Current Issues in Aegean Archaeology

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2009:

Admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth year honours in classics or classical studies and archaeology.

This seminar will take an in-depth look at the latest debates and discoveries in the archaeology of the Bronze Age Aegean (Crete, Greece, and the Cycladic Islands) as well as consider their implications for the broader field of archaeology. The focus will vary from year to year, but issues might include the history of archaeological excavation and interpretation in the region, current controversies in the interpretation of archaeological remains, social and technological aspects of prehistoric production and exchange, the role of iconography and/or architecture in creating social and gender identity, the identification and analysis of Aegean belief systems, and the emergence and collapse of civilisations in Crete and in Greece.

• acquire an understanding of the latest debates in Greek archaeology;
• understand how archaeologists use theory and texts to interpret material culture and to reconstruct cultural continuity and change;
• be able to evaluate the interpretive constructs (theory) used by archaeologists in Greece to address specific empirical problems and issues.

Written work totalling 5000 words comprising a seminar paper of 2500 words including a 20-minute presentation 45% (commencing at the beginning of semester and due towards the end of semester), an essay of 2500 words 45% (due at the end of semester) and continuous class participation 10%.

A subject reader will be available.

• Aegean Art and Architecture (D Preziosi and L Hitchcock), Oxford, 1999

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This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• be skilled in critical thinking;

• possess effective written communication skills;

• have an understanding of social, ethical and cultural context.