ARCHAEOLOGY OF EARLY ARCHAIC GREECE

The teaching is part of the master's degree course in Sciences of Antiquity (courses in Archeology and Philology, Literature and History of Antiquity). The course offers an in-depth analysis of the evolution of the Greek world between the end of the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age (XII-VII century BC) through particularly significant examples of mainland Greece, Cyclades, Crete, Dodecanese and the coast. Aegean of Asia Minor. The archaeological problems relating to the evolution of the Aegean world from the organization of the Mycenaean palaces to the birth of the Greek cities (poleis) will be framed and enriched by the investigation of historical, linguistic and literary problems relating, for example, to the so-called Doric, Ionian and Eolic migrations, the birth of the Greek alphabet and the use of Homeric poems as a source of information to reconstruct the characteristics of the society of the XII-VII centuries BC. The problems of Homeric archeology will be addressed in a perspective of comparison between the archaeological data and the epic that takes into account the different methods of investigation used in the two areas. Students will thus be able to realize the difficulties inherent in these themes thanks to key examples such as that of the necropolis of Eleutherna (Crete), where traces of human sacrifices similar to those described by Homer in the funeral of Patroclus (Iliad, XXIII ) have been found.

It is expected that at the end of the course the student will know:
- the research methodologies applied to the study of the early archaic Greece
- the historical and theoretical foundations of the discipline
and will be able to:
- contextualise sites of early archaic Greece (Mainland, Crete and Cyclades)
- correlate events occurring in different areas of the Eastern Mediterranean world (mainland Greece, Crete, Cyclades) in the early archaic Greece
- carry out a critical analysis of the artistic productions of early archaic Greece sites of the Aegean world
- recognize and analyze contexts and classes of materials that are fundamental for the areas and the periods discussed
- formulate hypotheses and discuss specific topics of the early archaic Greece
- evaluate critically crucial aspects of early archaic Greece, with specific attention to the development of the sanctuaries in early archaic Greece
- communicate data and topics concerning the early archaic Greece with technical language and proper terminology
- consult critically bibliographic tools in order to address in-depth studies and analyses.

The student is required to have a basic knowledge of Greek history and prehistory and protohistory of the Eastern Mediterranean and Classical Archeology, all disciplines present in the first level courses.

The course proposes to analyse, in a broad geographical context related to the whole Aegean area, the archaeological data dated between the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age, a long period defined in the past Dark Ages due to the rare archaeological data available and the absence of contemporary written sources. It is a complex period, characterized by numerous political, social and economic changes, but which at the same time constitutes the key phase for understanding the origin of Greek civilization, born after the end of the Mycenaean world. After a geographical and chronological introduction, the course first examines the history of research and then addresses the main phenomena highlighted in the Aegean area with particular attention to the cases of continuity and discontinuity attested in the various archaeological contexts. First we analyse the evolution of the political organization after the destruction of the Mycenaean palaces: from the centralized palace system, which disappeared towards the end of the 13th century, to the new political structures in constant evolution that will give life, starting from the 8th century, to the poleis or Greek cities-States. The occupation of the territory, with numerous cases of destruction and abandonment of Mycenaean sites, will be another specific issue examined through the study of contexts in the Cyclades, the Peloponnese, Attica, Crete, etc. In addition to the analysis of material culture, a specific study will concern the commercial and cultural contacts between the Aegean world and the eastern Mediterranean, a phenomenon already known during the Bronze Age and which will constitute a fundamental element of development in the Iron Age area of Greek culture whose first aspects are attested in Crete and Euboea. During the two seminars, which will take place towards the end of the course, we intend to develop with the active participation of the students two themes related to the teacher's specific research: 1) the evolution of sanctuaries during the Dark Ages in Crete and in the rest of the world Aegean; 2) the phenomenon of the birth of the polis in the Aegean world. As regards the first theme, the interest lies not only in the analysis of the archaeological data that allow us to reconstruct the forms of worship but also in the fact that these contexts, together with contemporary tombs, have given numerous imported objects from the Eastern Mediterranean (Cyprus, Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt) or their local imitations. This is a clear attestation of the role played by Crete, located in the heart of the Mediterranean, in the continuity of commercial and cultural contacts along the maritime routes, even during the complex period of the Dark Ages. The second theme will be addressed by analysing in detail some specific cases of poleis that arose in the Aegean world to clarify, on the one hand, the chronology of the beginning of this phenomenon and on the other the characteristics of the first forms of political organization attested in the Aegean world after the disappearance of the palace system. The invention of the Greek alphabet, during the eighth century BC, and the early written drafting of laws in Crete will finally be analysed and appropriately put into perspective in the context of the birth of the first political institutions on the island.

