arts
World-Changing Women: The Trung Sisters
The Trung Sisters, to this day, are well-celebrated in Vietnam thanks to their succesful resistance against the Chinese army. Learn more about their history here...
free course icon
Level 1 icon
History & The Arts
Studying the arts and humanities
This free course is an introduction to studying the arts and humanities. It takes you through a series of exercises designed to develop your approach to study and learning at a distance and improve your confidence as an independent learner.
activity icon
History & The Arts
Make your own confession
Go on an adventure with Confessions of an English Opium Eater as you confess yourself and explore Thomas De Quincey’s Edinburgh.
article icon
History & The Arts
Greek Myth in the 'Whoniverse'
In her tribute to the fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who, Amanda examines how the TV programme has flirted with Greek mythology.
free course icon
Level 2 icon
History & The Arts
Discovering Ancient Greek and Latin
The free course, Discovering Ancient Greek and Latin, gives a taste of what it is like to learn two ancient languages. It is for those who have encountered the classical world through translations of Greek and Latin texts and wish to know more about the languages in which these works were composed.
free course icon
Level 2 icon
History & The Arts
History of reading tutorial 3: Famous writers and their reading - Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Vernon Lee
Have you ever wondered about the reading tastes and habits of famous writers in the past? This free course, History of reading tutorial 3: Famous writers and their reading Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Vernon Lee, is the third tutorial in a series designed to help users of the UK Reading Experience Database (UK RED) search, browse and use this resource, and explores the connections between the evidence of a writers reading and their literary output. The previous tutorials focus on methods of uncovering evidence of reading, and the use of evidence to understand the reception of a literary text. UK RED is a resource built and maintained at The Open University.
©1999-2020. All rights reserved. The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302). The Open University is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to its secondary activity of credit broking.
We invite you to discuss this subject, but remember this is a public forum.
Please be polite, and avoid your passions turning into contempt for others. We may delete posts that are rude or aggressive; or edit posts containing contact details or links to other websites.