2019-20

The course examines the following topics: Definition of paleoanthropology, human evolution from fossil apes to modern humans, human species, human evolutionary anatomy, paleolithic technologies, life histories of hominins, excavation techniques and radiometric dating and microanalyses.

The course introduces the student to prehistoric culture and lays emphasis on the Greek world. The historical survey covers all periods of prehistory, from the appearance of man to the Bronze Age. It includes matters such as the evolution of man and the material culture of the Paleolithic period both in the rest of Europe and in Greece, the culture of the Neolithic period in Greece and Bronze Age communities.

The course examines material culture, the organization and use of space and architecture in Neolithic communities in Thessaly, Macedonia and Thrace. It examines the history or archaeological research in northern Greece in general and problems of dating the various phases of the Neolithic period.

The course introduces students to aspects and areas of the splendid civilization that Byzantium developed.  The course examines various matters, such as Byzantine society, daily life in city and countryside, state administration, philanthropy, education, the Church, monasticism and the refulgence cast by Byzantium over her neighbours.  It also offers an analysis of medieval Greek literature and intellectual culture.  It does not, however, deal with the various art forms that reached a peak in Byzantium (These matters are dealt with in detail in courses concerning Byzantine art).