Testi manualistici fondamentali/handbooks :
O. DICKINSON, The Aegean from Bronze Age to Iron Age, Routlege, London-New York, 2006 ;
I. LEMOS & A. KOTSONAS (edd.), A Companion to the Archaeology of Early Greece and the Mediterranean, I-II, New York 2019 ;
I. MORRIS, B. POWELL (edd.), A new companion to Homer, Leiden, Brill, 1997(Mnemosyne Suppl. 163) ;
C. THOMAS, C. CONANT, Citadel to City-State. The Transformation of Greece, 1200-700 BC, Bloomington & Indianapolis, 1999.
A. MAZARAKIS AINIAN (ed.), The Dark Age revisited, Volos, 2011 ;
J. N. COLDSTREAM, Geometric Greece, 2a ed, London, 2003 ;
K.A. RAAFLAUB, H. VAN WEES (edd.), A companion to archaic Greece, Malden Mass.,Wiley-Blackwell, 2009 ;
S. MURRAY, The Collapse of the Mycenaean Economy. Imports, trade and Institutions, 1300-700 BC, Cambridge University Press, 2017.
I. LEMOS, The Protogeometric Aegean. The archaeology of the late eleventh and tenth centuries BC, Oxford, 2002;
A. MARINI, « Civiltà micenea e civiltà greca. Continuita-discontinuità », in Storia d'Europa e del Mediterraneo, 1, Roma, 2007, p. 51-92.

Per approfondire/in-depth readings:
AA. VV., Zeit der Helden. Die "dunklen Jahrhunderte" Griechenlands 1200 - 700 v.Chr., Katalog zur Ausstellung im Badischen Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, Darmstadt 2008 ;
AA. VV. Pictorial pursuits. Figurative painting on mycenaean and geometric pottery. Papers from two seminars at the Swedish Institute at Athens in 1999 and 2001, Stockholm 2006;
Agelarakis, A.P., Geometric period Pithos burial ground at Chora of Naxos Island, Greece, Oxford : Archaeopress, 2016;
Alram-Stern et alii, Keimelion. Elitenbildung und elitarer Konsum von der mykenischen Palastzeit bis zur homerischen Epoche. Akten des intern. Kongr Salzburg 2005,Wien 2007
Baurain C., Bonnet C., Krings V. (ed.) 1991, Phoinikeia Grammata. Lire et écrire en Méditerranée, Namur ;
Coldstream, J.N., Catling, H.W.: Knossos north cemetery. Early Greek tombs. [4 voll.] London, The British School at Athens, 1996 (BSA Suppl. Vol, 28);
Gaignerot-Driessen F., De l’occupation postpalatiale à la cité-état grecque : le cas du Mirambello (Crète), Leuven-Liège 2016.
S. Jalkotzy, I. Lemos (edd.), Ancient Greece. From the Mycenaean palaces to the age of Homer, Edinburgh 2006 ;
Lefèvre-Novaro, D., Du massif de l’Ida aux pentes du mont Diktè. Peuples, territoires et communautés en Messara du XIIIe au VIIe siècle av. J.-C., De Boccard Paris, 2014 ;
Mazarakis Ainian 1997
Morris S. P. 1992, Daidalos and the Origins of Greek Art, Princeton
Musti D. (ed), La transizione dal miceneo all'alto arcaismo. Dal palazzo alla città. Atti del convegno internazionale, Roma 14-19 marzo 1988, Roma, 1991;
Niemeier W. et alii (éd.), Kreta in der geometrischen und archaischen Zeit. Akten des Internationalen Kolloquiums am Deutschen Institut, Abteilung Athen, 27. - 29. Januar 2006, München, 2013 ;
Rousioti, D. & Stournaras, G. « The urban development of Crete at the end of the bronze age. Settlements with shrines » in The Dark Ages revisited. Acts of an International Symposium in memory of William D.E. Coulson, University of Thessaly. Volos, 14-17 June 2007, Volos 2011, p. 489-502 ;
Stampolidis, N.C., Maner, Ç., Kopanias, K. (edd), Nostoi. Indigenous culture. Migration and integration in the Aegean islands and western Anatolia during the late bronze and early iron age, İstanbul 2015 ;
Tsipopoulou M., Η ανατoλική Kρέτε στήν πρώιμη επoχή τoυ Σιδήρoυ, Ηράκλειo : Aρχαιoλoγικό Iνστιτoύτo, 2005);
S. Wallace, Ancient Crete, Cambridge, 2010.

The exam will be in oral form, but includes also the presentation of an essay on a specific topic (in Italian language) assigned to each student. For the exam it is necessary: 1) to study the suggested books; 2) to participate to the seminar that will take place at the end of the classes (date to be set). During the seminar, each student will present a Power Point presentation on a specific topic, which has to be presented also in a written form (essay). Individual oral presentations will be followed by a final discussion, to which all students are required to participate. During the exam, the level of preparation of the student will be verified through: 1) questions on the suggested books; 2) evaluation of the essay and relative oral presentation held during the seminar.

Conventional with multimedia support. Students will be provided with texts and images relating to the course using the multimedia platform of the university

English

Attendance, although not compulsory, is highly recommended.

written and oral