Archaeology

This course focuses on the practicalities of acquiring, processing, and curating archives as well as issues concerning access and research. It also introduces the different archival material available that is relevant to the study of Egyptology and its history. In addition to readings on the history of archives, their significance, and best practice, the course provides hands-on experience with the Selim Hassan archives from his excavation at Giza housed in the American University in Cairo’s Rare Books and Special Collections Library. Students catalogue the material (both photographic and textual), learn about conservation, and documentation (scanning and photography), and the upkeep and organization of digital archives. They then also work on the material (the extent depends on time permitting) to see what was published and what was not, and learn how to categorize the material for future use. In addition to the practical work, there are a series of assignments associated with archives. Thus, this course not only expose students to archival work and best practices, but also archival research and its role in publications. Field trips to Giza to visit the areas of Hassan’s excavations as well as to the archives of other archaeological institutes form part of the course, as well as guest lectures by archivists and scholars who use archives to further archaeological work.

This course teaches students about the wide range of ways in which archaeologists go about researching the past. Students learn about the nature of the archaeological record (formation processes, preservation conditions, etc.), different types of data collection and analyses used by archaeologists, including isotope analysis and ancient DNA analysis, dating methods, and different research foci with accompanying case-studies. Students are also given hands-on introductions to topographical and geophysical surveying equipment.

The Irish landscape as we know today is governed by what has happened in the past. Both climate change and anthropogenic factors have played significant roles in shaping the development of the landscape. The objective of this course is to introduce the student to paleoenvironmental methods, in particular pollen analysis, as a means of interpreting the past 15,000 years of vegetation and environmental change in Ireland.

This course introduces the settlements and daily life of the ancient Egyptians, including the material culture. It concentrates on the archaeological evidence from settlements of the three most important periods of ancient Egyptian civilization: the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms. The course first discusses urban settlement patterns in ancient Egypt, and secondly the processes by which material assemblages form in settlements. The plans and structure of dwellings is also considered along with the material evidence found within them.

This course examines the material remains of medieval and post-medieval societies through archaeological evidence, focusing on how these vestiges contribute to our understanding of historical processes. It emphasizes the management, conservation, and communication of post-classical heritage and explores archaeology’s role in current historical debates.

This course provides a foundation of knowledge and ideas of the field of archaeology. The thematic approach allows for the presentation of the theories, practices, uses, and achievements of archaeology, from its origins to the contemporary world. The geographical scope covers Europe, the Mediterranean, Egypt, the Near East, and Southwest Asia.

Students are required to master the basic concept of Chinese art archaeology, understand the discovery history of Chinese art archaeology, and understand the role and significance of art archaeology in the study of Chinese culture and history.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. By the end of the course, students know the material sources available for reconstructing the production processes and the function of objects and structures found in the archaeology of the ancient world, coping with the technical and anthropological aspects. They recognize and critically examine the archaeological documentation relating to production sites and places of consumption in ancient finds; they also know how to identify the diagnostic elements of material culture and have the tools to frame information in its correct chronological, historical, political, and social context.

The course deals with Archaeology of Production in both theoretical and practical perspectives. A diachronic overview is offered, focusing the examples on the Mediterranean and European areas in Antiquity. The course is broadly divided in three blocks of lessons:

1. Theoretical and methodological issues

2. Craft processes

3. Thematic studies related to the discipline

Readings and discussions, visits to museums and laboratories with hands-on activities, and seminars are scheduled during the course.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. By the end of the course students show acquaintance with the main trends of archaeological thought, from the earliest days to recent times. They are familiar with important theoretical areas of contemporary archaeology, including processual and post-processual archaeology, the archaeology of identity and gender, and the relationships between archaeology, history, and politics. They know about central themes such as the evolution of strategies and methods of field research (excavation and survey), the representation and communication of archaeological data. The skills acquired enable students to study different types of archaeological contexts starting from solid theoretical and methodological bases, equipping them to address the planning of field research and interpretation of collected data. Students are also be able to conceive different forms of presentation and communication of archaeological data, based on an in-depth knowledge of the many options existing in this field.

This course explores the main practical and theoretical issues in the field of archaeology. The course starts with a brief history of the discipline, followed by the analysis of some of the most relevant fieldwork case studies (i.e. excavations, surveys and other kinds of archaeological investigations). By the end of the course, students are able to tackle archaeological data from a critical point of view, as much as to understand the theoretical bases which lay behind other scholars' fieldwork.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. This course focuses on the new digital techniques to investigate, document, analyze, and publicize monuments, sites, and archaeological landscapes. Students learn how to use GIS and Web-GIS systems, integrating information sources and mapping techniques. They will appreciate the value of the systematization and computerized management of archaeological data, databases, and interpreted restitution. They study the potential of digital applications for archaeological research, toward a three-dimensional documentation of contexts, serving also for dissemination purposes and public use. Students use digital techniques and tools appropriately in archaeology and are able to choose the most correct approach in relation to the case study or archaeological goal. The course discusses relevant aspects of digital archaeology, i.e., archaeological research conducted through methodologies and technologies derived from the digital revolution, with a critical perspective entrusted from time to time to the analysis of the most up-to-date scientific work.

In the first part of the course, the main basic elements of digital archaeology are discussed:

• Data in Archaeology: the archaeological record.
• Dealing with attribute data: the Database.
• Spatial data acquisition: survey in archaeology.
• Digital maps and the concept of scale.
• GIS

In the second part, some of the areas in which the elements discussed in the first part make a decisive contribution to the creation of new knowledge are presented through case studies based on the most recent scientific literature or currently ongoing projects:

• GIS between the Landscape and the Intra-site level
• GIS and Legacy Data Management
• 2D, 2.5D, 3D, 4D: the many dimensions of digital data
• Digital publication: WebGIS, multimedia publications of large excavation contexts
• Open Data, Big Data, FAIR Data
• Virtual Reality, immersive archaeology, gamification
• Reflexive archaeology