1. Understand the wide range of conflict and acts of violence throughout history.
2. Assess how archaeological principles can gather new evidence and offer new interpretations of events of conflict and mass violence.
3. Demonstrate an ability to identify and critically evaluate the legal, ethical, religious, political and cultural issues related to conflict from different periods, locations and environments.
4. Apply appropriate research skills and demonstrate communicative and evidencing skills [for individual assignments] appropriate to undergraduate level of study.

The coursework will be a scenario-based essay in which the students will be given a conflict scenario for which they will need to interpret the evidence and devise an archaeological project [LO 1, 2 3]

The second assessment will be an academic review of either an article, short film, or podcast [LO 1, 4]

Formative assessment opportunities are available throughout the module - structured class activities will allow students to discuss ideas introduced in the module and relate them to the module assessments providing them with the opportunity to self-evaluate their understanding of module materials. Students will also be provided with the opportunity to discuss their ideas for the module assignments and receive feedback on their plans.

In this module, we will cover how archaeology can be used to uncover evidence at sites of conflict and genocide. With examples including medieval conflict, colonialism, and the Holocaust, we will learn how archaeology can be used to better our understanding of tragic and violent episodes of our past. The module demonstrates how modern society is often inextricably linked to ancient and historic conflicts and to fully understand the events of today, you must first look to the past to ascertain the origins of violence. Topics will include (but due to the nature of current events, won’t be limited to):

- Archaeology of ancient conflict
- Battlefields
- Colonialism
- Genocide and mass death
- Archaeology of War – the missing (soldiers and civilians)
- War Crimes
- Anthropology and cause of death
- Racism, intolerance, and antisemitism
- Ethno-national conflicts
- International Responses to conflict
- Displaced persons

In this module, we will cover how archaeology can be used to uncover evidence at sites of conflict and genocide. With examples including medieval conflict, colonialism, and the Holocaust, we will learn how archaeology can be used to better our understanding of tragic and violent episodes of our past. The module demonstrates how modern society is often inextricably linked to ancient and historic conflicts and to fully understand the events of today, you must first look to the past to ascertain the origins of violence.

This module will be delivered through a combination of independent and online learning, scheduled class sessions, and planning, researching, and producing the module assessments. Weekly content will be delivered throughout the course by specialists in their fields.

Materials and resources that introduce the main themes and key concepts covered in the module, as well as supporting the development of the key skills required to complete the assessment will be made available via the VLE. These may be on the form of pre-recorded lectures, a set of directed readings, links to videos or appropriate micro-certification packages, or a mixture.

Workshops and seminars will provide students with the opportunity to: (i) debate and further explore the ideas introduced in the learning materials; (ii) discuss how they will use them to address the module assessment; and (iii) receive guidance on completing the assessment.

Students should spend the independent learning hours working through the learning resources and self-instructional materials provided in the VLE, completing preparatory and follow-up activities for the class sessions, and completing the module assessments.

Scott, D.D. and McFeaters, A.P., 2011. The archaeology of historic battlefields: a history and theoretical development in conflict archaeology. Journal of Archaeological Research, 19(1), pp.103-132.

Fernández-Götz, M. and Roymans, N. eds., 2017.¿Conflict archaeology: materialities of collective violence from prehistory to Late Antiquity. Routledge.

Newson, P.G. and Young, R., 2017.¿Post-Conflict Archaeology and Cultural Heritage¿(p. 264). Routledge.

Ferris, N., Harrison, R., Wilcox, M.V. and Wilcox, M.V. eds., 2014.¿Rethinking colonial pasts through archaeology. Oxford University Press, USA.

Colls, C.S., 2015.¿Holocaust archaeologies: Approaches and future directions. Springer.

Nikita, E., 2016.¿Osteoarchaeology: A guide to the macroscopic study of human skeletal remains. Academic Press.

VLE to access on-line learning resources
High quality teaching space for face-to-face seminars where appropriate with usual audio-visual facilities
Library resources both online and physical to support research