Archaeology: Archeology of the Classical World

Introduction

Programme
This programme studies the archaeology of the Mediterranean world in classical antiquity. The Greek and Roman civilisations are not only vitally important for our understanding of the modern western world, but also for the development of archaeology as a discipline. The great discoveries in Crete, Mycenae, Troy, Rome, Etruria and Pompeii have been crucial for the (image) formation of our European culture.
Through this unique interaction, understanding the Greek city states and democratic political culture and the success of Roman expansionism and imperialism is an enormous intellectual challenge with massive social relevance. All the more because new (field) methods and theories in recent years have provided completely new perspectives on these themes – and thus ‘classical antiquity’ in its entirety.

The emphasis in both the study programme and staff research is therefore on the broad-based and contextual research and understanding of the Greek, Hellenist, Italian and Roman world based on new theories and practical archaeological methods.
In the this specialisation, you learn how to use the rich historical and archaeological sources available to us for this field and to adopt a problem-based and practical approach to big historical issues relating to colonialism, imperialism and related cultural processes.

Fieldwork
Fieldwork and archaeological methods form an essential part of this programme. It is only by doing fieldwork on site that you learn the possibilities, challenges and special elements of archaeology in Mediterranean areas. In the Bachelor phase, the focus is on acquiring experience in various methods and techniques, for example in field surveys and excavations but also in aerial photography and specific material studies.
By embedding the classical and Mediterranean field school in current research projects, it is possible to focus on the relationship between academic issues and archaeological data collection. Currently, fieldwork is mainly carried out in Italy.

Further studies
A Bachelor specialisation in Classical and Mediterranean Archaeology teaches you about the archaeology of the Mediterranean region in classical antiquity and the important research questions in a broad perspective and the possible (fieldwork) methods for approaching them.
It thus forms a logical preparation for a Master in Classical and Mediterranean archaeology, but can also serve as preparation for other Master specialisations.

Bachelor year 2

Bachelor year 2 with the specialisation Archaeology of the Classical World consists of the following options:

A. Compulsory courses (25 ects)

B. Choose two of these BA2 profiles:

• Early civilisations (15 ects)

• Archaeology of North-Western Europe (15 ects)

• Archaeological sciences (15 ects)

C. Choose a specialist course (5 ects) ór a broadening course (5 ects). The latter consists of a course of your choice from the remaining BA2 profile that has not been chosen.
The specialist courses are from the BA3 programme, and alternate each year so you will not follow the same course in the BA3.
This year the specialisation Archaeology of the Classical World is offering the specialist course Archaeology of the Mediterranean 1: The Mediteranean in het first millennium BC.

Bachelor year 3

Bachelor year 3 with the specialisation Archaeology of the Classical World consists of:

A. Compulsory courses (30 ects)

B. Three specialisation courses (15 ects)

For the remaining 15 ects, choose either of these options:

• a second Archaeology specialisation

• half a minor (Dutch or English)

The other Archaeology specialisations are:

• Archaeology of North-Western Europe

• Archaeology of the Americas

• Archaeology of the Near East

• Bioarchaeology