Archaeology - Hills Road Sixth Form College

Welcome to the History Department.This leaflet is designed to introduceyou to the Archaeology A-levelcourse which is done with the AQAexamination board.Course StructureAS Level Religion and Ritual: Ancient Egypt(mortuary practice, art and symbolism;ritual structures) Archaeological Skills and Methods:pre-excavation and excavationtechniques; post excavationanalysis, dating and interpretationA2 World Archaeology: settlements andsociety; subsistence, economics andmaterial culture; human evolution Personal Study (3500-4000 words onany approved archaeological topic)ArchaeologyTeaching and LearningThere is a strongemphasis on independentlearning in the college. Assuch, this course istaught through a mixtureof fieldwork, discussiongroups, the use of ICTand DVDs, presentationsby the students, note taking and group essays.The course begins by looking at the techniquesthat archaeologists use in the field such asaerial photography, geophysics and shipwreckarchaeology (Mary Rose). We explore thescience of archaeology (radiocarbon dating)and the handling of human remains throughcase studies such as Otzi the Iceman. TheEgyptian unit involves a study of mortuarypractices such as mummification and Egyptianreligion and ritual through case studies likethat concerning Akhenaten, the heretic king.In year 13 we study the archaeological evidencefor various topics, with the aim of creating adetailed picture of key periods/civilizationssuch as Neolithic Orkney and the Mayans.Topics that we cover include warfare andgender using the Battle of Towton andPompeii. The final unit for A2 (20% of thetotal) is a Personal Study which allows you tochoose an archaeological topic of your own tostudy, e.g. a local Iron Age hill fort or 1940’sairfieldWhat do our students think ofArchaeology?“I took Archaeology as a complementarysubject to History and I now intend to studyit at university. It investigates thedevelopment of human societies as a whole.The Ancient Egypt section of the course hasbeen the most enjoyable and in-depthexperience I have had this year” (SamBrown)“The practical work has been fun, and it's goodthat the course starts with it. The field walkingetc is really interesting, as you can see howarchaeologists put theories into practice, andmake their discoveries. The textbooks are reallyhelpful and we get shown lots of informativevideos” (Olly Peart)“Archaeology is a great subject to choose ifyou are looking to do something different.It has made me view History in acompletely different light. The teachers arepassionate about the subject and steadilybuild up your knowledge and understandingthroughout the two years” (Scarlett ParesLandells)

Talks/EventsTo give you a flavour of the extensionactivities that we offer, here are some of thespeakers organised by the ArchaeologicalSociety. Prof. Colin Renfrew of CambridgeUniversity —Q&A session Jenni French (ex-HRSFC student) —theextinction of the Neanderthals Dr Helen Geake of CambridgeUniversity - the Staffordshire Hoard Dr Sally-Ann Ashton, The FitzwilliamMuseum— ethnicity and Ancient EgyptArchaeology and…?Archaeology is inter-disciplinary so it goeswith almost any other subject at A Level!Here is just a selection of the subjects thatcurrent students are doing with Archaeology:History, Chemistry, Classics, Geology,Psychology, Art, Biology, Maths and ModernLanguages. Do ask our students whatschools they came from and what subjectsthey are combining Archaeology with. Everyyear many of them go on to do further studyat university including to Oxbridge, readingeverything from Archaeology to Physics.Local ResourcesWe are very lucky in Cambridgeshire to havearchaeological resources right on the doorstepof the college!TripsArchaeology is a practical subject so we do anumber of fieldtrips in Year 12 and 13: Test pit digging with OxfordArchaeology East, our local field unit Visit to West Stow and Sutton Hoo Optional residential trip in the summerto places like Stonehenge and Avebury,Hadrian’s Wall or OrkneyThe total cost of the first two is about £100.In addition, students are asked to pay £17 pafor their course materials.We record St Vigor’s Church at FulbournStudents can visit the FitzwilliamMuseum to help them with the study ofAncient Egypt (Unit 1)We visit the HER, and the HaddonLibrary to find out how to do the researchfor the Personal Study (Unit 4)If You Have Any Quesons . . .You can: Talk to teachers and students at theOpen Evening. Email us at: cwilkins@hillsroad.ac.uk Write to us at: Mr C. Wilkins,History Department,Hills Road Sixth Form College,Cambridge, CB2 8PE