Logo UAB

Classical Archaeology

Code: 100412 ECTS Credits: 6
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
2503702 Ancient Studies OB 2

Contact

Name:
Pau De Soto Cañamares
Email:
paude.soto@uab.cat

Teachers

Esther Rodrigo Requena
Pau De Soto Cañamares

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

None


Objectives and Contextualisation

The subject of Classical Archeology aims to expose the basic knowledge of historical-archaeological research applied to the field of the classical period, understood as the historical period that covers the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. The contributions of instrumental methodologies and analytical techniques to the historiographical debates that the discipline has addressed will be considered within the syllabus of the subject. We will also study some of the main discoveries and the points that have raised the most controversy from the research of the different historical periods. The contents include the contributions from the other areas of the provenance of the information and the empirical tests from which the hypotheses are drawn up.

Specifically, the training objectives of the subject are:

1) Analyze the field of knowledge of classical archaeology, from its origins to the present

2) To provide the student with a global vision of the subjects and fields that are part of what today is called Classical Archeology

3) Reflect on the traditional link between classical archaeology and other disciplines (art history, architecture, archaeometry...)

4) Provide students with knowledge about the civilizations currently identified with Classical Archaeology, especially Greece and Rome.

Competences

  • Demonstrate the basic skills needed to participate in an archaeological excavation and be able to interpret its findings.
  • Dominate the use of specific instruments, with special attention to digital tools, for analysing the ancient world.
  • Identify and interpret ancient historical remains to relate them to social, political and economic events in the Mediterranean societies of the period of Antiquity.
  • Interrelate linguistic, historical and archaeological knowledge of the ancient world with knowledge of other areas of the humanities, mainly ancient literature, philosophy and art.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  • Use techniques of compilation, organisation and use of information and documentation related to Antiquity with precision.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Apply the techniques and instruments of archaeological analysis to study ancient material remains.
  2. Describe the main typological characteristics of town centres in Greco-Roman antiquity.
  3. Explain the contexts of historical processes in classical antiquity.
  4. Identify basic types of Greek, Roman and Iberian coins and relate them to their political and cultural context.
  5. Identify different types of Greco-Roman pottery and relate them to their political and cultural context.
  6. Identifying the specific methods of archaeology and their relationship with the historical analysis.
  7. Interpreting material and documentary sources.
  8. Submitting works in accordance with both individual and small group demands and personal styles.
  9. Using the specific interpretational and technical vocabulary of the discipline.

Content

BLOCK 1. The field of study of Classical Archeology from the beginning to the present
1.1. The concept of classical archaeology: the Greco-Roman world
1.2. Geographical and temporal framework. The sources for the study of the classical world: material remains and written sources
1.3. Current perspectives and the future of Classical Archaeology. The importance of cities in the classical period.

BLOCK 2. Urban problems in the Greek world
3.1 The functions of the Greek polis and the basic elements of its material structure – the emergence of cities
3.2 Water supply in the old city
3.3 Waste management in the old city
3.4 Poliorcetics
3.5 Greek cities in the archaic period.
3.6 Hippodamus of Miletus and the development of functional urban planning.
3.7 The evolution of the city in the Hellenistic period. Monumental urbanism and the expansion of the Hippodamian city model.

BLOCK 3. Evolution of the city in the Roman period
3.8 The Roman city: formation process, functionality and basic elements
3.9 Pomerium and the necropolises
3.9 Colonies and Roman roads
3.10 Mediterranean ports

BLOCK 4. The organization of urban public space and its buildings.
4.1 The agora and the forum as spaces for civil, administrative and religious life
4.2. Religious buildings and sanctuaries in the Greco-Roman world
4.3 Buildings and recreational spaces: the Theater in the Greco-Roman world
4.3.1. The Greek Hippodrome versus the Roman Circus
4.3.2. The specificity of the Roman amphitheatre


BLOCK 5. Territorial organization in the Greco-Roman world
5.1. The organization of the territory in the Greek world.
5.1.1 The case of colonial foundations in the West: Sicily, Magna Graecia and the Gulf of Leon
5.1.2 Colonial foundations in the Black Sea
5.2. The organization of the territory in the Roman world. The evolution of territorial planning models:
       The Italian Peninsula and the beginning of cadastral operations and territorial planning
       The planning of the territory in the western provinces, the organization of the ager and the rural space
5.3. The formation and organization of a provincial capital in the West.


