Archaeology

This course introduces archaeology as it is practiced in Japan, focusing on its concepts, methods and achievements. It traces the cultural transition of prehistoric Japan in relation to environmental change and adaptation strategy. It includes fieldwork in ICU pre-Jomon and Jomon sites.  

This course provides an outline of the evolutionary history and morphological diversity of fossil reptiles. This class especiallly focuses on the origin, evolution and extinction of major groups such as turtles, crocodiles, marine reptiles, and dinosaurs. Fossil reptiles also include various extinct groups such as mammal-like reptiles and gigantic marine forms (e.g., ichthyosaurs) as well as flying giants (pterosaurs). Reptiles are also important for understanding origin of living birds and ma mammals. Visual instruments and real specimens would be used during the lectures for the aid of comprehension. Preparation of fossil materials would be organized for students in this lecture. Museum excursion or field trip should be organized as optional events on weekends. 

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The course focuses on the concepts, methods, procedures and techniques concerning the archaeological research on the landscape. The main keywords, sources, issues, and approaches to the discipline will be presented and discussed, with particular attention to the most recent experiences in the Mediterranean area. From the first pioneering projects, the principal stages of the evolution of the subject matter will be presented, introducing the most innovative lines of research and future perspectives. The three main objectives of the contemporary discipline will be addressed: reconstruction of the landscapes of the past, proactive conservation of the contemporary landscape, public and social dissemination of knowledge. A special emphasis is given to non-invasive methods of exploration and mapping of subsoil and landscape, such as field walking surveys, remote sensing techniques, aerial photography and geophysical prospections. In all cases, methods and practices are considered in relation to different environmental, topographical, and archaeological conditions and problems. By the end of the course students understand and contextualize the approaches to the study of landscape in archaeology; know the main sources, the methods, tools and strategies applicable to the different contexts and scales of analysis; display awareness of the multidisciplinary nature of the subject, the importance of dialogue with subsidiary sciences and specialists in the study of landscape, and the various entities responsible for protecting, planning and managing the territory; have an updated understanding of the evolution of the discipline and of the current international scientific debate; have a global and critical approach to the study of the ancient landscape, attentive to both geographical, natural and anthropic aspects, whilst maintaining archaeological and historical research problems in central place; be versed in the main diagnostic non-invasive survey methods and know how to choose the most appropriate ones according to variables in the environmental and cultural context; and participate in debates on the contribution of information sources and methods of investigation and diagnosis.

This course analyzes the history of archaeological discoveries, from antiquity to the present day, relating these discoveries to the different historical stages in which they occurred, taking into account the social, political, philosophical, and ideological contexts of each of the stages, and how this has been reflected in the collecting of antiquities, in the history of museums, and in the formation of current museum heritage.

The course reviews the inception of present-day complex societies of West Africa, how they evolved, and their vicissitudes in the period 500 B.C. to A.D. 1950. Themes include general characteristics of West African societies in the Iron Age, origins of copper and iron technology and their effects on local societies, megalith and tumuli sites of the Western Sudan, urbanism, and trade networks and contacts in West Africa.

The course focuses on human skeletal morphology, and the study of physical evidence as a means to resolving issues involving criminal investigations, environment analyses, and assessment. How to identify skeletal remains, both whole and fragmentary, and how to estimate the age, sex, ancestry, and stature of an individual using laboratory and imaging techniques are learned.

Domesticated animals have been identified in many societies across the world, but rarely have archaeologists considered how livestock management has shaped (and continues to shape) human societies.  In the past, archaeologists have tended to assume that once established livestock can be disregarded as a dynamic factor.  Such studies focus on the narrow confines of the economic significance of livestock produce, often associated with the animal's death.  This course considers the agency of livestock and its importance in transforming human relationships.  Examples and case studies are drawn from archaeology, but also from anthropology, history, and geography

Dublin is one of Europe's oldest and greatest historic cities, and one of the fastest-growing. This course explores that long history, from the late first millennium AD when Vikings began a formal process of settlement to the early 21st century when global migration patterns enlarged its population and enriched its culture. The course focuses on the city's history as represented in its layout and physical fabric, two concerns of interest to archaeologists. It is intended to inform students about Dublin's history, but it also to equip them to read the evidence for that history in the physical character of the city. The course has three main components: the medieval city (to 1600), the early modern city (1600-1800), the modern and contemporary city (1800 to the present).

The course covers the archaeology and prehistory of Scotland from the very earliest human settlement in the 10th millennium BC until the end of the Iron Age and the Roman Occupation in the first millennium AD. Practical aspects of the course introduce students to the study and interpretation of archaeological artefacts, sites, and remains using Scottish material relevant to the course.

This course introduces students to the history, archaeology, art, and texts of Ancient Egypt, from the Paleolithic age to the end of the New Kingdom. It covers the development of low-level food producing communities living in the eastern Sahara, to the emergence and growth of the complex society responsible for the construction of some of the world’s most spectacular and (now) famous monuments such as the pyramids of Giza, and the temples of Karnak and Abu Simbel. The course includes studies of many diverse sources for the history and culture of Egypt, including art and sculpture, administrative, monumental, personal, and religious texts, settlements, temples, and tombs, and material culture such as ceramics, stone tools, wooden artefacts, plants, and animal remains. Additionally, the course introduces students to the history of Egyptology, and archaeology in Egypt.