MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY I

The course is part of the base disciplines, curriculum of Archaeology, Bachelor's Degree program in Conservation of Cultural Heritage and Performing Art Management. Its function is to offer the student the opportunity to get knowledge on a different mode of archaeological approach, taking into account what are the current orientations of the scientific community that study the past according to great chronological divisions. The chronological arch, of which medieval archaeology is concerned, corresponds with the traditional one of the historical disciplines. Following this course the student will have the opportunity to complete his cycle of training experience in the field of archaeology. While providing a general framework of the discipline, the course will specifically develop the Italian experience. The training activity can be supplemented by the use of the instrumentation of the Laboratory of Computer Science applied to Medieval Archaeology (IAMVE) and by the participation in excavations / surveys organized during the summer and autumn period.

At the end of course, the student shall acquire basic skills of the discipline regarding: history of the discipline (from the nineteenth century until today); the main theoretical and methodological tools employed (detection techniques and study of medieval archaeological contexts); the main topics of study, such as castles, monasteries, churches, cities, burials, artifacts and the specific results achieved by research in recent years. The basic knowledge described above belongs to the skills of the curriculum of Archaeology and is connected in a completely consistent manner with a more general formation of a historical nature, with particular reference to the history of the Middle Ages.

It is better that the student has some notions of Medieval History and Theoretical and Methodological Archaeology. Attendance to the courses on main principal archaeologies is highly suggested.

The course is an introduction to the discipline. Therefore, this section shall describe the history of archaeology, moving from the experience of the positivist archaeology of the 19th C, passing through the Lombard archaeology, the archaeology of pottery, and the archaeology of the deserted villages and finishing with the experiences of the Seventies of the last century. Further, the analyses of the relationship between archaeology and medieval history, medieval archaeology and archaeology of masonry, medieval archaeology and institutions, will be outlined. In addition, the main arguments developed by the medieval archaeology, from the Seventies until today, will be analyzed through a brief outline.

Bibliography for exam (a selection between):
C. Gerrard, Medieval Archaeology. Understanding Traditions and Contemporary Approaches, London, 2003; M. Johnson, An Archaeology of Capitalism, Blackwell, Oxford, 1996; S. Gelichi, R. Hodges (eds), New Directions in Early Medieval European Archaeology: Spain and Italy compared. Essays for Riccardo Francovich, Brepols, Turnhout,2015 pp. 185-345.

The examination is oral and the aim is to ensure the acquisition of the basic knowledge of the discipline. The abilities to synthesize information, of the use of a proper scientific terminology will also be assessed. The final mark is the result of the average of the points earned for each answer (in general from three to five).

The course is face to face. During the lessons figures and texts on power point support will be used.

Italian

oral