ARCHAEOLOGY OF SICILIAN CITIES. HISTORY AND STRATIGRAPHY
Academic Year 2023/2024 - Teacher:
GIAN MICHELE GEROGIANNIS
Expected Learning Outcomes
According to the Dublin descriptors, students, at the
end of the course, will demonstrate
- knowledge and understanding
in a post-secondary level field of study and knowing the fundamental themes in
one's field of study;
- ability to apply knowledge
and understanding in order to demonstrate a professional approach and possess
adequate skills both to conceive and support arguments and to solve problems in
one's field of study
- learning
skills necessary to undertake subsequent studies with a high degree of
autonomy.
The aim of the course is to provide students with a
basic understanding of settlement dynamics in Sicily. Specific focus will be
given to the processes of urban stratigraphy and the analysis of the individual
phases that led to the birth, growth and transformation of the various
settlements over the centuries, from around the 8th century B.C. to
the end of the Roman Empire.
In addition to the general historical-archaeological
information on the individual sites that will be presented, the aim of the
course is to provide students with the tools they need to undertake an analysis
of an urban complex.
At the
end of the course, therefore, it will be possible to have a general overview of
urban development in Sicily and to master the archaeological language needed to
identify the basic elements of the ancient city (e.g. political structures,
sacred, etc.) in its various phases of life.Course Structure
The course includes face-to-face lectures that will provide the
knowledge. In terms of skills, there will be classroom exercises (description
of a city plan; public spaces, private spaces; main monuments; analysis of
archaeological phases, etc.) and guided tours outside (mainly in the city of
Catania).
Required Prerequisites
No prerequisites required.
Attendance of Lessons
Attendance is not compulsory.
Detailed Course Content
The course will start with an analysis of the
definition of the city, both in the ancient and modern sense. The problems
relating precisely to the study of urban complexes of different nature,
typology and chronology (Greek colonial foundations; indigenous centres; Punic
centres etc.), which make up a varied and multi-ethnic picture in Sicily, will
be highlighted. These case studies will be analysed in their evolution and
transformation over time, taking into account historical processes that have
profoundly marked the settlement patterns of the island, such as, for example,
the so-called Romanisation.
Both before and during the course of the lectures, the
main elements that make up a city (e.g. agora, necropolis, fortifications,
residential areas, public and sacred buildings, etc.) will also be explained,
analysing their function and providing technical-scientific terminology.
Finally,
through the presentation of some specific cases (such as Agrigento, Siracusa,
Catania), some of the methods that can be used to approach the study of an ancient
city will be shown.Textbook Information
1.
Filippo Coarelli, Mario Torelli, Sicilia,
Guide archeologiche Laterza, 2000, pp. 442.
2.
Francesco Gioacchino La Torre, Sicilia
e Magna Grecia. Archeologia della colonizzazione greca d’Occidente,
Manuali Laterza, 2011, pp. 5-28; 35-50; 58-60; 67-84; 97; 98-103; 107-115;
122-125; 139-152; 164-175; 185-188; 200-209; 224-242; 248-253; 257-260;
264-267; 269-290; 309-322; 329-333.
3.
Luigi Maria Caliò, Asty. Studi sulla
città greca, 2012, pp. 13-37.
4.
Carmine Ampolo (a cura di), La Città e
le città della Sicilia Antica, 2022, pp. 3-14; 29-102; 129-210;
263-270; 297-358; 373-436; (tot 296)
Please remember that in compliance with art 171
L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or
journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.
For further information on sanctions and regulations
concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee
Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione
Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian
Association on Copyright).
All
the books listed in the programs can be consulted in the Library.
