Mediterranean Archaeology

Holocene Archaeology of Mediterranean Africa The course presents a reconstruction of the climatic, environmental, and cultural characteristics of African countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea and the Saharan region. It will therefore cover the main cultural developments of hunting and gathering communities, the mechanisms of transition to a productive economy based on livestock farming and agricultural practices. The main contexts of analysis include the Sahara regions, the oases of the western Egyptian desert, and the areas along the Nile Valley, from Egypt to Nubia.

Basic knowledge of English and French is recommended.

Mitchell, P. and P. Lane, Eds. (2013). The Oxford Handbook of African Archaeology. Oxford Handbooks in Archaeology. Oxford, Oxford University Press. (chapters 1, 30-31, 34-37) PDFs and other material distributed during the course. Non-attenders must agree on a supplementary programme.

Course attendance is not compulsory to do the oral exam, but highly recommended.

The final test is oral and can only be taken at the end of the course. The oral test is aimed at assessing the overall knowledge acquired: in particular, familiarity with the theoretical and methodological aspects, together with the specific issues addressed during the lessons

The course is organized into introductory lectures on general topics, whose total number is based on the degree of preparation of students and skills already acquired in the Africanist field. last two lessons are dedicated to comparisons and general discussion.