The Prehistory of Anatolia and Cyprus

Year

Bachelor year 2.

Admission requirements

This is a seminar with a limited amount of participants (20 students), for Archaeology students exclusively.

Description

This course provides an overview of the prehistory of Anatolia and Cyprus, from the Neolithic up to the Early Bronze Age. Key issues that will be discussed are:

• the history of research, the geography and climate of Anatolia and Cyprus, and how this changed over time;

• the origins of Neolithic societies in Anatolia and Cyprus;

• the spread of Neolithic societies to western Anatolia and beyond;

• the development of idiosyncratic Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic societies in Anatolia and Cyprus;

• the emergence of exchange networks in Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Anatolia and Cyprus;

• the emergence of elites and a prestige goods economy in Anatolia;

• the second ‘colonisation’ of Cyprus in the Philia period.

Set-up of the course

A critical introduction into the archaeology of the specific topic is provided in the morning. Students spend the day preparing a presentation and discussion points in groups. At the end of the day there is a meeting with student presentations and discussion.

Course objectives

• To gain an overview of the culture-historical development of prehistoric Anatolia and Cyprus;

• To gain insight into research traditions in prehistoric Anatolia and Cyprus and the current academic controversies within these fields;

• Ability to critically assess key issues in the prehistory of Anatolia and Cyprus in oral and written formats.

Timetable

Course schedule details can be found in the BA2 time schedule.

Mode of instruction

• Lectures;

• Student presentations;

• Discussion.

Course load

The course load will be distributed as follows:

• 24 hours of seminar (1 ec);

• 200 pages of literature (2 ec);

• 6 short essays of ca. 500 words (2 ec).

Assessment method

• Presentations and discussion during the course (60%);

• Mini essays, dealing with the case studies discussed in class (40%).

The retake consists of a 3,000-word essay in the next block.

All exam dates (exams, retakes, paper deadlines etc.) can be found in the BA2 examination schedule.
Deadlines for assignments are included in the course syllabus.

Reading list

• Düring, B.S. (2011). The Prehistory of Asia Minor: From Complex Hunter-Gatherers to Early Urban Societies. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press;

• Knapp, A.B. (2013). The Archaeology of Cyprus from Earliest Prehistory through the Bronze Age. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Registration

Registration via uSis is mandatory.

• The Administration Office will register all BA1 students for their tutorials (not lectures; register via uSis!).

• BA2, BA3, MA/MSc and RMA/RMSc students are required to register for all lectures and tutorials well in time.

• Start registration for the BA2 seminars:
  Series 1: 16 September 2019, 07:00 hrs
  Series 2: 13 January 2020, 07:00 hrs
  Series 3: 24 February 2020, 07:00 hrs

• The Administration Office registers all students for their exams, students are not required to do this in uSis.

Contact

For more information about this course, please contact dr. B.S. (Bleda) Düring.

Remarks

• Compulsory attendance. If attendance and participation in group discussions is too limited, no credits will be awarded.

• The maximum amount of participants for this class is 20. If the number of interested students exceeds 20, those who have to take this course as part of their programme requirements will be prioritised.