B9219 - Aegean Archaeology (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students will be able to interpret issues related to specific historical phenomena in a diachronic and transversal perspective within the Aegean Bronze Age framework, thought the elaboration and synthesis of the data coming from the analysis of written records and material sources and from the collective debate originated from the contact with other people, especially the civilizations originating in the Near East and Anatolia. They will be able to formulate autonomously and in an organized way a research path or an intellectual work, using the specific acquired tools with methodological rigour, precision and accuracy.

Course contents

The course will explore themes and aspects of the civilizations that flourished in the Aegean area from the end of the fourth to the end of the second millennium BCE. They will focus on the key role played by material culture in reconstructing the first complex societies and in the subsequent formation of the first states, which flourished in Crete from the Middle Bronze Age onward and later in mainland Greece during the Late Bronze Age. In particular, the course will examine the emergence of the Minoan palaces at the beginning of the second millennium BCE, the archaeology of domestic groups, cult and ritual, luxury productions (fine pottery, wall paintings, metal objects and jewelry, stone seals, etc.), monumental architecture, and the evidence for commercial exchange and the storage of agricultural produce. The main thematic sections will be, respectively: 1) Introduction to the geography and history of archaeological research in the Aegean area; 2) Systems of relative and absolute chronology: Helladic, Cycladic, Minoan; 3) The flourishing of the island civilizations of the Aegean, discussing the apogee and decline of Cycladic civilization and the key role of the site of Akrotiri on Thera; 4) The Early and Middle Bronze Age in mainland Greece and the islands; 5) The emergence of writing and the first palaces in Crete, their problematic socio-political interpretation, the flourishing of a proto-urban civilization, and the development of material productions essential for understanding the rise of later Mycenaean civilization; 6) The apex of Crete in the period of the Second Palaces and the island’s contacts with the Aegean and Anatolian areas; 7) The transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age in mainland Greece and the emergence of Mycenaean civilization; 8) Characteristics of the Mycenaean koine in the palatial period (14th–13th centuries BCE); 9) The causes of the collapse of the Mycenaean states at the end of the Bronze Age.

Readings/Bibliography

L. Bombardieri, G. Graziadio, E. Iasink, Preistoria e protostoria egea e cipriota, Firenze 2015 (sections on Cyprus and Aegean writings are excluded)

A.L. D’Agata, L. Girella, Civiltà dell’Egeo, Carocci, Milano (per approfondimenti tematici)

Saggi scelti, indicati a lezione e con materiali forniti dall'insegnante, tratti da

E. Cline (a cura di), The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean, Oxford 2010

C. Shelmerdine (a cura di), The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age, Cambridge 2008

Materiale iconografico (planimetrie e fotografie di manufatti discussi a lezione):

- dispense (in formato pdf) messe a disposizione dal docente

- illustrazioni in J.-C. Poursat - C. Knappett, The Art and Archaeology of Aegean Bronze Age: A History, Cambridge 2022

Teaching methods

Lesson, debate, questions

Assessment methods

An interview concerning the contents of the course. The interview will also serve as an opportunity to assess the candidate's ability to navigate the content of the discipline.Evaluation will also take into account active participation (if any) at lessons.

The achievement of a comprehensive understanding of the topics dealt with in the course, along with a good command of expression and technical language, will result in an excellent evaluation. Mnemonic learning, combined with the ability to provide concise and well-analyzed responses in appropriate language, will result in satisfactory evaluations. Lack of the contents of the course and the use of inappropriate language, even within the context of minimal understanding of the exam material, will lead to grades that do not meet the minimum requirements.

Teaching tools

Booktexts, powerpoint presentations at lessons; webquest.

The teaching tools used during the lessons will also be available on http://virtuale.unibo.it/

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Santo Privitera