93147 - HOUSEHOLD ARCHAEOLOGY (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 topics covered include, but are not limited to:

Introduction: Theories and Methods

The History of Household Archaeology

An Ethnographic Perspective on Households

Methods: How Do We Look at Houses?

Households as Primary Producers

Households and Gender

Meaning and Agency of Houses in Human Society

Greek Houses

Roman Houses

Individual case studies

Readings/Bibliography

The main bibliographical items for the course are listed below. Other weekly readings will be detailed in the syllabus:

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

Allison, P. M. 2001, 'Using the Material and Written Sources: Turn
of the Millennium Approaches to Roman Domestic Space', American Journal of Archaeology 105/2, 181- ‐208

Bender, D. 1967, 'A Refinement of the Concept of Household: Families, Co- ‐Residence, and Domestic Functions', American
Anthropologist 69/5: 493- ‐504.

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

Hammel, E.A., and P. Laslett. 1974, 'Comparing Household Structure over Time and between Cultures', Comparative Studies in History and Society 16.1: 73-109.

Hendon, J. A. 2004, '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, 272-286. Malden.

Hendon, J. A. 2006, 'The Engendered Household', in Handbook of Gender in Archaeology, ed. S.M. Nelson, 171-198. Lanham.

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.

Steadman, S. 2015, Archaeology of Domestic Architecture and the Human Use of Space. London.

LaMotta, V. and M Schiffer, 'Formation Processes of House Floor Assemblages', in The Archaeology of Household Activities 1999, 19-29.

Tringham, Ruth. 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.

Wallace-Hadrill, A. 1994, Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum

Teaching methods

The course is organized into three weekly sessions (one 1 hour long, the others 2 hours long). These sessions consistes in lectures and collective discussion of selected articles and book chapters. Active participation in such discussions is an integral part of teaching and is expected.

In order to provide students with a broader chronological perspective on the application of household archaeology two guest lectures are planned offering perspectives on prehistoric and medieval studies.

Assessment methods

Assessment includes the following components:

1. Participation to the seminar discussion (10% of the final grade)

2. Oral presentation on a topic to be agreed with the course coordinator (30% of the final grade)

3. Written assignment. The paper will be on the theme agreed for the oral presentation. It will support, and expand on, the oral presentation (60% of the final grade)

 

Office hours

See the website of Annalisa Marzano