Archaeology

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by permission of the instructor. At the end of the course unit students have the tools for an integrated approach to the study of the archaeological sites around Vesuvius, attentive to their specific nature of historic sites, which have their status as the best sample of classical archeology, not because of their real excellence in the ancient world, but because of the fate and their exceptional material preservation. Students demonstrate critical consciousness about the “vulgata” and develop a self-sufficient ability to review their “topoi”, enabling them to read the Vesuvian archaeological sites back to their actual nature as privileged case-study, but not as a benchmark of universal value. At the end of the course students are able to orientate themselves in the rich scientific literature, to identify potential research topics, to independently design a circumscribed research project, and to elaborate the results in an original form, both oral and written.

The course explores the Vesuvian area, well known but still poorly investigated and studied. After an introduction about the status quaestionis, the course follows the analysis of some specific cases study, both investigated by other research institutions and equips, and in regard to the projects (Pompeii, Herculaneum, Torre del Greco) of the Vesuviana program lead by the University of Bologna.