OVERVIEW

This course focuses on the theoretical, methodological and historiographical development of postmedieval and rural archaeologies as autonomous disciplines in different European countries. These archaeologies aim at the recognition of the relationships between the transformations of the environmental resources management (whose traces can be traced both inside and outside the archaeological site), the changes of local societies and the settlement dynamics. Particular attention will be paid to the dialogue between disciplines -necessary in the study of the most recent past-, as well as the confrontation between research approaches and methodologies, particularly to those debates related to the construction of historical archaeology.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to train in the reading, understanding and critical interpretations of archaeological sources for the study of the centuries of the modern and contemporary age, introducing the history of the discipline and the main research directions (urban archaeology, colonial and conflict archaeology, archeology mountain, agricultural and rural archaeology, new materialisms etc.) in the comparison between the Italian case and other European cases and with particular attention to the theoretical-methodological perspectives of historical archaeology. For the themes of rural archaeology, approaches and methods of studying rural spaces will be explored in depth to provide the tools to read the current rural landscape with a historical and diachronic perspective.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course will build a narrative around postmedieval archaeologies considering all those research approaches which aims at reconstructing the history of recent societies through their material evidence, thus addressing not only the problem of the density of the archaeological traces, but also the question of the availability of other historical sources (documentary, cartographical, iconographical, etc.) or living memories (oral sources, animal and vegetal environments). Thus the course will pay particular attention to the dialogue with different disciplines (from anthropology and sociology to historical geography and natural sciences) and the analysis of rural spaces.

This course will delve into the diverse archaeological approaches departing for these ideas, proposing these main aims:

Postmedieval Archaeology

- Historiographical enquiry of the different research approaches which have contributed, in the different European countries, to the definition of postmedieval archaeology as an autonomous discipline, and of those theoretical and methodological approaches which focuses on the modern and contemporary past.

- Building of the theoretical and methodological tools to critically confront the interdisciplinary dialogue and the problem of the equipollence of historical sources through the debates and dialectics of historical archaeology and the construction and experimentation of the archaeology of the present and the contemporary past.

Rural archaeology

- Understanding of the historical relationships between artifacts, ecofacts, animal populations . Through different specific examples from Italian and European contexts, this course will present and discuss the instruments and methods of rural archaeology, i.e. the analysis which aims to the archaeological study of the environmental resources and the understanding of how resources are controlled, produced and reproduced in past societies through specific agrarian, pastoral and silvicultural systems based on empirical agronomy and technical knowledge. A rural archaeology that aims at the identification of the relationships between the transformation of the environmental resource management, the transformation of local societies and the populations dynamics.

At the end of the course students will acquire knowledge of the theories, concepts and historiographical methods of the main approaches of the archaeological analysis of modern and contemporary societies and the specific lexicon related to the addressed topics and themes. They will be able to critically confront the immense amount of bibliography on the topic and the dialogues and debates among methodologies of research that use different sources as well as will have the instruments for the critical analyses of the studies carried out on postmedieval periods and on the history of rural landscapes and societies.

Students from History and those who attend Rural Archaeology as an integration of "Landscape Archaeology" 9CFU, at the end of the course will control the tools for a critical analysis of the studies carried out on the history of rural societies and landscapes and to carry out autonomous observation of rural and landscape archaeology.

PREREQUISITES

There are no prior requirements.

This course aims to those students interested on the development of recent archaeology and the analyses of rural spaces.

TEACHING METHODS

This course is seminar-based using presentations and eventual audiovisual support. Assistance is highly recommended. Lessons will be held only in presence. Fieldwork lessons, visits and museum experiences are expected. During the course it is scheduled the critical reading and debate of documents and texts. Written exercises in class or at home will be organized, which will be used as course landmarks. Based on the bibliographical references, students will have the opportunity to build an individual study plan.

Part of the materials will be available in AulaWeb.

