Current course offerings

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Course description

ARCA2150 introduces students to the archaeology of ancient states and urban societies through investigation of the region in which they first appeared: southwest Asia (also known as The Near East). Drawing on the archaeological record from Mesopotamia, Anatolia and the Levant (Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan), ARCA2150 asks `what is civilisation, when did it start and how do we know?' Starting with an introduction to the region's geography, the course explores how we conceptualise and investigate past societies, reviewing the influence, origins and rejection of civilisation theory in archaeology. We then trace how societies changed, a review of the Palaeolithic and Neolithic ¿ in which farming and sedentary societies emerged ¿ gives context to the increasingly complex societies of the Chalcolithic, Bronze and Iron Age (c. 4000-300 BCE). Drawing primarily on the archaeological record from architecture, artefacts, human remains, ecofacts and landscapes, we trace the rise, and occasionally the fall, of ancient complex societies, including the first cities and empires. An important part of the course is understanding the continuing importance of the ancient world in the politics and culture of this region globally, and we reflect on the ethics and consequences of its archaeological and museum practices. ARCA2150 consists of a series of lectures presenting the chronological narrative and key themes of southwest Asian archaeological practice, complemented by practical workshops run with the R.D. Milns Antiquities Museum in which key course concepts and classes of artefacts will be investigated using the museum collection.

Archived offerings