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School of Archaeology and Anthropology · ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
This course is a survey of medicine, surgery and medical theory and practices from prehistoric times through to the early medieval period. The focus of enquiry is the evolution and development of a suite of medical traditions over time as informed by their respective cultural milieus. Regionally Europe (the Greek and Roman empires and Medieval Europe specifically), North Africa (Egyptian), the Near East (Mesopotamia), the Indian subcontinent, East Asia, especially China, are explored in detail. Sources for this survey include both received and discovered texts as well as a range of archaeological and osteological evidence.
Major Essay 3,000 words maximum
Learning outcomes 1, 3, 4
Tutorial Tasks equivalent to 2,000 words
Learning outcomes 1, 2, 4
130 hours of total student learning time made up from: a) 36 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 24 hours of lectures and 12 hours of tutorials; and b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading and writing.
It is unlikely that I will settle on a single main text due to a lack of any current texts that have the temporal and geographic depth and breadth of this course. Nonetheless, I am reviewing a number of potentially useful introductory texts.