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Classes

Mortuary Archaeology of the Early and Middle Bronze Age Aegean

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2017
The course deals with the archaeological record from the cemeteries of the Early and Middle Bronze Age Aegean: tomb architecture, spatial organization of cemeteries, mortuary practices, burial offerings, funerary rituals and ritual equipment. We critically examine theoretical schemes and methods of approach that have been implemented for the intepretation of the relevant evidence.

Minoanization in the Bronze Age Aegean (SA122)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2017

This course examines the history of the insular Aegean communities and their relations with the palatial centres of Crete in the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. The focus of study is the phenomenon of minoanization and the problem of the so called ‘Minoan thalassocracy’, while special emphasis is given on the different ways these communities adopted Minoan culture.

Written essays on selected subjects and oral pressentations are compulsary. Bibliography, images and handouts can be downloaded from eclass: ARCH256. Optional visits to museums and archaeological sites.

Excavation Techniques (IA103)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2017

Archaeological fieldwork: excavation and surface survey. Examination of main concepts and related topics: archaeological record, archaeological site, stratigraphy principles, excavation methods, archaeological data documentation. Practice at the university excavation at Plasi, Marathon. Basic principles of field and lab conservation for archaeological finds. Post-excavation study of archaeological finds and archaeological publications. Basic principles of archaeological finds exhibition and museology.

Archaeological and archaeometric approaches of ancient ceramics (IA150)

Semester: 

Winter

Offered: 

2017
Pottery is a complex anthropogenic material with technical (raw materials, technology of production) and social dimensions (organization and distribution of production, potters’ social status). The course deals with the principles of ceramic technology and the main analytical methods (petrography, chemical analysis, scanning electron microscopy) applied in the study of provenance and technology of ancient ceramics. Case studies from various periods are also presented.

Introduction to Archaeology (IA04)

Semester: 

Winter

Offered: 

2017

The course deals with the definitions, principles, methods and practice of the discipline of Archaeology. The main methods of discovering, unearthing, recording, dating and studying archaeological remains are also discussed. Other issues include archaeological ethics, heritage management, and the importance of archaeology for the present and future of modern societies. Case studies from greek and world archaeology are also presented to enhance the understanding of the above issues.

The insular Aegean in the Early Bronze Age (IA72)

Semester: 

Winter

Offered: 

2017

This course examines the world of the Aegean islands during the 3rd millenium B.C. Special emphasis is given to the Cyclades, but the neighbouring insular and littoral areas (Northeast Aegean, the coastline of Asia Minor, Attica and Euboea, North Crete) are also examined for a better understanding of the close relations and intense interaction that developed during this period.

Bibliography, images and handouts can be downloaded from eclass: ARCH170. Optional visits to museums and archaeological sites.

Technological development and innovation in the Early Bronze Age Aegean

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2016
This course deals with the archaeological evidence about technological development and innovation in the Early Bronze Age Aegean, including pottery technology, metallurgy, chipped stone industry, and stone curving and glyptic. The issues addressed include the distribution of raw material sources, the technical procedures for the transformation of raw materials into finished objects, the types of products, their contexts and distribution.

Why was Crete different?

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2011
The course deals with a foundamental problem of the prehistoric Aegean, the emergence of the Cretan palatial society at the end of the Early Bronze Age, examining it through many different perspectives. On the one hand we examine the processes within Crete, we critically discuss the -often contradicting- theoretical interpetations, and we present the archaeological evidence from cemeteries, settlements and peak sanctuaries of the Prepalatial period.

Metallurgy in the Early Bronze Age Aegean: archaeological & archaeometric approaches

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2010

Although metals were introduced in the Aegean as early as the Neolithic, their use shows dramatic increase during the Early Bronze Age, partly because of the superiority of metal objects and the technological advancement, but mainly due to the historical conditions of this particular period. This seminar deals with the bidirectional relationships between metallurgy and the socioeconomic developments observed in the EBA Aegean communities.