ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY OF NAVIGATION

The course is included among the characterizing exams for the medieval archaeological major and among the similar/integrative exams of the classicist major of the Europe and Mediterranean curriculum of the master's degree course in Ancient Sciences. It is also included among the similar/integrative exams of the archaeological major of the Western Asia and Eastern Mediterranean curriculum of the same master's degree course.
It aims to offer students a picture of the evolution of shipbuilding from its origins to the modern age, with an eye to contemporary "traditional" wooden construction techniques in the Mediterranean.
It introduces the characteristics and problems of navigation, even in inland waters, in the ancient and post-ancient world through the analysis of traditional sources, material sources and ethnographic comparison.
It analyses the techniques for the documentation of wreck hulls both in the field (in underwater and land contexts) and in the laboratory and for the hypothetical reconstruction of boats from archaeological remains and iconography, it addresses the themes of restoration and musealization in the naval field and the exhibition of wreck hulls as well as experimental archaeology applied to the naval field.
The teaching is part of the thematic path dedicated to coastal archaeology and maritime and lagoon communities (https://www.unive.it/pag/14024/?tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=9116&cHash=8521d4e05ce7af23eb5c9411c912173b ).

1. Knowledge and comprehension.
- Awareness of the main problematics of the research and of the safeguard in the field of the nautical archaeology and history, of the possibilities of valorization of the nautical cultural heritage and of the methodology and of the techniques applied in this field.
- knowledge of the general lines about the evolution of the ship-construction from the Prehistory to the Late Middle Age.
- basic knowledge of the ancient and Medieval nautical techniques.
2. Ability to apply knowledges and understanding.
- to be able to apply the methodology and the techniques of the nautical archaeology for the research, safeguard and valorization.
3. Judgement
- to be able to consciously apply the more suitable methodology and techniques according to the type of research, of action of safeguard or of activity of valorization, both in underwater environment and in land environment, and to be able to understand the more important aspects of the nautical archaeological evidence contextualizing it in its historical panorama.

Basic knowledge of the history and of the archaeology of the ancient and Medieval Mediterranean and of the archaeological methods. It is useful to have followed a course of archaeological methodology during the BA.

History of the studies; evolution of ship-construction, in the Mediterranean, from the origins to the Modern Age, history of the ancient and Medieval navigation, also along the rivers, history and archaeology of the Venetian naval ordnance; method and technique of the underwater and land nautical archaeological nautical research; reconstruction in naval archaeology, nautical experimental archaeology, musealization and restoration in naval archaeology.

Main books:
1. Carlo Beltrame, 2012, Archeologia marittima del Mediterraneo. Navi, merci e porti dall'antichità all'età moderna, Roma.

ONLY to integrate the iconographical apparatus: R. Steffy, 1994, Wooden Ship Building and the Interpretation of Shipwrecks, College Station, pp. 23-100 or P. Pomey, E. Rieth, 2005, L'archeologie navale, Paris.

2. S. Medas, 2022, Nautica antica. Itinerari nel mondo della navigazione tra storia, archeologia ed etnografia, Roma (solo fino a p. 96). Oppure Arnaud, P., 2020, Les routes de la navigation antique. Itinéraires en Méditerranée et Mer Noire, Parigi o ancora Arnaud, P., 2005, Les routes de la navigation antique. Itinéraires en Méditerranée, Parigi.
C. Beltrame, 2004, Vita a bordo delle navi in età romana , Lezioni Fabio Faccenna. Conferenze di archeologia subacquea (III-V ciclo), Bari, EDIPUGLIA, pp. 25-33.

3. R. Gardiner, a cura di, 1994, Cogs, Caravales and Galleons, Londra (solo pp. 77-90).
Lane, F.C., 1983, Le navi di Venezia, Milano (solo 3-23 e 150-169).

Students who can not attend the lectures are invited to complete the study of the books with some goods notes or, in alternative, with the following literature:

Literature for eventual detailed study:
- C. Beltrame, 2002, Le sutiles naves romane lungo il litorale alto Adriatico. Nuove testimonianze e considerazioni tecnologiche , Archeologia subacquea. Studi, ricerche e documenti, Roma, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, vol. 3, pp. 353-379.
- C. Beltrame, 2017, Documentare in archeologia navale, Archeologia Subacquea. QUADERNI DELLA SCUOLA INTERDISCIPLINARE DELLE METODOLOGIE ARCHEOLOGICHE (SIMA), 3, Istituto di Studi Liguri, vol. 3, pp. 159-174.
- R. Steffy, 1994, Wooden Ship Building and the Interpretation of Shipwrecks, College Station, pp. 189-234.
- C. Beltrame, M. Morin, 2014, I cannoni di Venezia. Artiglierie della Serenissima da fortezze e relitti, Firenze.
- J. Adams, A Marittime Archaeology of Ships, Oxford, pp. 1-51.

Erasmus students can request from the professor a literature in English language.

The test of the learning consists of an oral exam to verify the level of comprehension of the arguments exposed during the lessons and of the texts suggested and to verify the mastery of an adequate base of archaeological methodology and of an adequate technical terminology.

Foreign students can ask to be interviewed in English.

oral

Regarding the grading scale for the oral exam:

A. Scores in the range of 18-22 will be assigned for: sufficient knowledge of the textbooks and related topics; Sufficient knowledge of the archaeological terms.

B. Scores in the range of 23-26 will be assigned for: Fair knowledge of the textbooks and related topics. Fair knowledge of the archaeological terms.

C. Scores in the range of 27-30 will be assigned for: Good or excellent knowledge of the textbooks and related topics. Good or excellent knowledge of the archaeological terms.

D. The “laude” will be awarded to students with excellent knowledge and comprehension of the textbooks and related topics and excellent knowledge of the archaeological terms.

Traditional frontal lessons with projections of Power Point presentations. The slides of the lessons will be distributed available on Moodle.

The professor will offer to selected students to partecipate to projects of maritime archaeology and of promotion of the nautical cultural heritage.

For this information the student can ask the professor during the office hours or he can contact him to the e-mail address.

The attendance of the course is strongly suggested at least for the methodological part.

An agreement between the Rari Nantes diving club and the Atheneum allows discounts on the cost of the courses to take a diving license.