Archaeology

This course focuses on the general themes of Late Antique Archaeology: Issues of definition and periodization; Architecture, urban planning, and sculpture; Settlement dynamics and funerary practices; Iconography and visual culture; Structures of production and issues of economic-commercial exchanges; Relationship between Christianity and other religions in the Late Antique period.

By the end of the course, students know the definition of Late Antiquity and the issues related to periodization in that historical period, have a basic knowledge of the material evidence and are able to recognize the importance of the relationship between objects and contexts; they can find their way around the scientific literature and, through critical reading of the archaeological records, begin to understand the significance of artefacts, buildings, and figurative documents, connecting them to cultural, social, political, and religious phenomena. They have learnt to listen, understand, and debate respectfully with different viewpoints, and spot tie-ups among different disciplines.

This course provides a general introduction to Chinese archaeology and Chinese history. It explores the origin and development of Chinese civilization through the investigation of material culture and historical texts. Students will learn about the methods and theories of archaeology as applied to the studies of Chinese history and culture.

This course mainly uses the archaeological materials to introduce the history of science and technology of ancient China, to help students improve their interdisciplinary research abilities.

This course provides a broad outline for the processes of change which led from the introduction of farming to the metal producing societies of the Bronze Age in Europe. Students discuss the different explanatory frameworks offered for the introduction and spread of the Neolithic economy and the formation of early stratified societies. The course discusses the changing definitions of the Neolithic, looks at the Mesolithic background, follows the introduction of farming in the Aegean, the Balkans, the Mediterranean, central and Northern Europe, the lake shore settlements of Central Europe, Megalithic monuments, the Tells of Southern Europe, the settlement of the steppe, the first metals, the inventions of charts, and the Bell Beaker network.

The Iron Age of Britain and Ireland is famed for its fabulous objects adorned with Celtic art: swords, shields, and cauldrons; torcs and horse-gear; as well as technological marvels such as the chariot. It has also given rise to some of the first "named" individuals we know from later prehistory as it entered the world of Rome: Commius, Boudicca, and Cartimandua. In this course, students explore the reality behind these myths, during this fascinating millennium (c. 800 BC-100 AD): the invention of smithing iron, the creation of the hillforts which still dominate our skylines, the fabulous hoards of weaponry and horse-gear buried in pits and rivers, and the burials through which we can explore the lives and deaths of some exceptional figures from the past. We will examine conflict and violence, feasting and craftwork, agricultural labor, and the sacrifice of both people and things. 

This course focuses on the Greek world. The course includes a study of the built environment, from the major urban and imperial monuments of Athens to the forts and farms of the frontiers, the images housed in public buildings, houses, and tombs, as well as portable objects and the material residues of daily life and ritual. Students learn to apply the different perspectives and methods of archaeologists and art historians in interpreting material remains and visual images. The course combines close study of individual pieces of evidence with an evaluation of how they may illuminate the societies, cultures, institutions, and economies of classical antiquity. The students also learn to access sources of evidence in printed and digital form and in museum collections in London where key relevant source material can be inspected at first hand. Students in this section take only one term of the year-long course Art & Archaeology of Greece & Rome.

The course provides a general introduction to the discipline of archaeology within a global framework, including its goals, basic theoretical principles, techniques, and its development. Emphasis is on the multi-disciplinary nature of archaeology, its relationships within the ‘parent’ disciplines of history and anthropology, and the range of sub-disciplines with archaeology itself. Students will become familiar with the numerous types of archaeologies that are available as potential career choices, as well as the scientific techniques and technological approaches used by different archaeological professionals. Most aspects of fieldwork (survey and excavation) and post-excavation analysis will also be examined.

This course offers an introduction to Archaeology, focusing on case studies from Eurasian later prehistory and beyond. It discusses themes such as the rise of early states, monumentality, urbanism, and death and burial. It offers insights into the workings of archaeological research and interpretation through addressing key theoretical perspectives and methods.

This course explores a series of key issues related to the spatial production and negotiation of socio-political power in early complex societies in Western Asia and the East Mediterranean between ca. 3500 and 330 BC. The course draws primarily on archaeological survey evidence and historical and iconographic sources to examine the spatial constitution of political power in comparative cases of state-formation and imperial expansion and resistance.

This course introduces students to ideas about objects and helps them achieve a broad understanding of many of the ways in which objects function in human societies, in the recent as well as more distant past. The course provides a comprehensive introduction to the interdisciplinary study of "objects in cultures;" and it demonstrates how societies create objects which in turn create individual identities, and reify cultural traits.