Archaeology

This course examines how textual evidence may be used by students of different disciplines to study past societies, with a particular focus on archaeological research. It draws on written sources from the Near East and Eastern Mediterranean to explore issues such as the materiality of texts, literacy and orality, the relationship between texts, physical space and visual media, and the social and cultural contexts in which writing was used.

The course offers an overview of Stone Age technologies, concentrating on, but not exclusively limited to, lithic (stone) technology. The curriculum places the manufacture and use of lithic artefacts in relation to the social and evolutionary contexts of hunters and gatherers. The course also concentrates on developing a more general understanding of technology from an evolutionary standpoint, and the role of technological innovations have had in shaping human societies. The course discusses topics including the biological and social bases for the development of human technology; how technological knowledge was and is culturally transmitted; how lithic tools were manufactured at various points in the past; how lithic tools were used and what they represent in the scheme of human survival strategies; why technologies change and the cultural and social contexts of these changes; how to identify and create lithic material; how to recognize the main stages of lithic production; how to recognize the various types of raw material types used in the manufacture of stone tools; and how to situate knowledge of technological traditions into broader models of social change and human evolution. Instruction regarding the essential attributes of flakes, blades, knapping debris, cores, and various tool types is emphasized. The course also touches on other forms of human technology such as fire, art, boats, and organic materials, which have been critical human technologies for hundreds of thousands of years. This course has a very prominent practical component where students put into operation what is discussed in the lectures. In the laboratories prepared bags of selected materials and accompanying work sheets are distributed. Seminars are meant to be informal and invoke lively discussions of the selected material, the associated technologies, and their social links. Fundamentally, this course challenges students to understand the basis of modern society as an extension of human environmental adaptation and modification in the past, and how deeply coded and important the human technological brain is.

This course offers an introduction to the study and practice of archaeology and its diverse relationships with allied disciplines and fields. It explores the early history and background of archaeology, as well as advances in methods of excavation, analysis, and interpretation through contemporary times. This course discusses worldwide case studies and applications of archaeological methods.

The course provides an introduction to the phenomenon of globalization from archaeological and historical perspectives. Topics covered include conditions and driving forces for the globalizing processes, the exchange patterns of the “pre-European” world, the European expansion from the 15th century, cultural encounters and hybridity, merchant capitalism and the East India trade, slavery and plantations, and the life of the non-articulate groups of humanity. Special emphasis is on ecological globalization and the threat to the global heritage caused by climate change.

The course introduces students to the hieroglyphic script and familiarizes them with a basic working vocabulary of Ancient Egyptian language. It focuses on classical Middle Egyptian which remained in use from ca. 2000 BCE through to the Roman period. The course provides training in the fundamentals of Middle Egyptian grammar, the mechanics of Egyptological transliteration, and the translation of monumental inscriptions and simple texts. The archaeological context of inscriptions is considered where appropriate.

The course provides students with a thorough grounding in the archaeology of the countries where Islam was the dominant religion between 900-1400 (including Western, Central, and Southern Asia, North Africa, parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of southern Europe), introduces students to the most important current research questions and main interpretative paradigms in Islamic archaeology, including the impact of multiple conquests (e.g. Crusades, Mongol Conquest), epidemic disease (e.g. Black Death) and climatic pressures on medieval societies, as well as key themes such as state formation, urbanism, technological innovation, global exchange. Students also consider the nature and interpretation of different sources (archaeological, visual, textual) in approaching the late Islamic world and develop critical faculties in the written evaluation of current research (problems, method and theory, quality of evidence).