Many of the world’s great ancient civilizations flourished on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea: the Egyptians, the Minoans and Mycenaeans, the Greeks and the Romans, just to name a few. In this course, we will focus on the ways that archaeologists recover and interpret the material traces of the past, working alongside natural scientists, historians, and art historians, epigraphers and philologists, and many others. Archaeological sites and themes from over 2000 years of Mediterranean History will be presented.

The course will involve lecture, discussion, and examination of exhibits and artifacts. Several invited lecturers will discuss their archaeological research, thus giving you and opportunity to hear from experts in each geographical area and chronological area. This course is a non-technical introduction that assumes no prior knowledge of archaeology.