93147 - Household Archeology (LM)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will have thoroughly studied and analysed domestic realities in a comparative, diachronic and diatopic perspective. They will understand the concept of the domestic nucleus and its relationship with the social unit, the different architectural structures, material culture and politico-social and urbanistic organization inside and outside the settlement. Students will be able to analyse domestic contexts of different eras and critically insert them within a social and historical framework of reference. They will be independent in studying the scientific literature of this topic, in using the different methodologies applied to reconstruction of contexts and in fitting them correctly into the social and economic models pertaining to the different archaeological cultures.

Course contents

The course focuses on ancient households from a variety of perspectives: architecture, material culture, decorative objects, family relationships and dynamics, production activities, religious and cultural background of houses, patterns of social hierarchy, social networks, gender, status and power. By integrating textual sources, iconographic documents, macro- and micro-archaeological techniques, the course aims to analyze houses as crucial units for understanding everyday life of past societies. Through the study of various case studies across the Mediterranean, students will acquire theoretical and practical knowledge of the discipline and will be able to critically engage with the current debate on the residential private sphere in relation to wider social processes. A field trip to a residential archaeological context is planned at the end of the course. Additional readings, papers, book chapters will be assigned according to personal interests and discussed collectively in the last part of the course. Materials will be downloaded from the Online Teaching platform (https://virtuale.unibo.it/).

Week 1. A place to live: introducing Household Archaeology

- Household Archaeology: an introduction to theory, method and practice

- Household archaeology: ethnoarchaeological and anthropological perspectives

- Households and houses: regional studies

Week 2. Households and houses in Greek, Roman and Late Antique societies

- Urban housing in Greek, Roman and Late Antique Mediterranean: case studies

- Rural housing in Greek and Roman and Late Antique Mediterranean: case studies

- Elites, middle and low-classes’ houses: architectural typologies, furnishings and home decoration

Week 3. Who lives in the house: gender and society in households

- Domestic religion: interpretation issues and archaeological indicators

- Owners and inhabitants of houses: archaeological and epigraphic documents

- Household and family dynamics (marriage, childhood, slavery): architecture, decoration and material culture

Week 4. Houses to build and to live in: from domestic architectural energetics to households economy

- Households and their builders: labor efforts and costs in domestic sphere

- The cultural lives of domestic objects: heirlooms, souvenirs and gifts

- Household economy (and beyond): producing, cooking, eating and storing food at home

Week 5. Conclusive remarks and class debate

- Group A: personal presentations and class discussion of assigned lectures

- Group B: personal presentations and class discussion of assigned lectures

- Group C: personal presentations and class discussion of assigned lectures. Final test.

Readings/Bibliography

Attending students:

Students attending classes will be asked to select and analyzed some articles and/or book chapters that will be presented during the course and will be available on the Online Teaching platform. The selected readings will be collectively discussed on the last week of the course.

Recommended readings for students attending classes are the following:

Allison, P. M., ed. (1999), The Archaeology of Household Activities, London/New York (pp. 1-29, 43-77, 142-161).

Müller, M. (2015), Household Studies in Complex Societies: (Micro) Archaeological and Textual Approaches, Chicago.

Sessa, K. (2018), The Household, in Daily Life in Late Antiquity, pp. 84-124, Cambridge.

Tringham, R. (2015), Household Archaeology, in International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, eds. N.J. Smelser and P.B. Baltes, 2nd edn, pp. 219-223, Oxford.

Wilk, R., Rathje, W. (1982), Household Archaeology, in American Behavioral Scientist, 25(6), pp.617-639.

Non-attending students:

Non-attending students are required to prepare two among the following manuals and four among the following readings:

Manuals:

Allison, P. M., ed. (1999), The Archaeology of Household Activities, London/New York.

Ellis, S. P. (2000), Roman Housing, London.

Foster, C.P., Parker, B.J., eds. (2012), New Perspectives on Household Archaeology, Winona Lake.

Lavan, L., Özgenel, L., & Sarantis, A., Eds. (2007), Housing in Late Antiquity - Volume 3.2. Leiden.

Müller, M., ed. (2015), Household Studies in Complex Societies. (Micro) Archaeological and Textual Approaches, Chicago.

Nevett, L. (2001), House and Society in the Ancient Greek World, Cambridge.

