PROTOHISTORY OF GREECE AND THE AEGEAN DURING THE 2nd AND 1st MILLENNIA BC
Academic Year 2026/2027 - Teacher: PIETRO MARIA MILITELLOExpected Learning Outcomes
Based on the Dublin Descriptors, the course objectives are:
1) Knowledge and understanding. To provide students with knowledge of the cultural development of the Aegean within the Mediterranean context between the 2nd and 1st millennia BC, through the selection of significant case studies for the various periods.
2) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding. To enable students to undertake research in the field of Aegean prehistory in an informed manner, through the acquisition of appropriate tools and methodologies in the fields of archaeology, epigraphy and bibliography. This aim will be achieved through the in-depth examination of specific aspects using seminar-based methodologies.
3) Independent judgement. To develop in students a critical approach to texts through systematic comparisons between descriptions of monuments and their analysis in situ.
4) Communication skills. To provide students with specialised vocabulary to enable them to communicate effectively with the scientific community.
5) Learning skills. To develop students’ ability to independently identify the most representative scientific texts and understand them properly.Course Structure
Attendance of Lessons
Detailed Course Content
The course is divided into two modules. The first provides the chronological and geographical context, as well as the history of the discipline. The second examines the archaeological and historical evidence relating to the Aegean in the second millennium, with particular attention to the palace period, the arts of luxury, epigraphic evidence, and the interaction of Aegean culture within the Mediterranean.
Topics: History of research – Chronology and geography – Aegean civilisation from the Neolithic to the second millennium – The emergence of Cretan palaces – Early and late palaces – The Late Palatial period: Knossos – Mycenaean Crete – The Middle Helladic period – Pit graves – Mycenaean palaces – The Cyclades in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages – The end of the Bronze Age society – Mycenaean civilisation in the Mediterranean – Pottery production – Luxuries (seals, wall painting)Textbook Information
A Geography and Chronology (1 Credit (ECTS)
A. Shapland, The Emergence of Aegean Prehistory, in C. Knappett, I. Nikolakopoulou eds., Elements in The Aegean Bronze Age, Cambridge 2025 (acquistabile on line in versione pdf).
P. Militello, Geografia della Grecia (dispense disponibili su Studium)
B L’Egeo nel II millennio (5 Credits (ECTS)).
J. Rutter, Aegean prehistoric Archaeology, testo on line: https://sites.dartmouth.edu/aegean-prehistory/lessons/ ca. 250 pp.
P. Militello Contributo allo studio della pittura minoica, (Syndesmoi 6) Catania, 2020, 101 pp. (https://www.cac.unict.it/sites/cac.unict.it/files/Miitello%20Syndesmoi%206.pdf)
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