78035 - Archaeology and Art History of Medieval Europe (1) (LM)

Academic Year 2024/2025

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student knows in depth the European medieval civilization in the period that involves the rise of the Christian religion and the Middle Ages. Through the examination of a specific theme, analysed in order to illustrate the correct methods of interpretation, the student learns every type of data and possesses the tools to critically deal with the issues related to the period under examination and their historical contextualization. The course gives the possibility to obtain the critical ability to set up and carry out a methodologically correct research using every kind of source.

Course contents

The course is divided into two sections. The main themes and methodologies of Medieval Archaeology in Europe will be presented during the first section. The lessons will therefore address the ways of city dwelling and farming the countryside since the Early Middle Ages to the Modern age (5th-15th c.); Archaeology of craftsman, production and building techniques; the evolution of funerary practices and ritual. In a second section a number of specific insights about the origins and evolution of the European castles and rural settlements will be carried out through the study of material evidence.

Readings/Bibliography

Attending students:

Irene Barbiera, Memorie sepolte. Tombe e identità nell'alto Medioevo (secoli V-VIII), Roma: Carocci.

Debora Ferreri, Spazi cimiteriali, pratiche funerarie e identità nella città di Classe, in «Archeologia Medievale», XXXVIII (2011), pp. 59-74.

Tadhg O'Keeffe, Matthias Untermann, Religious buildings, in James Graham-Campbell (ed.), The Archaeology of Medieval Europe, Vol. 1: The Eighth to Twelfth Centuries AD, Aarhus University Press, Aarhus 2007, pp. 398-419.

Martin Carver, Cathedral and Monasteries, in Martin Carver, Jan Klápštè (eds.), The Archaeology of Medieval Europe, Vol. 2, Twelfth to Sixteenth Centuries, Aarhus University Press, Aarhus 2011, pp. 442-466.

Letture consigliate:

Chris Wickam, L'Europa nel Medioevo, Carocci Editore, Roma, 2020.

Enrico Cirelli, Archeologia e cultura materiale nel medioevo, BUP Bononia University Press, Bologna, 2021.

Teaching methods

The course is structured in frontal lessons and discussion of the data presented with the students. Visits and seminars will also be offered on the main sites mentioned during the classes.

Assessment methods

Oral exam about the contents of the classes (for attendants) and the recommended readings (for those who will not be able to follow the classes). Learning contents and methods will be evaluated. Lessons and knowledge required for discipline, the demonstration of the possession of an expressive and specific speaking will be evaluated with the highest grade.

Teaching tools

During the lesson, archaeological contexts and themes will be presented through simple slides and with plans and texts distributed to the classroom and left available to non-attendants on my web page.

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students .

Office hours

See the website of Enrico Cirelli