72520 - Celtic Antiquities (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

Thanks to the course, students become acquainted with the historical and archaeological context of the Celts in Italy and are aware of the relationships between Celts and both Greek and Etruscan world.

Course contents

The Celts in the Po Valley

During the course, all themes will be analysed in both historical and archaeological perspectives.

The first lesson will be intended to present the general programme of the course and the assessment method. Furthermore, a generale framework of the Archaeology of pre-Roman Italy will be offered, in which we can understand the phenomenon of the arrival of Celtic populations.  

The course will examine the following topics: a general framework on the arrival of the Celts in the Po Valley, thanks to ancient Greek and Latin literature and archaeological sources; the oldest representations of Celtic presence in northern Italy; relations with the Golant Culture; the invasion of the Gauls in the fourth century BC: the dynamics of integration between Etruscans and Celts and the decline of Etruria; the Celts in Bologna; the occupation of the territory of Bologna: Marzabotto and Casalecchio di Reno; Monte Bibele, remains of the village and necropolis and epigraphic documents; the survival of the enclave in the coastal settlements of Etruscan Spina and Adria; the crisis of the economic-commercial Etruscan and the birth of a new equilibrium.  

Visits to sites and museums in the region, the dates of which will be communicated at the beginning of the Course, are an integral part of the learning process.

Readings/Bibliography

D. Vitali, Les Celtes d'Italie, Paris 2007; R.C. De Marinis, I Celti golasecchiani , in I Celti, Catalogo della mostra di palazzo Grassi a Venezia, Milano 1991, pp. 93-102;  G . Sassatelli , Le iscrizioni della cultura di Golasecca, in M.A. Binaghi - M. Squarzanti (a cura di), Museo Civico di Sesto Calende.   La raccolta archeologica e il territorio, Gallarate 2000, pp. 50-57; D. Vitali, I Celti a sud del Po, in G. Cuscito (a c.), I Celti nell ' Alto Adriatico (Atti delle tre Giornate Internazionali di Studio, Trieste, 5-7 aprile 2001) (« AAAd» 48), Trieste 2001, pp. 227-239; D. Vitali, I Celti in Italia, in Guerrieri, principi ed eroi fra il Danubio e il Po, Trento 2004, pp. 315-329; G. Sassatelli, Celti ed Etruschi nell'Etruria padana e nell'Italia settentrionale, Ocnus 11, 2003, pp. 231-257;  L'arrivo dei Galli, in Storia di Bologna. Bologna nell'antichità, pp. 339-385; V. Kruta, I Senoni nel Piceno, in Eroi e Regine. Piceni popolo d'Europa, Roma 2001, pp. 174-175.

In addition to these texts, students who not attend the lessons must read the following papers:

F.M. Gambari, I signori del commercio sulle vie d'acqua. Il ruolo degli scambi nella cultura di Golasecca, in Guerrieri, principi ed eroi fra il Danubio e il Po, Trento 2004, pp. 304-313; A.L. Prosdocimi,Lingua e scrittura dei primi Celti, in I Celti, catalogo della mostra di Palazzo Grassi a Venezia, Milano 1991, pp. 50-60; D. Vitali,  La n écropole de Monte Bibele. Pré liminaires pour une analyse spatiale et chronologique , in D. Vitali - S. Verger, Tra mondo celtico e mondo italico. La necropoli di Monte Bibele, Atti della Tavola Rotonda, Roma 1997, Bologna 2008, pp. 9-52 ; L. Tori, I Celti tra Rimini e Spina. Per un bilancio critico , in F. Lenzi (a c.), Rimini e l ' Adriatico nell ' et à delle guerre puniche (Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi, Rimini, 25-27 marzo 2004), Bologna 2006, pp. 159-189.

Teaching methods

Teaching method consists in lessons, seminaries and visits to the main Museums of Emilia Romagna dealing with the subject of the course. 

A few specialists of Celtic Archaeology in Italy will be involved during the course to speak about specific themes of the subject.

Assessment methods

The exam consists in an oral test. It is required knowledge of indicated bibliography and of topics covered during lessons. Three general questions are the starting point of a more detailed discussion. 

The overall evaluation will consider the following parameters:

- an excellent knowledge of the topics, the ability to analyse themes, to refer them by using the field-specific terminology and to discuss specific issues critically, arguing their own opinion, will be rewarded with an excellent mark.

- a mnemonic knowledge of the subject with the ability to analyse, with correct, although not always field-specific command of the language will be rewarded with a 'fair' mark.

- minimal knowledge of the subject will not be enough to pass the exam.

Teaching tools

During the lessons visual aids will be widely used, especially slides and projections from computer. Explanatory paper materials, concerning specific subjects of the course, will be handed out in classroom.

Office hours

See the website of Giuseppe Sassatelli