Epigraphy and Numismatics
Code: 106881 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Archaeology | OP | 3 |
Contact
- Name:
- Alessando Ravotto
- Email:
- alessandro.ravotto@uab.cat
Teachers
- Felix Maria Retamero Serralvo
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of Latin morphology and grammar.
No prior knowledge of numismatics is required for the numismatics section.
Objectives and Contextualisation
Latin epigraphy as a historical source and its relationship with archaeology. Emphasis on the reciprocal usefulness between these two disciplines.
Ancient and medieval numismatics as a historical discipline applied to archaeology: basic principles of coin classification and seriation, and their reading as archaeological documents for the historical interpretation of a site.
Learning Outcomes
- CM26 (Competence) Defend innovative proposals in the technical-methodological realms of archaeology, its knowledge processes and of applied archaeology.
- KM39 (Knowledge) Assess the contribution of documentary and written sources (reports on archaeological projects, archaeological maps, reports on the analysis of archaeological materials, planimetry and graphic representations of archaeological sites and materials, case studies, summary publications, specialised articles) to basic and applied archaeological research and heritage management.
- SM39 (Skill) Apply the most common techno-typological classification methods and techniques to archaeological artefacts.
Content
Epigraphy
1. Epigraphy: concepts, applications, methodology. Epigraphy and archaeology.
2. Typology of inscriptions according to their purpose.
3. The epigraphic support and its context.
4. The epigraphic text: letters, formulas, abbreviations.
5. Religious inscriptions.
6. Funerary inscriptions.
7. Honorific inscriptions; monumental inscriptions.
8. Legal inscriptions.
9. Other types of inscriptions.
10. Christian inscriptions.
11. The evolution of epigraphy. Medieval inscriptions.
12. Epigraphic corpora and repertories.
Numismatics
13. Coinage: definition and basic principles.
14. Issues, mints, and manufacturing.
15. Documentation and classification of coins.
16. Greek coinage.
17. Issues of Emporion and Rhode.
18. Phoenician and Carthaginian coinage.
19. Roman Republican coinage.
20. Iberian coinage.
21. Roman provincial coinage in Hispania.
22. Roman Imperial coinage.
23. Historical interpretation: coins in archaeology.
24. Historical interpretation: monetary circulation.
25. Medieval coins: social contexts.
26. Early medieval coins: Suevic, Vandal, Byzantine, and Visigothic (5th–8th centuries).
27. Andalusi coinage (8th–15th centuries).
28. Coins of the Catalan counties and Hispanic kingdoms (10th–15th centuries).
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Practical sessions | 75 | 3 | CM26, KM39, SM39, CM26 |
| Theoretical sessions | 75 | 3 | CM26, KM39, SM39, CM26 |
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Presentation of the necessary elements to read and interpret inscriptions.
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Continuous inscription reading practice in class.
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Throughout the semester, whenever the calendar allows, a practical epigraphy field trip will be conducted to a site, museum, or museum storage facility in Barcelona.
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Numismatics classes will include a wide visual repertoire of coins.
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Numismatic documentation practice will also be conducted in class.
Note: 15 minutes of one class session will be reserved, in accordance with the official schedule, for students to complete course and faculty evaluation surveys.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active participation in class | 10 | 0 | 0 | CM26, KM39, SM39 |
| Practical exercise on methodologies worked in class (epigraphy) | 50 | 0 | 0 | CM26, KM39, SM39 |
| Practical exercise on methodologies worked in class (numismatics) | 40 | 0 | 0 | CM26, KM39, SM39 |
Epigraphy section:
Assessment will be based on class exercises throughout the course and a final test, all focused on the reading and interpretation of different inscriptions.
Numismatics section:
Assessment will be based on a previously announced test.
The final grade will be global, combining the grades from both the epigraphy and numismatics sections.
Students who do not take all scheduled assessment tests or who do not participate in mandatory evaluation activities accounting for 60% or more of the final grade will receive a grade of Not Assessable and will not be eligible for resits.
Single Assessment:
Single assessment will consist of a written exam covering both parts (epigraphy and numismatics).
The “active class participation” component will be replaced by an individual assignment to be submitted on the same day as the exam.
Resits:
Resits will be held on the official dates set by the Faculty. Under no circumstances may resits be used to improve the grade of a student who has already passed the course through continuous assessment.
Any irregularity committed during an assessment (copying, plagiarism) will result in a grade of zero for the corresponding component. Multiple irregularities will result in a final grade of zero.
Students have the right to review their exam results. The instructor will set appropriate mechanisms for doing so.
Individual situations will be given due consideration and treated accordingly.
Bibliography
Epigraphy bibliography:
Andreu, Javier, Fundamentos de Epigrafía Latina, Madrid 2009.
Bruun, Christer; Edmondson, Jonathan (eds.) (2014), The Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy, Oxford-New York.
Calabi, Ida, Epigrafia latina, Milano, 1991.
Corbier, Paul, Epigrafia latina, Universidad de Granada, 2004.
Di Stefano, Ivan, Mestiere di epigrafia, Roma, 1987.
Iglesias, José Manuel / Santos, Juan, Vademecum para la epigrafía y numismática latinas, Santander, 2002
Lassère, Jean Marie, Manuel d'épigraphie romane, Paris, 2005.
López Barja, Pedro, Epigrafía latina: las inscripciones romanas desde los orígenes al siglo III d.C., Santiago de Compostela, 1993.
Susini, Gian Carlo, Epigrafia romana, Roma, 1982.
Ancient numismatics repertories:
Crawford, M. H., Roman Republican Coinage , Cambridge, 1974.
Amandry, M., Burnett, A. M., Mairat, J., Metcalf, W. E., Roman Provincial Coinage , Paris‐Londres, 1992
A.A. V.V., Roman Imperial Coinage, 9 vols., Londres, 1923‐2007.
Catalogues and reference works for medieval numismatics:
Balaguer, A. M. Història de la moneda dels comtats catalans , 1999
Crusafont, M., Acuñaciones de la Corona Catalano-Aragonesa y de los Reinos de Aragón y Navarra. Medioevo y tránsito a la Edad Moderna, Editorial Vico & Segarra, Madrid, 1992
Vico, J. et al., Corpus nummorum visigothorum , Madrid, 2006
Vives Escudero, A, Monedas de las dinastías arábigo-españolas , 1893 (ed. facsímil, Extramuros, 2008).
Software
It does not require the use of any specific software.
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |