Aims

This module covers the archaeology of Bronze Age and Iron Age Greece between 1600BC and 500BC. This period witnessed the rise and fall of the 'Mycenaean civilisation' and the rise of the classical Greek city states. It is a time that is extremely important for understanding later classical Greece because within it most of the characteristics of classical Greek society and culture developed. However, it is also an era that is largely lacking in contemporary texts. The oral traditions of later Greece have played a large role in modern understandings of the period. Scholars have often looked to the myths and legends preserved in the works of Homer, Hesiod and Herodotus to shed light on living conditions and historical developments during this time. But the Late Bronze and Iron Age also has a very rich archaeological record. It is, therefore, an ideal case study to look at how archaeology and later tradition combine in the study of societies at the end of prehistory.

The earliest stories from Greece are about the destruction of ancient generations of heroes by the gods and the voyages of lost seafarers. Greece in late prehistory witnessed massive changes: first, the rise of a wealthy urban palatial society, then the collapse of that society and the rise of a totally new type of urban society, without palaces but centred on communal places of worship. Throughout these changes Greece was connected to other societies around the Mediterranean including both ancient empires, like Egypt, and similarly developing urban communities, like those in Iron Age Italy.

This module aims to explore the big questions of this era:
- Why do civilisations rise and fall?
- Why are some ancient societies dominated by kings whereas others have more broad power structures?
- Where do the cultural forms and social institutions of classical Greece come from?
- How was Greece influenced by other societies in the Mediterranean as it developed?
- How do oral traditions, myths and legends, relate to other forms of evidence from late prehistory?
- Did the relics of late prehistory impact on the way the classical Greeks understood their past?

Outline Of Syllabus

This module covers a topic where new discoveries are made every year and the international scholarly debate is constantly developing. Because of this, the precise topics covered will change from year to year.
The syllabus will consist of a series of weekly themes organised in chronological order. Typical weekly themes might include:
- The Shaft Graves at Mycenae and the emergence of rulership
- Life in a Mycenaean palace
- Mycenaean Greece and the 'First International Age'
- Archaeology and the Trojan war
- The collapse of Bronze Age civilisation: from Sea Peoples to climate change
- Greeks, Cypriots and Phoenicians in the making of the Iron Age Mediterranean
- Homer’s society and the Iron Age
- The origins and development of Greek religion
- Class war and the beginning of the Greek city state
- Egypt, Phoenicia, Anatolia and the making of Greek culture
- The archaeology of Greek hero cult

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The Lectures introduce students to the key theories, pieces of evidence (material, visual), and interpretations from the scholarship. This provides the background needed for the students to pursue guided research and independent critical analysis.

The seminars will focus on building the students’ skills in the analysis of primary material, visual and archaeological evidence. By engaging in discussion of the relative merits of different types of evidence and approach, students’ evaluative, oral and presentational skills will be developed.

The drop-in sessions support students in preparing for assessments and in reflecting on the feedback from assessments.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The poster will allow the students to focus on a particular element of material culture. It will develop and assess the following intended learning outcomes:
- Detailed knowledge of key archaeological sites and elements of material culture from the period.
- A critical understanding of the key debates in the scholarship
- A critical understanding of current approaches to the archaeological evidence
- distinguishing and evaluating key arguments in modern publications,
- identifying and critiquing the links between evidence and higher order interpretations,
- analysing written, visual and material culture from the ancient world,
- succinctly presenting complex ideas in a visual medium,
- time management,
- bibliographic, library and database research skills.

The essay will be a more broad analytical piece of work that will develop and assess the following intended learning outcomes:
- distinguishing and evaluating key arguments in modern publications,
- identifying and critiquing the links between evidence and higher order interpretations,
- analysing written, visual and material culture from the ancient world,
- composing coherent arguments supported by evidence.
- bibliographic, library and database research skills,
- writing and revising analytic prose.

The formative assessment will provide feedback to help the students perform optimally in their essay.