Students with certified DSA, disabilities or other learning disorders are invited to contact the lecturer and the School/Department's relevant officer at the beginning of the course, to agree on possible teaching arrangements that, while respecting the teaching objectives, take into account individual learning methods.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

This course's contents revolves around some key issues: the main topics and approaches of post-medieval archaeology; theoretical and methodological approaches of historical archaeology; the problem of density of the recent traces and the interdisciplinary approaches of rural archaeology. Starting from these contents, this course will present different approaches regarding the following topics:

Postmedieval Archaeology

Historiographical questions and research theory

- Debates, paths and the first development of postmedieval archaeology in Italy and Europe

- Historical archaeology the interdisciplinary dialogue starting from materiality (equipollence and critical analysis of historical sources)

Topics in postmedieval archaeology

- archaeology of conflicts; - ports and cities: archaeological markers and underwater archaeology; - archaeology of production and industrial archaeology; - archaeology of the present and of the contemporary past;  - global networks and objects between post-colonialism and decolonialism

Rural archaeology

- spaces, landscapes, and objects: methods of investigation and markers

- the relationships between settled and unsettled spaces: research strategies

-  improvments and modernisations

The programme is the same of all the students. Students who will not attend lessons will discuss and agree with the lecturer an individual list of papers and books.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Postmedieval Archaeology

Debates, paths and the first development of postmedieval archaeology in Italy and Europe

Archeologia Medievale 1974, Editoriale, «Archeologia Medievale», I, pp. 3-5.

Marco Milanese, Dall’archeologia postclassica all’archeologia postmedievale. Temi e problemi, vecchie e nuove tendenze, S. Gelichi (a cura di), Quarant’anni di Archeologia Medievale in Italia, Numero Speciale al numero XL di «Archeologia Medievale», 2014, pp. 41-49.

Postmedieval arcaheology: comparing Italian and European experiences  (the role of urban archaeology in the legimitisation of the discipline)

Marco Milanese (a cura di), Archeologia postmedievale: l’esperienza europea e l’Italia, in «Archeologia Postmedievale», 1, 1997 pp. 11-250.

Sauro Gelichi, Mauro Librenti (a cura di), Constructing Post-medieval Archaeology in Italy: a new agenda (Venice, 24th and 25th November 2006), Firenze, 2006.

2. The themes of Postmedieval Archaeology

For each theme it is possible to select and study one of the proposed volumes or, following the path built during the lectures, deepen the development of the theme, through the study of the various introductions and the reading of the books.

a. Archaeology of conflicts

Marco Milanese (a cura di), Conflict Archaeology. Archeologia delle frontiere e delle fortificazioni d’Età Moderna, "Archeologia Postmedievale" 13, 2009, pp. 10–228; Marco Milanese (a cura di), Landscapes of Conflicts e archeologia dei luoghi degli scontri, "Archeologia Postmedievale" 14, 2010, pp. 10–110; Marco Milanese (ed.), The archaeology of the First World War. Research background, projects and case studies, "Archeologia Postmedievale" 22, 2018, pp. 11–130.

b. Urban archaeology: cities and harbours

Daniele Manacorda (a cura di), Archeologia urbana a Roma: il progetto della Crypta Balbi, Firenze (vari anni 1984-1986), in particolare: Un «mondezzaro» del XVIII secolo. Lo scavo dell’ambiente 63 del Conservatorio di Santa Caterina della Rosa (solo saggi introduttivi).

Livorno. Un porto inglese nel mediterraneo, “Archeologia Postmedievale”, 19 (2015)

c. Archaeology of productions and industrial archaeology

F. Lugli, A.A. Stoppiello, M. Vidale (a cura di), Atti del “I Convegno Nazionale di Etnoarcheologia” (Roma, 7-8 maggio 1998), “Archeologia Postmedievale”, 4, 2000; Andrea Ciuffetti, Roberto Parisi (a cura di) L’Archeologia Industriale in Italia. Storie e storiografia (1978-2008), Milano, 2012 (in particolare Introduzione e pp. 111-129).

Section “Archeologia della produzione” dei fascicoli della rivista “Archeologia Postmedievale” si vedano i numeri 7 (2003); 8 (2004); 9 (2005); 11 (2007); 12 (2008); 15 (2011).

d. Trades and archaeological markers (vessels in particular)

Marco Milanese, La ceramica postmedievale in Liguria e in Toscana, Firenze, 1997.