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Activitats a l'aula 32 1.28
Visita a un conjunt arqueològic: la ciutat clàssica 5 0.2
Type: Supervised      
Supervisió del treball individual 5 0.2
Type: Autonomous      
Estudi textos i materials de classe 40 1.6
Exercici de treball individual 35 1.4

1. Directed training in the classroom
Theoretical exhibitions will be offered to introduce and analyze the most relevant aspects of Greek and Roman archaeology. These contents will be complemented with PowerPoint sessions, images, explanatory tables, documentaries and interactive websites. Exercises will also be proposed (readings, comments, analysis of examples, etc.) and some debates will be proposed. Some sessions will end with oral presentations of the cases prepared by the students, which will be accompanied by questions and evaluations with the participation of the students.

2. Archaeological visit
The teaching staff of the subject will illustrate the content presented in the classroom during the visit to a classical archaeological site of Catalonia and they will highlight its specificities in accordance with the geographical and historical-archaeological context to which it belongs.

3. Individual training
Following the guidelines presented in the classroom, the student will prepare the periodic exercises and prepare a small case study on a topic of their choice. You will have to consult databases and bibliographic catalogues. It will formulate the results in a document that will be delivered accompanied by maps, images and bibliography. The preparation criteria will be indicated in the classroom.
Obviously, the student will have to deepen and expand the subject taught using the basic or recommended bibliography to clarify and expand the contents of the program. Doubts or queries can be addressed to the teaching staff during office hours or through the virtual space.

 

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Theory Test A 35% 3.25 0.13 2, 3, 5, 6, 4, 7, 9
Theory Test B 35% 3.25 0.13 2, 3, 5, 6, 4, 7
Treball individual 30% 26.5 1.06 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9

This subject/module does not incorporate single assessment.

 

1. Theory test A (35%) – (Esther Rodrigo and Pau de Soto)

Evaluation system:

The concepts taught in class will be evaluated based on a topic-type question - of analysis and synthesis and, optionally, also of critical reflection - to choose from two options.

There will be a third question of short definitions of the concepts worked on in class and on the mandatory readings that students will have to work on independently

There will be a test on the geography and chronology of the ancient world

 

2. Theory test B (35%) – (Esther Rodrigo and Pau de Soto)

Evaluation system:

The concepts taught in class will be evaluated based on a topic-type question - of analysis and synthesis and, optionally, also of critical reflection - to choose from two options.

There will be a third question of short definitions of the concepts worked on in class and on the mandatory readings that students will have to work on independently

There will be a test on the geography and chronology of the ancient world

 

 

3. Bibliographic research work (30%): individual work on a city

The form, structure and composition of the work will be explained and defined in class. Without the presentation of the research work within the agreed time limits, the subject cannot be approved. The well-founded suspicion of copying, use of Artificial Intelligence or any other method of writing unrelated to the author of all or part of the work will be sufficient reason to suspend.

 

Evaluation conditions:

- There will be a single call.

- Failure to complete 10% or more of the assessment activities will result in a no-show.

- If the grade for one or more of the assessment activities is lower than 5 out of 10,the different activities will not be averaged and the subject will not be approved.

- The late delivery of assessment activities without prior agreement with the teaching staff will deduct 10% of the grade for each day of delay.

 

*In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.


Bibliography

GENERAL

AULT, Bradley A.; NEVETT, Lisa C. (2005) Ancient Greek Houses and Households. Chronological, Regional, and Social Diversity. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2005.

BIANCHI BANDINELLI, Ranuccio; PARIBENI, Enrico (1976) L’arte dell’antichità classica. UTET Università, 1976.