Readings:

Baldini, I. (2021), The Athena Varvakeion in context: an example of Athenian aristocratic practices in Late Antiquity, in Byzantine Athens, Atene, Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens, Greece, 2021, pp. 60 – 73.

Boozer, A.L. (2017), Towards an Archaeology of Household Relationships in Roman Egypt, in Huebner, S.R., Nathan, G. (eds), Mediterranean Families in Antiquity: Households, Extended Families, and Domestic Space, First Edition.

Bowes, K. (2014), At home, in Raja, R., Rüpke, J., eds., A Companion to the Archaeology of Religion in the Ancient World, First Edition, Hoboken.

Caloi I. (2011, Middle Minoan IB Houses at Phaistos: Function and Relationship to the Community Palace, Hesperia Supplements Vol. 44, ΣТΕГА: The Archaeology of Houses and Households in Ancient Crete (2011), pp. 71-80 (10 pages)

Girella L. (2011), Bridging the Gap: The Function of Houses and Residential Neighborhoods in Middle Minoan III Phaistos, in Hesperia Supplements Vol. 44, ΣТΕГА: The Archaeology of Houses and Households in Ancient Crete (2011), pp. 81-97.

Hendon, J.A. (2007), Living and Working at Home: The Social Archaeology of Household Production and Social Relations, in A Companion to Social Archaeology (eds L. Meskell and R.W. Preucel). 

Nevett L.C. (1995), Gender Relations in the Classical Greek Household: The Archaeological Evidence, The Annual of the British School at Athens , 1995, Vol. 90 (1995), pp. 363-381.

Pakkanen J., Building BIG and Greek Classical and Hellenistic Houses? Estimating Total Costs of Private Housing in Attica, in: J. Pakkanen – A. Brysbaert (eds.), Building BIG – Constructing Economies: From Design to Long-Term Impact of Large-Scale Building Projects: Panel 3.6 (Heidelberg 2021) 59–75.

Schwaiger, H. (2016), Domestic Architecture in Ephesus from the Hellenistic Period to Late Antiquity, In Mediterranean Families in Antiquity (eds S.R. Huebner and G. Nathan).

Sessa, K. (2018). The Household, in Daily Life in Late Antiquity, pp. 84-124, Cambridge. 

Tringham, R. (2012), Households through a Digital Lens, in Foster, C.P., Parker, B.J., eds., New Perspectives on Household Archaeology, Winona Lake.

Tringham, R. (2015), Household Archaeology, in International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, eds. N.J. Smelser and P.B. Baltes, 2nd edn, 219-223. Oxford.

Wilk, R., Rathje, W. (1982), Household Archaeology, in American Behavioral Scientist, 25(6), pp.617-639.

Watrous V.L., Heimroth A. (2011), Household Industries of Late Minoan IB Gournia and the Socioeconomic Status of the
Town, in Hesperia Supplements , 2011, Vol. 44, ΣТΕГА: The Archaeology of Houses and Households in Ancient Crete (2011), pp. 199-212.

 

Teaching methods

Classes will include frontal lectures and active discussion. Regular and active participation in classwork will be taken into account in the final assessment. Ppt presentations will be used in class, combined with additional digital resources such as audio-video content, documentaries, multimedia data. The last week of the course will be devoted to peer discussion of selected lectures, presented individually or in groups. A field trip to a museum and/or a local archaeological context is also planned.

Students with special learning needs and students with disabilities will be supported throughout the course and in exam preparation through individual discussions with the lecturer. The use of concept maps or other alternative learning tools will be allowed. Please express personal needs at the beginning of the course or by emailing the lecturer.

Assessment methods

For attending students, grades will be awarded throughout the course through assessment of active participation in class discussions and oral presentations of selected lectures, and at the end of the course through a written text. The written assignment (approximately 60 minutes) will consist of three open-ended questions on themes and archaeological contexts analysed during the course. 

Participation and attendance: 15%

Steering a discussion and critical thinking: 15%

Class presentation of selected paper(s): 25%

Written text: 45%

Non-attending students will take an oral examination.

Teaching tools

PDFs of ppt presentations, additional readings and other support materials will be available on the Online Teaching platform (https://virtuale.unibo.it/).

Office hours

See the website of Giulia Marsili