ANCIENT PEOPLES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN: THE ARCHEOLOGY OF THE MEDITERRANEAN AREA

The purpose of the seminar is to approach the history and archaeology of the Mediterranean Sea through the examination of peoples and cultures that developed on its shores in the prehistoric period and in antiquity.

The seminar’s objectives are pursued through the study of the successive changes and structures that shaped the Mediterranean and the examination of the characteristics of the individual cultures, and of the interactions that have developed between them.

Upon successful completion of the  seminar course, the student

should be able to:

• understand the methodological tools for the research of the Mediterranean region
• will have acquired essential knowledge of the evolution of the Mediterranean from the first colonization of it shores and the formation of the first exchange networks in prehistoric times, up to the formation of the complex civilizations of the 3^rd and 2^nd millennium BC.
• understand the developments that followed the collapse of the great civilizations of the Bronze Age and the emergence of new trade networks from the 8^th C BC and during historical times.

Week 1:

Ιntroduction: Seminar’s objectives; content and structure of participatory work; instructions on technical issues for the composition of oral presentations and written essays, in the context of the projects to be assigned.

Week 2: 

Basic Spatial Concepts: the geography of the Mediterranean (mountains, plateaus, slopes, plains, climate, sea and coasts). Synthetic studies on Mediterranean history and archaeology. The question of the unity of the Mediterranean sea.

Week 3: The first colonization of the Mediterranean coast: the Paleolithic and Mesolithic.

Week 4: The first farmers in the Mediterranean

Week 5: The first complex civilizations: Mesopotamia and Egypt.

Week 6: Mobility in the Mediterranean in the Bronze Age: the development of sailing and trade in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean. The Minoan ‘sea rule’.

Week 7: The Mycenaeans in the Mediterranean.

Week 8: Cyprus and the Levante. The Hettites.

Week 9: The collapse of the civilizations of the Bronze Age.

Week 10: The Phoenicians (1000-700 BC).

Week 11: The greek colonization (Italy, Sicily, Black Sea).

Week 12: The Etruscans (800-400 BC).

Week 13: The western Mediterraneaen 1000-400 BC (Sardenia, South France, Iberic peninsula).

Horden, N. Purcell, Μεσόγειος. Θάλαττα Πονηροδιδάσκαλος, 2004. F. Braudel, Οι μνήμες της Μεσογείου. Προϊστορία και Αρχαιότητα, 2000. D. Abulafia, Η Μεγάλη Θάλασσα. Οι περιπέτειες των λαών της Μεσογείου, 2012. C. Broodbank, The Making of the Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean from the Beginning to the Emergence of the Classical World, 2013. Carpentier Jean [et. al.]. Ιστορία της Μεσογείου, 2009. D. Abulafia, O. Rackham, M. Suano, Η Μεσόγειος στην Ιστορία, 2004.  R. Treuil [κ.αλ.] Οι πολιτισμοί του Αιγαίου κατά τη Νεολιθική και την Εποχή του Χαλκού, 1996.  Ι. Velikovsky, Λαοί της Θάλασσας, 1980. L. Sacchi & C. Sartori (επιμ.) Φοίνικες, Η Μεσόγειος πριν από τη Ρωμαϊκή κυριαρχία, 2000. F. Prayon, Ετρούσκοι: Ιστορία, θρησκεία, τέχνη, 2004. Boardman, J., Οι αρχαίοι έλληνες στην υπερπόντια εξάπλωσή τους: οι πρώτες αποικίες και το εμπόριό τους, 1996. Πλοές - από τη Σιδώνα στη Χουέλβα: σχέσεις λαών της Μεσογείου 16^ος-6^ος αι. π.Χ., 2003. P. Faure, Η καθημερινή ζωή στις ελληνικές αποικίες, 2007

Teaching combines lectures, discussion-debate and presentation of the students’ projects. Participation in the seminar meetings is compulsory.  Students undertake projects on a topic chosen, among the course’s thematic sections, in collaboration with the teaching staff. Choosing the respective topic and formulating the project’s title constitute part of the teaching process and take place within the first four weeks, both collectively and individually in tutoring meetings. Each project is presented orally in the seminar. Emphasis is set in participatory critical discussion-debate on the projects’ presentations.  Constructive criticism contributes to the composition of the student’s final written project report, to be submitted by the end of semester.

Students’ evaluation and assignment of grades (1-10 scale) is based on the assessment of the final written project report (60%), on oral presentation (25%) and on active participation in lesson discussion and in the seminar activities (15%).