FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF PREHISTORIC ARTEFACTS
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2021/2022
- Teacher
- STEFANO GRIMALDI
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- BIO/08
Training objectives
- Students will approach the study of prehistoric lithic tools through a dual anthropological and archaeological perspective in order to develop a full understanding of the limits and potential of a "behavioral" analysis of artifacts. At the end of the course, students will be able to plan the publication of a study related to prehistoric lithic artifacts by evaluating which macroscopic, microscopic and archaeometric analyses can be performed and for what purpose.
Prerequisites
- The lab is strongly recommended for students interested in the study of lithic industries.
Students are required to have:
A- an excellent knowledge of Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic chronology and cultures.
B- the ability to read scientific articles in Italian, English and French.
C- the ability to write correctly in Italian and/or English.
D- the absence of any barrier in the manual handling of organic animal materials. Course programme
- The course will cover the following topics:
(a) Principles, Methods, and Tools:
The study of lithic industries is understood here as the result of interdisciplinary investigations. To this end, the history of the different approaches developed to date will be traced. At the same time, students will be guided in learning the basic principles of different analytical techniques and in the interpretation of prehistoric tools on the basis of an anthropological approach.
b) Microscopic and archaeometric techniques:
Students will have the opportunity to learn the functioning of some instrumentation useful for carrying out functional analysis (optical and digital microscopy) and archaeometric investigations of lithic tools (e.g. SEM, XRF, FTIR) at the LaBAAF of the University of Trento. This will allow to evaluate the potential of some detailed analyses and the limits of the techniques with respect to the archaeological material to be analyzed.
c) Experimental Archaeology:
The experimental activity will be used to discuss the basic principles of technology and typology. In addition, students will be able to make artifacts on their own in order to carry out the laboratory activities and to produce the final paper. Didactic methods
- The course includes lectures and laboratory exercises based on the course content for a total of 30 hours. The lectures will cover a total of 14 hours while the 16 hours of laboratory activities will be carried out in Trento in two full time days.
Students who intend to attend the course are strongly encouraged to contact the teacher by email within one month from the beginning of the course informing him of their participation. Learning assessment procedures
- Final Evaluation (for attending students):
Each student must provide a term paper via email. The delivery of the paper can take place at any time after participation in the course and the outcome will be recorded at the first useful call following receipt. Students are invited to propose materials and topics of their interest for the final paper already during the course.
Final evaluation (for non-attending students and for students who will not participate in the laboratory activities):
Each student will be required to provide a term paper via email. In addition, the student will have to present his/her paper with a short oral presentation during which the course content will be discussed. Students are invited to propose materials and topics of their interest for the final paper. The bibliography for the development of the paper will be agreed with the teacher according to the topic chosen for the paper. The test can be done remotely, so it is not necessary to move to Trento on the day of the call.
Final Evaluation (for all):
For both attending and non-attending students, the paper must have the format of a scientific article and can be written in Italian or English. The paper must respect the editorial characteristics of the journal Quaternary International (guidelines http://www.journals.elsevier.com/quaternary-international). The paper must deal with a specific research theme in which the topics of the course are strongly characterized. Each student can propose the theme of the paper independently or can choose one of the topics proposed by the teacher.
The paper will be evaluated in thirtieths on the basis of the originality of the research proposed, the quality of the structuring of the article, the correct use of the bibliography, the iconographic development, the reliability of the methodological approach, the coherence of the data analysis, the contextualization of the results and the personal discussion of the data with respect to the published material. Reference texts
- Due to the laboratory and experimental nature of the course, texts will be provided during class and agreed upon with students based on the topics of the final paper.
