Admission requirements
None.
Description
The lecture series World Archaeology gives an outline of the deep history of human society, from our early ancestors to what we call the (pre)modern world.
It focuses on what is called “human-thing entanglement”. People used material culture to shape their world. At the same time humans were shaped by the material culture they created. This entanglement of people and material culture is discussed and illustrated for many regions and periods through time and across the globe. Comparisons between different parts of the world and different scales of analysis will allow you to understand connections between the local, the regional and the global in World Archaeology.
Part 2.2 focuses on the “Classical” world (traditionally understood as the history of the Greeks and the Romans) in its global context, and includes a lecture day devoted to the archaeology of Egypt, from the pyramids to Christianity, as well. If it is practically possible, an excursion to the National Museum of Antiquities will be organised. Central to the course will be the notion of increasing connectivity.
Course set-up
Lectures will be followed up by tutorials that address a particular aspect in depth, and on the basis of additional literature. These tutorials will take place in smaller groups and are guided by a teaching assistant.
In the lectures we will discuss six different subjects cq. time periods:
The Bronze Age Mediterranean up to the period around 1,000 BC
The archaeology of ancient Egypt: from the pyramids to Christianity
An Axial Age: the ancient world around the middle of the first millennium BC
The Hellenistic world: Afro-Eurasia connected
“A small cape of Asia”: the rise and fall of the Roman Empire
The classical past in the modern present: reception and its controversies
You will be asked to prepare the lectures by means of short video clips, as well as by studying part of the handbook for this course, together with some additional literature.
Course objectives
Basic knowledge of the history and archaeology of what we call the Classical World in its global context;
Basic understanding of different perspectives on World Archaeology themes (from the perspective of Classical & Mediterranean archaeology);
Basic understanding of the current debates and challenges in Classical & Mediterranean archaeology, and their relevance for contemporary society;
Basic understanding of how people used material culture to shape their world and how their world was shaped by material culture, in the ancient world;
Understanding the nature and variety of archaeological evidence, such as tools, household items, visual material culture and art, structures of houses, architecture, burials and ecological changes in the ancient world;
Knowledge of the nature of archaeological data and the regional and temporal variations in settlements, economies, ‘objectscapes’ and cultural organisation in the ancient world;
General knowledge of and insight into technological, social and cultural developments in time per region (in burial rituals, settlements, economic developments, social organisation and art) for the ancient world;
Basic academic skills, including class discussion, workshop participation, and group assignments.
Timetable
Course schedule details can be found in MyTimetable.
Log in with your ULCN account, and add this course using the 'Add timetable' button.
Mode of instruction
Lectures;
Tutorials in which students work under supervision on assignments on the literature and practice their knowledge;
If possible: excursion to the National Museum of Antiquities.
You will take part in three 1-hour tutorial sessions, coordinated by Teaching Assistants (TAs). During these tutorials, you will have the opportunity to ask questions and engage in conversations about various research topics.
Assessment method
- Multiple choice exam (100%).
A retake of the exam is only possible in case of a fail (in compliance with the teaching rules and regulations), and only when the requirements of attendance and assignments have been met.
Compensation between the grades of World Archaeology 2.1 and World Archaeology 2.2 is only possible if the individual grades are a 5.0 or higher.
Assessment deadlines
All assessment deadlines (exams, retakes, paper deadlines etc.) can be found in MyTimetable.
Log in with your ULCN account, and add this course using the 'Add timetable' button. To view the assessment deadline(s), make sure to select the course with a code ending in T and/or R.
Deadlines for assignments are included in the course syllabus.
Reading list
C. Scarre (ed.), 2018, The Human Past. World Prehistory & the Development of Human Societies (Fourth edition), Thames & Hudson;
Various additional articles.
Registration
The Administration Office will register all Archaeology BA1 students in uSis for their lectures, tutorials and exams in semester 1 and semester 2.
However for exams, confirmation through MyStudymap is mandatory.
No confirmation = no participation!
If you are not a BA1 student, but want to take this course, please contact the Administration Office.
General information about registration can be found on the Course and Exam Enrolment page.
Contact
For more information about this course, please contact prof. dr. M.J. (Miguel John) Versluys.
Remarks
Compulsory attendance during tutorials, practical (and museum visit). Upon missing more than one lecture or tutorial you will be excluded from the exam;
This course can be taken as an optional course, Contract course, or Study Abroad/Exchange course, but only in combination with World Archaeology 2.1: Holocene European Prehistory.