Description of taught courses
CultTech is composed of two semesters and a 6-month master thesis. Each semester includes four taught courses taught fully in English. All courses provide 60 ECTS and the thesis is credited with 30 ECTS.
Total MSc. Credits: 90 ECTS
Total MSc. Credits: 90 ECTS
Semester A
A1. Cultural Landscapes and Materials
This course is an introduction to the archaeology of ancient landscapes and material culture (with a focus on ceramics, metal, and stone). The course begins with an overview of Landscape Archaeology and its focus: settlement establishment and distribution, transformation of the rural landscape, communication and interaction, the role of landscape in the construction of social identities and ideology, the formation of symbolic landscapes. Case studies are drawn from Aegean Prehistory and ancient Greece (Iron Age to Hellenistic). The second part of the course addresses the production, economic role, and social significance of ceramics, metals, and stone in the Prehistoric, Greek (Archaic to Hellenistic), and Late Roman to Byzantine periods in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.
A2. Archaeometry I - ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE MATERIALS
The course provides an overview of the current state of research on Archaeological and Geo-Archaeological Materials (Pottery, Glasses, Stones, Mortars, Metals, Organics). Emphasis will be given on issues of production, manufacturing technology, use and provenance. Additionally, the most significant techniques of Absolute Dating and Isotopic Studies in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage will be discussed. Finally, basic theoretical information on Statistical Evaluation of Analytical Data / Chemometrics will be provided, to enable students to deal with the large data sets produced by analytical and dating techniques.
A3. ARCHAEOMETRY II - INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE ANALYSIS
The course will discuss the most significant techniques applied for the analysis of Cultural Heritage materials. Emphasis will be given on non-destructive and state-of-the-art techniques. For each technique, up-to-date applications in the field of Cultural Heritage will be discussed (namely: X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis, Portable and Handheld XRF Analyzers, MicroXRF Analysis of Ancient Metal Alloys, In-situ XRF Analysis of Ancient Pigments and Wall Paintings, Synchrotron Radiation Techniques, Analytical Applications and Advanced Topics to Ion Beam Technology, Spectroscopic and Laser Analytical Techniques, UV-Vis-IR, Imaging and Spectroscopy Techniques).
A4. LABORATORY TRAINING AND CHEMOMETRICS
This lab course aims to provide students with a solid practical know-how on the use of the most common analytical techniques in the field of Cultural Heritage Analysis (Stereo Microscope, FOM, Petrography, RAMAN, SEM, p-XRF, XRD). Additionally, practical training will be provided on the Statistical Evaluation of Analytical Data / Chemometrics, which is necessary to evaluate the large data sets produced by analytical techniques.
