Problems in Greek Prehistory

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

170 hours

Admission to Honours or the Postgraduate Diploma in Classical Studies and Archaeology or Classics

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website:

http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject takes an in-depth look at the latest debates and discoveries in the study of the Bronze Age Aegean (Minoan Crete, Mycenaean Greece, and Cycladic Islands) from 3000-1000 BCE. In addition, it considers the role of Prehistoric Greece in the broader field of archaeology. The focus may vary from year to year, but areas of analysis include the history of archaeological practice in Greece, prehistoric production and exchange, ceramics and prestige goods, the interpretation of iconography and architecture, the identification and analysis of Aegean religion, the emergence and collapse of complex societies in Crete and in Greece, and current controversies in the interpretation of archaeological remains with regard to gender, kingship, ethnicity, and feasting.

Students who successfully complete this subject should:

• 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.

Eight 300 word essays, 40% (one per week on the readings, starting in week 4), a 2600 word research essay, 50% (due 2 weeks after semester), class discussion 10% (based on weekly reading).

Hurdle Requirement: Students are required to attend a minimum of 75% of classes in order to pass this subject. Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 2% per working day. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.

D.Preziosi & L.Hitchcock, Aegean Art and Architecture, Oxford, 1999.

Subject readings will be available on line

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.