BIERS, B.R.: The Archaeology of Greece. An Introduction. London 1980.

COPPA, M.: Storia dell’urbanistica dalle origini all’ellenismo. Turin, 1968.

COPPA, M.: Storia dell’urbanistica. L’ età ellenistica. Turin, 1981.

FEVRIER, P.A.; FIXOT, M.; GOUDINEAU, Ch.; KRUTA, V.: Histoire de la France urbaine, 1. La ville antique des origines au IXe. Siècle. Paris, 1981.

FRASER, P.M.: Cities of Alexander the Great. Oxford, 2003.

FUSTEL DE COULANGES, N.D.: La ciudad antigua. Barcelona, 1984. (Edicó de J. F. Yvars).

GATES, C.: Ancient cities. New York, 2003.

GRECO, E.; TORELLI, M.: Storia dell’urbanistica. Il mondo greco. Roma, 1983.

GRECO, E.: La città greca antica: istituzioni, società e forme urbane. Roma, 1999.

GROS, P.; TORELLI, M.: Storia dell’urbanistica. Il mondo romano. Bari, 1988. (Hi ha una edicíó revisada i posada al dia, Bari, 2007)

GRECO, Emanuele; TORELLI, Mario: Storia dell’urbanistica. Il mondo greco. Roma – Bari 1983.

HOLTZMANN, Bernard: L’Acropole d’Athènes. Antiqua, Picard, París, 2003.

Hurwit, Jeffrey M.: The Athenian Acropolis: History, Mythology, and Archaeology from the Neolithic Era to the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge

KOLB, F.: La ciudad en la antigüedad. Madrid, 1992.

Korka, E. et al. (eds.): Foreign Archaeological Schools in Greece, 160 Years, Hellenic Ministry of Culture. Atenes.

LONIS, R.: La cité dans le monde grec: structures, fonctionement, contradictions. Paris, 2000. (Hi ha també una edició en italià)

LOPEZ PAZ, P.: La ciudad romana ideal, 1 el territorio. Santiago de Compostela, 1994.

MacKENDRICK, Paul: The Greek Stones Speak. The Story of Archaeology in Greek Lands. W.E. Norton & Company, New York – London 1981 (2a ed.)

MANSUELLI, G.A.: “La città romana nei primi secoli dell’impero. Tendenza dell’urbanistica”. A Aufstieg und Niedergang der Romischen WeltII, 12. 1, Berlín, 1982, pp. 145-178.

MARTIN, R.: L’urbanisme dans la Grèce antique. Paris (2a. edició), 1974.

OWENS, E.J.: The city in the Greek and Roman world. Londres, 1991.

PELLETIER, A.: L’urbanisme romain sous l’Empire. Paris, 1982.

SOMMELLA, P.: Italia antica. L’urbanistica romana. Roma, 1989.

SNODGRASS, A.M.: Arqueología de Grecia: presente y futuro de una disciplina. Crítica Arqueología, Barcelona 1990.

SPAWFORTH, Tony: Los templos griegos. Akal, Grandes Temas, Madrid, 2006.

WHITLEY, James: An Archaeology of Ancient Greece. Cambridge University Press, London. 2 001.

WARD PERKINS, J.B.: Cities of Ancient Greece and Italy: Planning in Classical Antiquity. London, 1974.

ZANKER, P.: Pompei. Società, immagini urbane e forme dell’abitare. Torino,1993.

 

 

Bibliografia general sobre protohistòria de la Mediterrània

 

AUBET, M.E. (2007): Comercio y colonialismo en el Próximo Oriente antiguo; los antecedentes coloniales del III y II milenio aC. Bellaterra Arqueología. Barcelona.

AUBET, M.E. (1994): Tiro y las colonias fenicias de occidente. Ed. Crítica. Barcelona.

BLÁZQUEZ, J.M., ALVAR, J., WAGNER, C.G. (1999): Fenicios y cartagineses en el Mediterráneo. Ed. Cátedra. Historia/serie menor. Madrid.

