The Research Master specialisation Prehistoric Farming Communities in North-Western Europe provides in-depth knowledge of and insight into prehistoric farming communities from the Neolithic to the Roman Period in Northwestern Europe. The study focuses on the ways in which these communities interacted with each other, and how their cosmologies shaped their social, ritual and spatial behaviour. These issues are also discussed in a wider international setting: in close cooperation with the students, workshops are organised with eminent international guests.

Research

Subjects of research:
• The archaeology of barrow landscapes
• Bronze and Iron Age settlement research
• Late Neolithic Beaker cultures and material culture studies

These are subjects of research in which active participation of students is required. Research problems are turned into the core of research seminars which ideally result in research papers that are written as a joint effort with the students and submitted to a (peer-reviewed) journal.

Courses

The two-year programme consists of several interactive courses. Students are expected to write weekly papers, discuss articles and deliver oral presentations of short research papers, not only to their peers, but preferably also in an international setting (workshops, conferences).

Courses include:
From megalith to Celtic field: an interactive course focusing several aspects of prehistoric farming communities. The theoretical backgrounds of several ideas, interpretations and assumptions about prehistoric farmers are explored. Research seminars (one each year): in- depth study of a research problem resulting in a joint research paper. The biography of monumental landscapes: a seven-day excursion with the focus on research by colleagues and on monumental landscapes. Tutorials and discussion of current issues (bi-weekly). Workshops: organised around an international guest. Students are expected to participate actively with papers and in debates.