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ARCS2010 – Ancient Technologies: Experimental and Analytical Approaches to Understanding Past Technologies

Lecturer Dr Christopher Clarkson
Course Link UQ Site
Faculty HASS
Prerequisites None
Contact Hours 3 Contact hours
Semester(s) Taught Semester 2
Course Units 2
Submit reviewView reviews (5)

Rating

Total average

94.1/100

Learning Materials ( 96.8 )
Learning Activities ( 100 )
Blackboard Management ( 90.8 )
Course Content ( 100 )
Course Structure ( 93.2 )
Contact Availability ( 100 )
Course Difficulty ( 78.2 )

Reviews (5)

Ash L
   
ARCS2010 – Ancient Technologies: Experimental and Analytical Approaches to Understanding Past Technologies 98.3

One of the best classes I have participated in throughout my studies. This course was not only interesting in through the lecture and supporting content, but the practical tasks in the tutorials were a lot of fun. This was a great way to put the theory into practice and to help understand the application of statistics by building your own data - actually doing experiments on Ancient Technologies. From making lithics, to butchering ribs, making ceramics, basketry, and even casting bronze swords - this class was a lot of fun, and hardly felt like work. The assessment pieces were all relevant to the practical content, and while you were able to use historic data, it was much easier to understand and work through if you participated and generated your own. A great foundation for stats and the use of statistics in reporting, made reading the scientific reports much easier - particularly if this is not an area you're already familiar with. The exam in the middle was purely based on lecture content, so I recommend paying attention and the final video assessment let you explore any avenue of ancient tech that you're interested in. Chris is a passionate and very interesting professor that takes a lot of time out to help individual students and making sure that everyone is involved and engaged with the content. I highly recommend this course to any archaeology student with an interest in how ancient technologies evolved.

Semester taken

Semester 2 - 2022

Your program/major

Extended Archaeology Major

Is lecture attendance necessary?

Yes

Is the textbook necessary?

Yes

Positives
  • Interactive learning
  • Unique practicals
  • A lot of fun
Negatives No negative points
Posted on October 20, 2022 7:37 am
Jane Hornsby
   
ARCS2010 – Ancient Technologies: Experimental and Analytical Approaches to Understanding Past Technologies 90.3

A fabulous course. So much fun and really interesting. A great way to finish off your degree on a high note as it was one of the most enjoyable courses I have done so far at uni. It is really practical with hands on learining of how the ancients used different technologies in the past. I learnt so much! The fun practical side more than made up for the statistics and data side of things. Well worth doing this course even if you are not majoring in archaeology.

Semester taken

Semester 2 - 2022

Your program/major

archaeology

Is lecture attendance necessary?

yes

Is the textbook necessary?

not applicable

Positives No positive points
Negatives No negative points
Posted on October 19, 2022 4:18 pm
Anonymous
   
ARCS2010 – Ancient Technologies: Experimental and Analytical Approaches to Understanding Past Technologies 95.0

This is one of the milestones of an archaeology degree at UQ. It was one of the courses I was most excited about taking, and definitely the best I've taken this semester. The amount of effort and work put into is commendable and Dr. Chris Clarkson is clearly so passionate about sharing his knowledge with students in a fun way - stress on fun. Academia often leeches the life out of any interesting topic, and Dr. Clarkson strove to ensure students learnt everything in a hands on, creative way. This is the best way to learn, especially with archaeology - in a practical rather than theoretical way which affirms everything we've been learning. Learning practical skills and gaining an appreciation for ancient technology is something everyone can benefit from. The final assesment was also heaps of fun and highly education - getting to conduct our own experiments like a 'real life archaeologist'. I would highly recommend this course to everyone - all my friends have been so jealous that I got to take such a fun course, and I tell them to just take it as an elective next time it comes around!

Semester taken

Semester 2 - 2016

Your program/major

Bachelor of Arts

Is lecture attendance necessary?

Yes/Recommended

Is the textbook necessary?

No

Positives No positive points
Negatives No negative points
Posted on November 14, 2016 11:03 pm
Anonymous
   
ARCS2010 – Ancient Technologies: Experimental and Analytical Approaches to Understanding Past Technologies 90.0

This is to date one of my most favourite archaeology courses. The lectures are interesting and informative, but the practicals are amazing. Expect to get dirty and sooty some weeks, and to walk away from most pracs with an awesome piece of ancient technology you got to make yourself. We did stone tool making (knapping) and butchery techniques, made bone spear points, learnt how to haft arrows and spears and fire and throw them, different pottery techniques and how to operate wood fire kilns, weaving, and I think they've added in glass blowing. One of the best pracs involved smelting copper and casting swords and objects you'd got to make the week before. The teaching staff were lovely and just wanted everyone to have a great time learning about and using ancient technologies. The main piece of assessment is putting together your own ancient technology experiment, and making a video about the process and results, which I found way more enjoyable than having to write yet another assignment. Totally recommend taking as part of your archaeology major, or just a super fun elective.

Semester taken

Semester 2 - 2012

Your program/major

BSc/BA Archaeology

Is lecture attendance necessary?

Recommended

Is the textbook necessary?

Nope

Positives
  • Fun, hands-on practicals
Negatives No negative points
Posted on February 5, 2015 12:30 am
Anonymous
   
ARCS2010 – Ancient Technologies: Experimental and Analytical Approaches to Understanding Past Technologies 97.1

I don't think I've ever had as much fun at uni as I did in this course. This course is focused on learning through hands-on practice, and it was awesome to come in every week and get to do something new. There's definitely not another course where you get to haft your own stone-tipped arrow and fire it! The lectures prefaced the technology that we'd be learning / using in the practicals, and were a great introduction. However, what made this class really amazing was the passion and enthusiasm of the teaching staff. They obviously spent hours each week setting up for the massive practical sessions, and it was impossible not to get caught up in their enthusiasm for the subject. The final assessment was slightly challenging, but was structured in a way that you could choose your favourite practical session from the semester and build on it. A subject I would definitely recommend, to anyone vaguely interested in archaeology, to creative people, to people who like finding out how things work, and to everyone who likes to have fun while they learn!

Semester taken

Semester 2 - 2012

Your program/major

Archaeology

Is lecture attendance necessary?

Yes

Is the textbook necessary?

No

Positives
  • Engaging and unique practical sessions
Negatives No negative points
Posted on January 9, 2015 9:11 am

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