FORMATION PROCESSES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL DEPOSITS AND MICROMORPHOLOGY
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2018/2019
- Teacher
- DIEGO ANGELUCCI
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- L-ANT/10
Training objectives
- The course is meant to provide students with the concepts and the tools for describing and analysing archaeological sediments and soils and for reconstructing site formation processes under a geoarchaeological point of view. Students will acquire knowledge about the origin, characteristics and classification of sediments and soils, with special attention to natural formation processes and an introduction to anthropic dynamics, also by recalling formation environments. Concepts on archaeological stratigraphy and on analytical and microscopic techniques for the study of archaeological deposits will be also recalled. Students will acquire skills for describing archaeological deposits – even under a formal perspective –, for comprehending their genesis, for putting them in context and for understanding their organisation; middle-range objectives are the acquisition of specific geoarchaeological vocabulary, the ability to read geoarchaeological literature and to understand information derived from soil micromorphology.
Prerequisites
- Being an advanced course, students are expected to have previous knowledge of some themes. To reach the training objectives, students are required to possess: (1) good knowledge on: excavation and recording methods (archaeological units and stratigraphy, sampling methods…), stratigraphy (main laws, branches, basic units…), Quaternary geology (duration of Quaternary, subdivisions, climate change…); (2) knowledge on: geology, geomorphology, components of archaeological deposits (minerals, rocks, artefacts, ecofacts…); main properties of sediments (grain size, shape, sorting…); main sedimentary environments (fluvial, lacustrine, glacial & periglacial environments as well as spring, slopes, caves & rockshelters); main properties of soils (soil profiles, horizons, soil formation); (3) basic knowledge on: physico-chemical laboratory analyses and basics of optical microscopy.
Course programme
- Sediments: definition, classification (short), properties, sedimentary environments, anthropogenic processes. Soil: definition, organizations, characteristics; weathering, soil forming factors and processes, classification (short), paleosoils (short), archaeopedology. Field description of archaeological deposits; laboratory routine analyses (short); micromorphology. Archaeological stratigraphy.
Didactic methods
- The course includes lectures, seminars and field trips.
Learning assessment procedures
- Oral exam; preparation and presentation of a report on a specific geoarchaeological subject.
Students are expected to prepare and present a report ('seminar') on a specific theme, which will be chosen at the beginning of the course. Steps are as follows: (1) choice of a specific topic within the proposed theme; (2) bibliographic research (re the topic) – at least two international scientific papers; (3) expose (critically) data obtained from the bibliographic research; (4) prepare a slide-show (ppt, prezi or whatever); (5) if needed, submit the slide-show for evaluation and correction – at least ten days before oral exam; (6) present and discuss the paper during the exam. The requirements of the report presentation are as follows: maximum duration of the speech, 10 minutes; 10 minutes discussion; presentation in Italian or English language (students who want to give their talk in other languages are requested to contact me); do not forget to indicate your name and the title of the report in the first slide and bibliographic references in the last ones. The evaluation of the report will be based on (quantity and quality of) bibliographic research, on the topic chosen, on quality and clarity of your talk and on the discussion. Reference texts
- P. Goldberg & R.I. Macphail, 2006. Practical and Theoretical Geoarchaeology. Blackwell Science, Oxford. Papers on specific themes will be provided during the course.
