METHODOLOGIES FOR THE STUDY OF MATERIAL CULTURE IN THE CLASSICAL WORLD

Aim of the course is to offer the more advanced research lines on the study of ancient artefacts in a ancient Mediterranean framework trying to investigate how was the use of a house­hold in Classical Antiquity. Artefacts were used for the storing of food­stuffs, the cooking and serving of meals, the drinking of wine and other beverages etc. Vessels of fired clay shatter easily, but their sherds are nearly inde­struct­ible and hence ubi­quitous; they bear a multitude of messages, which - if decoded - il­lu­minate aspects of history, notably economic exchanges and con­sump­tion in ancient times, that written sources keep us in the dark about. The course offers advanced perspectives on the analyses of some case studies (archaeological excavations, surveys, etc.) that use a detailed reading of technological, ethnographical, anthropological and geographical models in order to recostruct long periods of life of the ancient societies. The main aim is to create a platform for an integrated approach to the subject through the application of innovative interdisciplinary research. The lessons will diplay how rich and varied are the studies on the material culture assemblages and its associated activities in order to investigate key elements in the socio-economic structures of the ancient world, capable of shedding light on a formative period of ancient history - more specifically on the economic, social and cultural development of the Mediterranean countries.

 

Based on the Dublin descriptors the main aims of the course are:

1) Knowledge and understanding. Provide students with the knowledge of the development of methodologies for the analysis of material culture through the reconstruction of the discipline.

2) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding. make the student able to consciously undertake research in the field of Classical archeology, through the acquisition of right tools and methodologies, both in the archaeological, epigraphic and bibliographic fields. This goal will be achieved by involving the student in the preparation of small seminars.

3) Autonomy of judgment. Develop in students a critical approach to texts and materials with the ability to move between cultures, behaviors and meanings of the societies of the ancient world.

4) Communication skills. Provide students with a specialized and appropriate vocabulary to enable them to communicate with language properties to the scientific community.

5) Learning skills. Develop autonomy in the ability to identify the most representative scientific texts and understand them adequately.

A      Material culture: an overview (2CFU)

The field of material culture studies is undisciplined and multi-strategic and the module does not regard the zones between typical academic disciplines as grey and shady, but as areas of potential intellectual development. Material culture studies must be cross-disciplinary with a strong dialogue among archaeologist, archaeometrist, anthropologist, ethnographers, geographers, sociologists, art historians.

Testi:

- A. Carandini, Archeologia e cultura materiale. Dai lavori senza gloria nell'antichità a una politica dei beni culturali, Bari 1979 (testo fornito dal docente). (da p. 1 a p. 149)

- A. Carandini, La forza del contesto, Bari 2017 (p. 1 – p. 200)

 

B       Archaeology of the production: data management (2CFU)

Testi:

- R. Francovich - D. Manacorda, Dizionari di archeologia. Temi, concetti, metodi, Roma-Bari 2000 (solo le voci, Archeometria; Classificazione e tipologia; Archeologia del Commercio; Archeologia del consumo; Contesto; Cultura materiale; Archeologia della produzione; Tecnologie produttive). (15 pp. complessive)

- N. Cuomo di Caprio, La ceramica in archeologia. Antiche tecniche di lavorazione e moderni metodi di indagine, Roma-Bari 2008 (pp. 29-39, 45-50, 141-153, 208-230, 321-352, 571-580, 617-620). (92 pp. complessive)

- E. Panero, Nella bottega del vasaio romano, in G. Bejor – M. Castoldi

Lambrugo – E. Panero, Botteghe e artigiani. Marmorari, bronzisti, ceramisti e

vetrai nell’antichità classica, Milano 2012, pp. 163-207. (44 pp. complessive)

 

C      The power of the images (2CFU)

Testi:

- Annette Haug, The Role of Images: theoria and exemplum, L. K. Cline, N. T. Elkins, The Oxford Handbook of Roman Imagery and Iconography, Oxford, 2022, pp. 384 - 404 (PDF fornito dal docente).

- M. Flecker, Pottery, glass, and the pictorial habit between late Repubblic and Early Empire, in L. K. Cline, N. T. Elkins, The Oxford Handbook of Roman Imagery and Iconography, Oxford, 2022, pp. 384-404 (PDF fornito dal docente).

- D. Malfitana, Therikleia Poteria. Ateneo (Deipnosofistai XI 470e – 472e) e alcuni kantharoi da un santuario cipriota. Note per una rilettura, in «Quaderni ticinesi di numismatica e antichità classiche», XXXIII, 2004, 217-247 (PDF fornito dal docente). (30 pp.)

- D. Malfitana Fatiche erculee nella ceramica corinzia di età romana. Coppe abbinate per un ciclo figurativo incompiuto, in «Mélanges de l'École Française de Rome. Antiquité», 2005, 1, 17-53 (PDF fornito dal docente). (36 pp.)

 

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.