Marco Milanese, Valentina Caminneci, Maria Concetta Parello, Maria Serena Rizzo (a cura di), Dal butto alla storia. Indagini archeologiche tra Medioevo e Postmedioevo, Atti del Convegno di Studi (Sciacca-Burgio-Ribera, 28-29 marzo 2011), “  Archeologia Postmedievale” 16, 2012.

Section about “Archeologia subacquea” dei fascicoli di “Archeologia Postmedievale” 3 (1999), 4 (2000).

e.  archaeology of the present and of the contemporary past

M. Milanese (a cura di), Atti del Convegno di Studi ‘La voce delle cose’, “Archeologia Postmedievale” 9, 2005 (saggio introduttivo); Carlos Tejerizo García, Anna Maria Stagno (eds.), Contemporary Archaeology, politics of memory and local communities: a tricky mixture?, "Archeologia Postmedievale" 27, 2023 (introduzione e conclusioni);

Un volume a scelta tra quelli di seguito elencati: Rathje, W.L.; Murphy, C. Rubbish! The Archaeology of Garbage, Tucson, 2001. Giuliano De Felice, Archeologie del contemporaneo. Paesaggi, oggetti, contesti, Carocci, 2023; Giuliano Volpe, Giuliano De Felice  (a cura di), Scavare il presente: Come l’archeologia può indagare l’Età Moderna e Contemporanea, “Archeologia Postmedievale” 25, 2021; Francesca Anichini, Tracce in movimento. Archeologia delle migrazioni contemporanee a Lampedusa, Borgo San Lorenzo, 2024;

f. archaeology and globalisations: colonialism and post-colonialism

Corinne L. Hofman Floris W.M. Keehnen (eds.), Material Encounters and Indigenous Transformations in the Early Colonial Americas Archaeological Case Studies, 2019 (in accesso aperto https://brill.com/display/title/54191?contents=toc-50344).

E’ possibile individuare anche altri temi, tra quelli non proposti attraverso la lettura e la consultazione dei fascicoli monografici delle riviste:

- “Archeologia Postmedievale” (1997- ad oggi), All'Insegna del Giglio

- “European Journal of Post-Classical Archaeologies”, SAP, Società Archeologica Lombarda.

3. Rural archaeology

Spaces objects and markers in rural archaeological investigations

Anna Maria Stagno, Gli spazi dell'archeologia rurale. Risorse ambientali e insediamenti dell'Appennino Ligure (XV-XXI secolo), All'Insegna del Giglio, Firenze, 2018.

To deepen Tiziano Mannoni, Venticinque anni di archeologia globale 3. Caratteri costruttivi dell’edilizia storica, Genova, 1996; Roberto Maggi, Carlo Montanari, Diego Moreno (a cura di) 2002, Atti del Seminario Internazionale “L’approccio storico ambientale al patrimonio rurale delle aree protette”, «Archeologia Postmedievale», 6, pp. 9-214.

Modernisations and improvements

Chris Dalglish, Rural Society in the Age of Reason: An Archaeology of the Emergence of Modern Life in the Southern Scottish Highlands, Plenum/Kluwer, New York, 2003.

Anton C. Mientjes, Mark Pluciennik, Enrico Giannitrapani, Archaeologies of Recent Rural Sicily and Sardinia: A Comparative Approach, «Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology» n°15 (2), 139–166.

To deepen James C. Scott, Seeing like a state: how certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed, New Haven, 1998; Tarlow S., The Archaeology of Improvement in Britain, 1750-1850, Londra, 2007.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Exam will be oral. Written exercises and texts on case studies or critical readings could be discussed. Written excises will contribute to the final evaluation, but are not compulsory and have temporal validity during the academic year.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral examination and the discussion of the in-progress written exercises will verify the achievement of the learning outcomes. The main assessment parameters are the mastery of the topics covered, the quality of the exposition and vocabulary used, both in the oral communication and in the written tests, and the capacity for critical and comparative reasoning.

FURTHER INFORMATION

not necessary