Prehistoric Art



Overview

The archaeology of ancient art has much to offer for our understanding of visual culture in past societies, with a record rich with material that opens up new ways of thinking about the environment, nature, the body and the non-human world. Such an approach can lead us to consider how art (as we define it in the present day) shaped past lifeways with archaeological evidence that indicates representation, relationships and identities were expressed through image-making.

Focusing on European material and organised chronologically, we will engage with the earliest evidence we have for visual inscription. This will include cave paintings (e.g. Lascaux, France), figurines (e.g. the Venus of Willendorf, Austria) carvings (e.g. Lepenski Vir, Serbia), monuments (e.g. Newgrange, Ireland) rock art (e.g. Ilkley Moor, UK), metalwork (e.g. Gundestrup Cauldron, Denmark) and frescoes (e.g Tarquinia, Italy). This will lead to an engagement with the roles colour, technology, symbolism and materiality play in the construction of prehistoric lifeways. Our coverage will also include global ethnographic and anthropological research as analytical tools for interpretation.

We will contextualise our discussions with reference to digital sources (e.g. museum collections), readings (which we will discuss in class) and visual media (film and online presentations).

Programme details

First live webinar: 24 April 2025, 6.30-7.30pm (UK time)

Please note, this course will have a half term break on 29 May. 

Week 1: Art in Prehistory: Course Introduction

Week 2: Art for Art’s Sake: A Closer Look at Image Making in Prehistory

Week 3: Cave Paintings and Mobile Artefacts: Art and Nature in the Palaeolithic

Week 4: Carvings and Body Ornamentation: Representation and Mesolithic Art

Week 5: Circles, Spirals and Metaphors: Visual Inscription in the Neolithic  

Half Term Break

Week 6: Colurways and Carvings: Material Creativity in the Bronze Age

Week 7: Corporeality and the ‘Celts’: Art and Identities in the Iron Age

Week 8: Understanding Prehistoric Art: Ethnographic Analogies

Week 9: New Ways of Thinking: Interpreting Prehistoric Art

Week 10: Prehistoric Art: Course Summary

Certification

Credit Application Transfer Scheme (CATS) points 

To earn credit (CATS points) for this course you will need to register for credit and pay an additional £30 fee. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. If you do not register for credit when you enrol you have up until the course closes to enrolments to pay the £30 fee. Students who do not register for CATS points prior to the start of the course can apply retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed.

See more information on CATS point

Coursework is an integral part of all online courses and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework, but only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education, you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee. Students who register for CATS points will be posted a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.

 

Digital credentials

All students who pass their final assignment, whether registered for credit or not, will be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so. 

Please note that summative assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail. 

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £285.00
Take this course for CATS points £30.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Ms Fay Stevens

Fay Stevens is an award winning and experienced lecturer in archaeology at Oxford OUDCE and other UK and International Universities. She is currently completing a PhD in archaeology (UCL) and specialises in landscape and theoretical archaeology.  She is Adjunct Associate Professor University of Notre Dame, London Global Gateway and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, London. 

Course aims

  • To provide an introductory approach to art in prehistoric archaeology and use this basis to show how the skills and techniques covered in the classes can be used for further studies on prehistoric art.  
  • To familiarise students with an archaeology of prehistoric art and to develop an understanding of some of the key issues relating to visual culture in the archaeological record.
  • To develop analytical skills in the interpretation of prehistoric art and to show how the evidence relates to how we understand past societies.
  • To encourage students to develop their interests through site visits and further study.

Teaching methods

Learning takes place on a weekly schedule. At the start of each weekly unit, students are provided with learning materials on our online platform, including one hour of pre-recorded video, often supplemented by guided readings and educational resources. These learning materials prepare students for a one-hour live webinar with an expert tutor at the end of each weekly unit which they attend in small groups. Webinars are held on Microsoft Teams, and provide the opportunity for students to respond to discussion prompts and ask questions. The blend of weekly learning materials that can be worked through flexibly, together with a live meeting with a tutor and their peers, maximise learning and engagement through interaction in a friendly, supportive environment.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

  • demonstrate introductory knowledge of the archaeology of prehistoric art;
  • have some critical awareness of the key issues relevant to art making in prehistory;
  • be aware of how archaeological analytical techniques and interpretations can be used to better understand the making of art in prehistory.

Assessment methods

Assessment will be both formative and summative.

Formative:  You have the option of submitting a short piece of writing for feedback. This is not a graded assignment but an opportunity to obtain feedback and direction in your scholarly work.  It might, for example, be on the thinking behind an essay, or a book review that might form the basis of one of the three short written pieces. This work should be submitted mid-way in the term.

Summative:  Submission of work for feedback and grading. You have a choice as to the assessment format and there are two options.

  1. A collection of three short written pieces (e.g. book/site/artefact reviews of 500 words each, totalling c.1500 words) that can be spread throughout the term or submitted as a portfolio of works at the end of the course.
  2. An essay or personal fieldtrip review  (a site, a museum, gallery, archive or collection for example) review  totalling c. 1500 words.  The tutor will provide a list of topics, although you may select your own relevant topic. Guidance will be provided throughout the term.

Please note that summative assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail. 

Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work the required standard.

Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form

 

Application

Please use the 'Book now' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an Enrolment Form (Word) or Enrolment Form (Pdf)

We will close to enrolments 7 days prior to the first live webinar to allow us to complete the course set up. We will email your joining instructions at that time (7 days before you first live webinar) so you can access the Canvas virtual learning environment (VLE) and watch your first pre-recorded video. Please check spam and junk folders during this period to ensure that these emails are received. 

 

 

Level and demands

The Department's short online courses are taught at FHEQ Level 4, i.e. first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class. FHEQ level 4 courses require approximately 10 hours study per week, therefore a total of about 100 study hours.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support