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Module description

This course provides students with an overview on Mediterranean interaction during the Iron Age (broadly conceived, namely circa 1000 BC-late 5th century BC) by concentrating on trade contacts and economic relations, visible in the material culture of various Mediterranean regions. The focus will be twofold: on the material culture used by scholars for reconstructing trade and on the different models and economic theories employed to understand trade. The lectures and seminars will be organised according to different themes (sources, theories, trade and religion, trade and the city, coinage), and will concern a selection of regions rather than the whole Mediterranean basin.

Module Aims

The course aims to provide students with an overview on Iron Age Mediterranean trade contacts and economic relations, visible in the material culture of various Mediterranean regions.

Objectives:

1) To introduce issues around the study of ancient economy and trade in Iron Age Mediterranean by focusing in detail on a series of themes and on related methodological and theoretical issues.

2) To encourage a strong comparative approach to the subject by drawing in some knowledge of material culture from across the Mediterranean.

3) To inform the material culture under study with theoretical and interpretative approaches that the student may also gain in further depth from other courses.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course students should:

• have acquired a basic knowledge of various issues around ancient economy and trade of 1stmillennium BC Mediterranean

• be able to apply the range of theoretical and interpretative approaches that have informed recent research on the ancient Mediterranean economy and trade

• understand the complexity of trade links across the Mediterranean through the study of material culture