Archaeology
The minor Archaeology aims to connect material culture to written sources, and to teach you the methodological aspects of archaeological research. To achieve this, the minor takes you beyond the classroom to gain first-hand knowledge.
Summary
Number of EC | 30 EC |
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Number of courses | 4 compulsory courses |
Start | Block 3 |
Coordinator | |
Course overview | |
Code minor | ARC-MINOR |
Entry requirements |
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Associated MA-programmes |
Register between 4 November and 22 November 2024 |
Make sure to register for the minor as well as all its courses |
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Contents of the minor
The minor Archaeology takes you from the first Bronze Age trading networks to the great empires of the Greeks, Romans, and Carolingians, through the history of material culture of the premodern Mediterranean and Europe. The civilizations that thrived in this region left behind an astonishingly wide array of archaeological evidence that can be studied to reconstruct their identities, religious beliefs, and socio-political institutions. This evidence includes a great variety of monuments and artefacts that range from everyday pots, coins, and tools, to luxury items, monumental graves, and the most splendid religious buildings.
This minor will help you find your way around the material cultures of the Ancient and Medieval World, from the Mediterranean to our own Domplein in Utrecht. Central questions in all four courses are ‘how do we study material culture?’ and ‘how can we answer historical questions with the help of archaeology?’. Guided by these questions, the Archaeology Minor will help you connect material culture to the written sources, for example by linking historical data about trade, religion, or politics with find assemblages, status objects or architectural remains.
Besides this cultural-historical approach, attention will be paid to the methodological aspects of archaeological research. Our aim is to regularly take you beyond the classroom with visits to archaeological excavations and museums, experiments with the archaeologist’s equipment and first-hand research on archaeological objects.
The minor consists of an introductory course laying the methodological and theoretical foundations of archaeological research. The three subsequent courses deals with the material cultures of Classical Greek antiquity, Ancient Rome, and the Medieval Period. All courses include hands-on training, such as handling archaeological objects and studying archaeological sites in person.
Aims
The aim of this minor is to help you get acquainted with and reflect on:
- Technical, theoretical and ethical aspects of doing archaeological research
- The study of ancient and medieval objects
- The role of material culture in answering historical questions
We welcome second and third year Bachelor students who have a clear affinity with the material culture of the past. The minor Archaeology will help you understand the use and importance of material culture and incorporate the various archaeological methodologies and theories in their respective majors, master’s programs or professional careers.
We expect that you possess (and develop further) broad cognitive skills that allow you to process cultural-historical and technical-theoretical problems and to implement them in a practical setting.
Matching Bachelor Programmes
The Archaeology Minor represents a useful practical and theoretical addition to almost every track imaginable within the Department of History and Art History, as well as some programmes within the Faculty of Geosciences.
More information
If you wish to know more, or have questions about this minor, please contact the Student Desk Humanities.
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