CYPRIOTE ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANTIQUITIES

The course is part of the programme of the master's degree course in Ancient Civilizations. The course wants to provide the student with a thorough knowledge of the Cypriot archaeology in the Bronze and Iron Ages, specifically with the historical and theoretical foundations of the discipline, typologies and hierarchies of settlements, forms of the material culture and processes of political and cultural transformations that interested the communities of pre-and protohistoric Cyprus.

It is expected that at the end of the course the student will know:
- the research methodologies applied to the study of the Cypriot archaeology
- the historical and theoretical foundations of the discipline
and will be able to:
- contextualise sites of pre- and protohistoric Cyprus
- correlate events occurring in different areas of the Eastern Mediterranean world (Cyprus, mainland Greece, Crete, Cyclades) in the Bronze Age
- carry out a critical analysis of the artistic productions of pre- and protohistoric Cyprus
- 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 Cypriot archeology
- evaluate critically crucial aspects of Cypriot prehistory, with specific attention to those related to the social and political organization of the island in pre- and protohistory
- communicate data and topics concerning the Cypriot archeology with technical language and proper terminology
- consult critically bibliographic tools in order to address in-depth studies and analyses.

It is advisable, but not mandatory, to have attended the classes and underwent the exam of the undergraduate programme's course of Prehistory and Protohistory of the Eastern Mediterranean.

The course is divided into two parts. The first (22 hours) wants to provide students with the historical-cultural development of the Cyprus communities from the Neolithic period to the early Iron Age. The second part (8 hours) will focus on funerary archaeology of Cyprus from Middle to Late Bronze Age, with a specific attention to the developments and changes in the funerary structures and practices both in the passage from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age and in the single phases of the latter.

Mandatory books to study to prepare the exam:
1) L. Bombardieri, G. Graziadio, Cipro. Preistoria di un'isola mediterranea, Mondadori - Milano 2019 OR B. Knapp, The archaeology of Cyprus, Cambridge 2013.
2) V. Karageorghis, Cipro. Crocevia del Mediterraneo orientale, Electa - Milano, 2002 (only for illustrations).

The exam will be in oral form, but includes also the presentation of an essay on a specific topic 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.

Traditional classroom lessons will take place together with a seminar to be attended by students. The Power Point Presentation will be used to show images and texts.

Italian

Attendance of the classes is not mandatory, but highly recommended.

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