AEGEAN BRONZE AGE 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 Bronze Age Aegean archaeology.
The 2026/2027 course will be dedicated to cult and ritual activities of Minoan Crete from the Early Bronze Age to the end of the Late Bronze Age.

It is expected that at the end of the course the student will know:
- the research methodologies applied to the study of the Aegean archaeology
- the historical and theoretical foundations of the discipline
and will be able to:
- contextualise sites of pre- and protohistoric Greece (Mainland, Crete and Cyclades)
- correlate events occurring in different areas of the Eastern Mediterranean world (mainland Greece, Crete, Cyclades) in the Bronze Age
- carry out a critical analysis of the artistic productions of pre- and protohistoric 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 Aegaen archeology
- evaluate critically crucial aspects of Aegean prehistory, with specific attention to socio-political developments
- communicate data and topics concerning the Aegean 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 (12 hours) wants to provide students with the historical-cultural development of the island of Crete from the Early to the Late Bronze Age. The second part (18 hours) will focus on cult and ritual activities of Minoan Crete from the Early to the Late Bronze Age.

- Blakolmer, Fritz. 2010. A pantheon without attributes? Goddesses and gods in Minoan and Mycenean iconography. Divine Images and Human Imaginations in Ancient Greece and Rome, Mylonopoulos, Joannis, ed. Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 170, Leiden and Boston: Brill, pp. 21-61, 389-397.
- D'Agata, Anna Lucia. 2009. Introduction: How Many Archaeologies of Cult? Archaeologies of Cult: Essays on Ritual and Cult in Crete in Honor of Geraldine C. Gesell, D'Agata, Anna Lucia and Aleydis Van de Moortel, eds. Hesperia Supplement 42, Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, pp. 1-8.
- Gaignerot-Driessen, Florence. 2014. Goddesses Refusing to Appear? Reconsidering the Late Minoan III Figures with Upraised Arms. AJA 118.3, pp. 489-520.
- Goodison, Lucy. 2009. 'Why All This about Oak or Stone?' Trees and Boulders in Minoan Religion. Archaeologies of Cult: Essays on Ritual and Cult in Crete in Honor of Geraldine C. Gesell, D'Agata, Anna Lucia and Aleydis Van de Moortel, eds. Hesperia Supplement 42, Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, pp. 51-57.
- Lupack, Susan. 2010. Minoan Religion. The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean (ca. 3000-1000 BC), Cline, Eric H., ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 251-262.
- Maran, Joseph. 2016. Towards an Anthropology of Religion in Minoan and Mycenaean Greece. Metaphysis: Ritual, Myth and Symbolism in the Aegean Bronze Age, Alram-Stern, Eva, Fritz Blakolmer, Sigrid Deger-Jalkotzy, Robert Laffineur, and Jörg Weilhartner, eds. Aegaeum 39, Leuven-Liege: Peeters, pp. 581-591.
- Morris, Christine E. and Alan A. D. Peatfield. 2020. Material forms and ritual performance on Minoan peak sanctuaries. Sacred Landscapes in Antiquity: Creation, Manipulation, Transformation, Häussler, Ralph and Gian Franco Chiai, eds. Oxford and Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, pp. 111-119.
- Murphy, Céline. 2019. Figurines as Further Indicators for the Existence of a Minoan Peak Sanctuary Network. Πεπραγμένα ΙΒ΄ Διεθνούς Κρητολογικού Συνεδρίου, Ηράκλειο, 21-25 Σεπτεμβρίου 2016, Μιτσοτάκη, Κλαίρη and Λένα Τζεδάκη-Αποστολάκη, eds. Ηράκλειο: Εταιρία Κρητικών Ιστορικών Μελετών - Ιστορικό Μουσείο Κρήτης. (Link)

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.

oral

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

Scoring based on the presence of the following knowledge/abilities/skills:
- 18-22: sufficient knowledge of contents; sufficient ability to recognize sites/classes of materials; sufficient ability to interpret and connect events; sufficient communication skills, related to the use of specific language.
- 23-26: fair/reasonable knowledge of contects; fair/reasonable ability to recognize sites/classes of materials; fair/reasonable ability to interpret and connect events; fair/reasonable communication skills, in relation to the use of specific language.
- Band 27-29: good/very good knowledge of contects; good/very good ability to recognize sites/classes of materials; good/very good ability to interpret and connect events; good/very good communication skills, related to the use of specific language.
- 30: very good knowledge of contents; very good ability to recognize sites/classes of materials; very good ability to interpret and connect events; very good communication skills, related to use of specific language.
- 30 cum laude: excellent content knowledge; excellent ability to recognize sites/classes of materials; excellent ability to interpret and connect events; excellent communication skills.

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.

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

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development