Exploring Ancient Technology

Catalog description

Nearly all of the foundational human technologies were invented deep in prehistory—the only way we can understand their origin is through archaeological research, excavation, and experimental archaeology. This course examines one of three realms of technology (Everyday Life, Food and Cooking, and Information) through reading and lectures on various aspects of the technologies and experimental replication of the technologies in the laboratory. The course builds to an individual research project in which students replicate a specific technology to better understand it. By the end of the course, students will better understand humanity’s unique relationship with technology and how an experimental approach can help us understand ancient technology. Theme One: Everyday Life Technology: We start with the earliest known human technology, chipped stone tools, and then move on to other key technologies developed in prehistory such as ceramics, glass, metals, transportation, weapons, and engineering. We examine the consequences and ramifications of technological innovation in the human past and how ancient technological innovation created the foundations of modern society. Theme Two: Food and Cooking Technology: We begin with food before cooking and continue with the use of fire, the impact cooking had on human evolution, and how cooking physically and chemically transforms raw food into human nutrition. We will look at different means of cooking that were used before the invention of cooking infrastructure (e.g., pottery, stoves, ovens, etc.), and then some of the earliest documented cuisines (e.g., Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Chinese, etc.). Theme Three: Information Technology: We begin with the basics of communication between different organisms and how these led to human language and explore various competing theories for the origin of human language. We continue…