Archaeology

The course will deal with the issues related to the archeology of production, trade and consumption, retracing the journey made by the main classes of artefacts studied from archaeologists from the moment of their making to that of final burial. After a brief introduction on the history of material culture, the production cycles of these materials (ceramics, glass, metal, stone, wood, fabrics, etc.) will be analyzed, retracing the individual chaînes operatoires. The systems used for the distribution of goods from the production to the consumption centers will then be considered, examining the terrestrial and maritime/fluvial routes, and the places connected to the storage and disposal of goods. Finally, the economic life of a sample center will be investigated as a case study. Taking advantage of the skills acquired in the first part of the course, the main stages of the economic life of this city will be studied, evaluating how – over time – local productions and imports have met the needs of its inhabitants. Particular attention will be paid to the sources, tools and methods used by archaeologists, historians, epigraphists, philologists, anthropologists, ethnologists in the reconstruction of the economy taken into account.