THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2022/2023

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of History, Classics and Archaeology : Classical Art/Classical Archaeology

Undergraduate Course: Death and Burial in the Greek World (CACA10048)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course offers a holistic exploration of Greek burial customs covering a wide range of case studies (e.g. Argos, Athens, Corinth, Miletos, Vergina) during the Geometric to the early Hellenistic periods. It will familiarise students with the archaeological evidence (contexts incl. grave goods, images, topography) and offer insights into theoretical and methodological approaches and current academic debates.
Course description This course is designed to familiarise students with a variety of preserved burial contexts as well as the associated material culture (e.g. images, monuments and artefacts). We will examine a representative range of the considerable corpus of archaeological evidence for Greek burial customs from the Geometric to Early Hellenistic periods.

The course will cover not only the way in which humans buried humans but also what this can tell us about the Greek society during different historical periods and in different parts of the Greek World. Students will gain a deeper insight into the variety of grave types, rituals and associated objects and will be encouraged to use this knowledge to discuss theoretical and methodological approaches on how to interpret them. In-class discussion and in-class presentation will further enhance students' ability to evaluate and communicate diverging opinions of academic debates, as well as to develop their own viewpoints.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: The Greek World 1A: Greece in the Making (CLGE08001) AND The Greek World 1B: Greece's New Horizons (CLGE08002) AND Greek Art and Archaeology (CACA08012)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Students MUST NOT also be taking Death and Burial in the Greek World (PGHC11517)
Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting students should usually have at least 3 courses in Classics, History or Archaeology (at least 1 of which should be in Classical Art and Archaeology) at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses.

** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course **
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2022/23, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  21
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 11, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 11, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 172 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 50 %, Coursework 50 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Coursework: 3,000 word Essay (50%)
Exam: 2 hour paper (50%)
Feedback Students are expected to discuss their coursework with the Course Organiser at least once prior to submission, and are encouraged to do so more often. Meetings can take place with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment. Students will also receive feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate, by way of class discussions, coursework and examination, research skills in classical archaeology.
  2. Demonstrate, by way of class discussions, coursework and examination, an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant evidence for Greek burials and modern academic discourse.
  3. 3. Demonstrate, by way of class discussion, coursework and examination, a greater understanding of Greek burial customs from current theoretical and methodological approaches.
  4. Demonstrate, by way of class discussions, coursework and examination, the ability to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence around material culture, especially contexts and objects related to death and burial in the ancient Greek world.
  5. Demonstrate, by way of class discussions, coursework and examination independence of mind and an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
Reading List
Dimitriadou, E. M. (2019). Early Athens: Settlements and the cemeteries during the Submycenaean, Geometric and Archaic periods. California: Cotsen Institute of Arts, University of California.

Henry, O., & Kelp, U. (2016). Tumulus as sema: Space, politics, culture and religion in the first millennium BC. Berlin Boston: De Gruyter.

Hermary, A., & Dubois, C. (2012). L'enfant et la mort dans l'Antiquité. Paris Aix-en-Provence: Centre Camille Jullian Errance (incl. articles in engl.)

Kurtz, D. C., & Boardman, J. (1971). Greek burial customs. London: Thames & Hudson.

Mee, C. (2012). Death and burial. The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Tarlow, S., & Nilsson Stutz, L. (2013). The Oxford Handbook of the archaeology of death and burial (First edition.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Slane, K. W. (2017). Tombs, burials, and commemoration in Corinth's northern cemetery. Princeton, NJ: American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

Sourvinou-Inwood, C. (1996). 'Reading' Greek death: To the end of the classical period. Oxford, England : New York: Clarendon Press ; Oxford University Press.

Sporn, K., Kalogeroudi, E., & Kasubke, E. (2013). Griechische Grabbezirke klassischer Zeit: Normen und Regionalismen ; Akten des Internationalen Kolloquiums am Deutschen Archäologischen Institut, Abteilung Athen, 20. - 21. November 2009. München: Hirmer. (includes articles in english).

Vlachou, V. 2012. Death and Burial in the Greek World, ThesCRA VIII, Add. to vol. VI, 363-384.

Wittke, A.-M. (2018). The Early Mediterranean World, 1200-600 BC. Brill's New Pauly.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Anja Slawisch
Tel: (0131 6)50 6693
Email: Anja.Slawisch@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Katherine Perry
Tel:
Email: kperry2@ed.ac.uk
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