FRENCH, E. (2005): Micenas, capital de Agamenón. Bellaterra Arqueología, Barcelona.

CASTLEDEN, R. (2005): Mycenaeans. Routledge. London.

CRISTOFANI, M. (Ed.) (2000): Etruschi, una nuova immagine. Giunti Ed. Firenze.

BOARDMAN, John (1973): Los griegos en ultramar; comercio y expansión colonial antes de la era clásica. Alianza Editorial. Madrid.

DOMINGUEZ MONEDERO, A (1993): La polis y la expansión colonial griega. siglos VII y VI aC. Colección Historia Universal Antigua, 6, Editorial Síntesis. Madrid.

AA.VV (1995): Sur les pas des grecs en occident (hommages à André Nickels). Études Massaliètes, 4.

FRANKENSTEIN, Susan (1997): Arqueología del colonialismo: el impacto fenicio y griego en el sur de la Península Ibérica y el suroeste de Alemania. Editorial Crítica. Barcelona.

PALLOTINO, M. (1987): Etruscologia. Ed. Hoepli. Milano.

PY, M. (1993): Les gaulois du midi; de la fin de l’age du bronze à la conquete romaine. Hachette Ed.

WOLF, E.R. (1987): Europa y la gente sin historia. Fondo de Cultura Económica. México.

 

 Aprovisionament d’aigua

 

Angelakis, A.N. and Spyridakis, S.V. (1996). The status of water resources in Minoan times: A preliminary study. In Diachronic Climatic Impacts on Water Resources with Emphasis on Mediterranean Region,

Buffet, B. and Evrard, R. (1950). L’Eau Potable a Travers Les Ages, Editions Soledi, Liege, Belgium.

Burés, L. (1998) Les estructures hidràuliques a la ciutat antiga: l’exemple d’Empúries. Monografies Empuritanes 10. Barcelona.

Camp, J.McK (1977) The water suplí of Ancient Athens from 3000 to 86 BC. Princeton (PhD Thesis)

Crouch, D.P. (1993) Water Management in ancient Greek cities. New York.

Evans, H.B. (1994). Water Distribution in Ancient Rome: The Evidence of Frontius, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, USA.

Haan, N.; Jansen, G. (eds.) (2001) Cura Aquarum in Campania. Leiden.

Hodge, A.T. (1992). Roman Aqueducts and Water Supply, Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., London, USA.

Jansen, G. (ed)(2000) Cura Aquarum in Sicilia. Leiden.

Jansen, G.C.M. (2001). “Water pipe systems in the houses of Pompeii”. In Water Use and Hydraulics in the Roman City, Koloski-Ostrow, A.O. (Ed.), Archaelogical Institute of America, Colloquia and Conference Papers, No. 3. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, USA.

Malissard, A. (1996) Los romanos y el agua. Barcelona.

 

Evacuació de residuus

 Burés, L. (1998) Les estructures hidrauliques a la ciutat antiga: l’exemple d’Empúries. Barcelona.

Carreras, C. (1998) “Els abocadors en el món romà: el cas de Londinium i Barcino”. Pyrenae 29, pp.147-160.

Carver, M.O.H. (1987) “The nature of the urban deposits”. En J.Schofield i R.Leech (eds) Urban archaeology in Britain. CBA 61. London, pp.9-26.

Cordier, P. (2003) “Les mots pour le dire: le vocabularie des rebuts et leurs représentations”. En P.Ballet, P.Cordier y N.Diuedonné-Glad (dir.) Le ville et ses déchets dans le monde romain: rebuts et recyclages. Actes du Colloque de Poitiers, 2002, Montagnac, pp.19-26.

Hobson, B. (2009) Latrinae et foricae. Toilets in the Roman World. London.

Hoffman, M.A. (1974) “The social context of trash disposal in an Early Dynastic Egyptian town”. American Antiquity 39, pp.35-50.

