PREHISTORY AND PROTOHISTORY OF NEAR AND MIDDLE EAST ADVANCED COURSE IA

Course objectives

In consistency with the educational purposes of the whole teaching course, aim of the teaching unit is to give students knowledge and comprehension skills in the field of PREHISTORY AND PROTOSTORY OF THE NEAR AND MIDDLE EAST ADVANCED IA, that complete and/or reinforce those acquired in the first grade of studies. Moreover, it will make the students able to approach orginal themes in a research context, making more complex judgments, communicating knowledge and its process, and studying the subject in an independent and self-educational way. Knowledge and understanding of the main formation processes of the first sedentary communities and early hierarchical pre-state societies in the Near East. Analysis of the regional diversities (cultural, social, environmental, and economic) that brought to the early urban and state societies. The regions involved are: Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Levant, Egypt, and Iran.

Channel 1
FRANCESCA BALOSSI RESTELLI Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
At the Origins of Domestication: Communities, Rituals, and Landscapes in Southeastern Anatolia (10th–9th millennium BCE) This seminar will focus on the transition toward plant and animal domestication in Southeastern Anatolia, a key region for understanding the economic, social, and symbolic transformations that led to the emergence of agriculture and animal husbandry. Through the examination of sites currently under excavation and research — including Göbekli Tepe, Karahan Tepe, Gre Filla, Boncuklu Tarla, and others — the course will explore architectural evidence, material culture, archaeobotanical, and zooarchaeological data. Students will be encouraged to critically reflect on processes of sedentarization, changes in subsistence strategies, and the ritual and symbolic dimensions of these early communities. The course will combine lectures by the professor, providing theoretical background and site analyses, with student-led seminar sessions, during which excavation data and interpretative models from recent scholarship will be discussed collectively. Emphasis will be placed on interdisciplinary approaches and the critical evaluation of data, fostering a nuanced and dynamic understanding of the so-called “Neolithization” process.
Prerequisites
Have attended the basic course of Prehistory and Protohistory of the Near and Middle East I. those who have not given the introductory exam but want to take this one are requested to contact the professor
Books
specific texts shall be handed out during the course
Frequency
the course will take place during academic year 2025-6.
Exam mode
The course is organized as a seminar work to which they will actively participate. Students will thus be followed and also evaluated as work is in progress.
Lesson mode
The course is organized as a seminar work to which they will actively participate. Students will thus be followed and also evaluated as work is in progress.
FRANCESCA BALOSSI RESTELLI Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
At the Origins of Domestication: Communities, Rituals, and Landscapes in Southeastern Anatolia (10th–9th millennium BCE) This seminar will focus on the transition toward plant and animal domestication in Southeastern Anatolia, a key region for understanding the economic, social, and symbolic transformations that led to the emergence of agriculture and animal husbandry. Through the examination of sites currently under excavation and research — including Göbekli Tepe, Karahan Tepe, Gre Filla, Boncuklu Tarla, and others — the course will explore architectural evidence, material culture, archaeobotanical, and zooarchaeological data. Students will be encouraged to critically reflect on processes of sedentarization, changes in subsistence strategies, and the ritual and symbolic dimensions of these early communities. The course will combine lectures by the professor, providing theoretical background and site analyses, with student-led seminar sessions, during which excavation data and interpretative models from recent scholarship will be discussed collectively. Emphasis will be placed on interdisciplinary approaches and the critical evaluation of data, fostering a nuanced and dynamic understanding of the so-called “Neolithization” process.
Prerequisites
Have attended the basic course of Prehistory and Protohistory of the Near and Middle East I. those who have not given the introductory exam but want to take this one are requested to contact the professor
Books
specific texts shall be handed out during the course
Frequency
the course will take place during academic year 2025-6.
Exam mode
The course is organized as a seminar work to which they will actively participate. Students will thus be followed and also evaluated as work is in progress.
Lesson mode
The course is organized as a seminar work to which they will actively participate. Students will thus be followed and also evaluated as work is in progress.
  • Lesson code1038425
  • Academic year2025/2026
  • CourseArchaeology
  • CurriculumArcheologia e civiltà del medioevo
  • Year2nd year
  • Duration12 months
  • SSDL-ANT/01
  • CFU6