The Ancient societies and human origins minor combines archaeological, historical, and scientific approaches to study ancient human societies and their worlds. The minor will introduce you to the cultural and natural origins of humanity along with the very origins of the human as a species. You will study time periods that stretch from the evolution of the genus homo and the dispersal of the first human societies out of Africa, to the development and collapse of civilisations across the globe. In this minor you will engage with the entirety of the human journey.
You will explore the origin of behaviours that capture what it means to be human and the diversity and achievements of human societies over the past 100,000 years. Key themes studied during this minor include human evolution, the origins of farming, ancient technologies, the roots of religion and urbanism, and sustainability and collapse in past societies.
