Mediterranean Archaeology

Ancient Numismatics is generally devoted to the history of ancient coins; but in ancient societies economic activities were performed, in many instances, without relying on struck coinage. The course has then the aim to examine non-monetary economies as well as the development of coinages in the Mediterranean area. Despite the long tradition of studies in ancient Mediterranean economic history, minor attention has been given to the crucial area of pre-Roman Italy, whose tight and profound relation with wide sectors of the Mediterranean world (Phoenicians, Greeks, Iberian area...) is well known. The course will critically explore the economy of selected areas of preRoman Italy (8th – 1st BC), through different approaches to the study of material culture with the aim to investigate the underlying structures of the economic system (rules underpinning the economy of value, weight and measure systems, different kinds of transactions, …).