Jansen, G. (1991) “Water systems and sanitation in the houses of Herculaneum”. Mededelingen van het Nederlands Instituut te Rome, 50, pp.145-166.

Jansen, G. (1999) “Systems for the disposal of waste and excreta in Roman cities. The situation in Pompeii, Herculaneum and Ostia”. En X.Dupré y J.A.Remolà (eds.) Sordes Urbis. La eliminación de residuos en la ciudad romana. Roma, pp.37-49.

Martin Bueno, M.; Reklaityte, I.; Sáenz, J.C.; Uribe, P. (2007) “Baños y letrinas en el mundo romano: el caso del Balneum de la Domus 1 del barrio de las termas de Bilbilis”. Zephyrus 60, 221-239.

Rathje, W.L. (1974) “The garbage project: a new way of looking at the problems of archaeology”. Archaeology 27.4, pp.236-241.

Rathje, W.L.; Murphy, C. (1993) Rubbish: the archaeology of garbage. New York.

Rathje, W.L.; McCarthy, M. (1977) “Recycling and variability in contemporary garbage”. En S.South (ed) Research strategies in historical archaeology. London, pp.261-286.

Rodríguez Almeida, E. (1984) Il Monte Testaccio. Rome.

Scobie, A. (1986) “Slums, sanitation and mortality in the Roman world”. Klio 68, pp.399-435.

 

 

Poliorcètica

 

Adam, J.P.(1982) L’architecture militaire grecque. Paris.

Forde-Johnston, P. (1977) Hadrian's Wall, London.

Johnson, A. (1983) Roman Forts, London, 1983.

Lawrence, A.W. (1979) Greek aims in fortification.

Tsangadas, B.C.P. (1980) The Fortifications and Defense of Constantinople, New York.

Winter, F. E. (1971) Greek Fortifications. Toronto

 

 

Arqueologia funerària

 Ferdière, A. (ed.)(1993) Monde des morts, monde des vivants en Gaule rurale. Actes du Colloque Archea/Ager (Orleans)

Galliou, P. (1989) Les tombes romaines d’Armorique. Essai de sociologie et d’économie de la  mort. DAF 17, Paris.

Garland, R. (1985) The Greek Way of Death. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Hinard, F. (ed.) (1995) La mort au quotidien dan le monde romain. Act. Collo. Paris.

Kurtz, D.C.;  Boardman, J. (1971) Greek Burial Custom, Ithaca

Morris, I. (1992) Death ritual and social structures in classical antiquity. London.

Oakley, J. (2005) Picturing death in Classical Athens.

Pearce, J. (ed.)(1997) Roman burial practice in context. Oxford.

Philpott, R.A. (1991) Burial practice in Roman Britain. BAR Brit.Ser. 219. Oxford.

Prieur, J. (1986) La mort dans l’Antiquité romaine. Ouest France.

Reece, R. (ed.)(1997) Burial in the Roman world. CBA Res.Rep. 22. London.

Vaquerizo, D. (coord.)(1991) Arqueología de la muerte. Metodología y perspectivas actuales. Córdoba

Vaquerizo, D. (coord.)(2001) Funus cordobensium. Costumbres funerariasen la Córdoba romana. Córdoba

Vaquerizo, D. (2010) Necrópolis urbanas en Baetica. ICAC Documenta, Tarragona.

 

 

Temples i santuaris

 Alcock, S.; Osborne, R. (eds.)(1994) Placing the Gods: Sanctuaries and Sacred Space in Ancient Greece. Oxford.

Ashmole, B. (1972) Architect and sculptor in Classical Greece. London.

Scully, V. (1979) The Earth, the Temple and the Gods. Greek Sacred Architecture. London.

Spawforth, T. (2006) The complete Greek temples. London.

Wilson Jones, M. (2000) Principles of Roman architecture. New Haven.

Wright, G.R.H. (2000) Ancient building technology. 1. Historical Background. Boston.


Software

No


Language list

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 2 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(PCAM) Field practices 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(PCAM) Field practices 2 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 2 Catalan first semester morning-mixed