(in Polish) Traces of culture and environment through traceology (microwear) of flints, stone and organic tools 1201-OG-EN-TCET

The main aim of lessons is to show the basic assumptions of a use wear method and the procedures and equipment applied during the analyze. All participants will have a possibility to learn how to distinguish the basic types of use wear, technological and post-depositional traces, that can be noticed on tools made from flint and other types of raw materials (also organic ones). We will also talk about a history of the method and the different kind of problems connected with the results of use wear analyze of prehistoric tools. During the lessons we will work mostly on experimental but also Stone Age tools. At least a half of the time of each lesson will be spent on work with microscopes. All the participants will have to make the archaeological experiment with a flint tool used to work in some kind of material known in prehistory i.e. wood, amber, bone, antler or other. The observation made during this work and use wear analyze of the traces created in the experiment became a good platform of getting knowledge to pass the subject well.

Total student workload

Contact hours with teacher: – participation in laboratory – 15 hrs. Self-study hours: – self-done archaeological experiment with the use of a flint stone tool – 10 hrs; – self-education to get a proper knowledge necessary to pass practical exercise with microscope – 15 hrs; – writing an essay about the results of use analysis of the stone material – 35 hrs; – preparation for summary test – 35 hrs. Altogether: 110 hrs (4 ECTS)

Learning outcomes - knowledge

Student: – W1: knows the history of use wear method; – W2: knows equipment, procedures, basic assumptions of a method, traceological schools etc.; – W3: knows basic types of use wear traces – definitions and classifications; – W4: knows the characteristic of use destructions that are observed on tools used to work in different kinds of materials; – W5: have a basic knowledge about experimental archaeology; – W6:have a knowledge about the results of use wear analysis of Stone Ages tools from Poland.

Learning outcomes - skills

Student: – U1: can work with the stereoscopic and metallographic microscopes, – U2: can distinguish under the microscope different types of traces noticed during the use wear analyze (dirt, post-depositional, use, et cetera); – U3: can distinguish under the microscope the basic types of use wear traces; – U4: can prepare a prehistoric and experimental tool to use wear analyze.

Learning outcomes - social competencies

Student: – K1: understand necessity of further learning; – K2:can define correctly priorities that lead to understand correctly problems – connected with the use wear method; – K3: has awareness of uniqueness of Stone Ages artifacts and necessity of preservation of cultural heritage.

Teaching methods

Exploratory teaching methods: – laboratory; self-done exercise with microscope.

Observation/demonstration teaching methods

- display

Expository teaching methods

- participatory lecture
- problem-based lecture
- description
- discussion

Exploratory teaching methods

- laboratory
- observation
- seminar

Prerequisites

Basic knowledge about the prehistory.

Course coordinators

Grzegorz Osipowicz

Assessment criteria

Assessment methods:
– activity;
– experimental project;
– the exercise with microscope.

Assessment criteria:
– activity graded on a scale from 1 to 3 points;
–involvement in experimental project, graded on a scale of 1 to 10 points;
– realization of exercise with a microscope graded on a scale of 1 to 10 points.
Maximum number of possible points to get during the course – 30 points: fail (2) – less than 15 pts (50%); satisfactory (3) – 15–17 pts (51–60%); satisfactory plus (3,5) – 18–20 pts (61–70%); good (4) – 21– 23 pts (71–80%); good plus (4,5) – 24–26 pts (81–90%); very good (5) – more than 27 pts (91–100%).

Additional information

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 1201-OG-EN-TCET in USOSweb