ARCHAEOLOGY OF PROTOHISTORIC ITALY

1) Knowledge and understanding

To provide students with knowledge of the evolution of human societies from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age with regard to the Italian and Sicilian area, including through the selection of significant case studies for the different chronological phases. The teaching aims to provide the tools to be able to recognize and place in time and space social, economic, symbolic activities and craft productions of the most important phases of Italian and Sicilian protohistory.

 

2) Applying knowledge and understanding

To make the student able to apply acquired tools and skills by independently tackling in-depth paths in the field of investigation covered in the course; to orient themselves independently in the retrieval and consultation of sources and tools of historical-archaeological research of the protohistoric period.

 

3) Making judgements

To develop in students a critical approach to texts and methodologies of context analysis, through the analysis of different case studies, encouraging them to deal autonomously with research and comparisons, stimulating the ability to formulate and argue hypotheses in the field of Italian and Sicilian protohistory.

 

4) Communication skills

Provide students with the specialized vocabulary to make them able to communicate their scientific knowledge adequately and with appropriate terminology, including in written exposition.

 

5) Learning skills

To develop the ability to independently identify which are the most representative scientific texts and understand them adequately; to be able to critically consult bibliographical tools useful in dealing with in-depth studies and field studies; to be able to independently process data and materials using acquired tools and methodological elements.

The course uses face-to-face lectures for the acquisition of general theoretical knowledge, while for the acquisition of specific skills, classroom laboratory activities will be organized. Classroom seminar activities with individual presentations will be organized for the acquisition of the ability to conduct independent research.

Attendance is not compulsory.

The course is organized into three modules.

In the first, a general geographical and chronological overview of the period from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in peninsular and island Italy is provided. Aspects of terminology and the history of studies will also be addressed.

In the second and third, the analysis of protohistory of the Italian peninsula and Sicily, respectively, will be addressed, with reference to the main characteristics and transformations inherent in the social, cultural, economic, and symbolic phenomena of the human groups under consideration. Topics: Bronze Age (2nd millennium B.C.E.), the emergence of complex societies and interactions with the Minoan-Mycenaean sphere; the reorganization of the 11th-10th centuries and the Final Bronze Age; the transformations of the Iron Age and related issues; the beginning of the formation of urban communities and civilizations of indigenous peoples (late 10th- first half of the 8th century B.C.E.). Delving into some specific case studies, the main elements characterizing the various protohistoric cultures will be presented: demographic expansion, organization of society, development of settlements, control of resources, funerary practices, craft activities, artistic productions, ritual, and ceremonial activities, etc.

MODULE 1 – Geographical and chronological framework (1 CFU)

-     A.M. Bietti Sestieri, Teorie, metodi e tecniche (attached to the volume “L’Italia nell’età del bronzo e del ferro. Dalle palafitte a Romolo (2200-700 a. C.). Carocci editore, Roma 2018” accessible online at the Carocci Editore website), 122 pp.

 

MODULE 2 – Protohistory of Italy: from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age (3 CFU)

-     A.M. Bietti Sestieri, L’Italia nell’età del bronzo e del ferro. Dalle palafitte a Romolo (2200-700 a. C.). Carocci editore, Roma 2018, 358 pp.

 

MODULE 3 – Protohistory of Sicily: from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age (2 CFU)

-     R.M. Albanese Procelli, Sicani, Siculi, Elimi. Forme di identità, modi di contatto e processi di trasformazione, Longanesi, Milano 2003 (pp. 13-128 Dalla tarda età del Bronzo alla prima età del Ferro XIII-VIII secolo).

 

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.