Università Roma Tre

The course is structured in two 36 hours modules.


The first module (first semester) deals with the acquisition of general themes of pre- and protohistoric archaeology (specially the Italian scene) and will be dedicated also to the visit of Roman prehistoric museums and/or archaeological sites.

The second module deals with The birth and development of archaeological stratigraphy between 1961 and the middle of XX century.
What is exactly the archaeological stratigraphy and when it became the cornerstone of our discipline?
The principle according to which in a succession of strata the lower are the older and the higher are the younger of the serie was understood yet in the XVIII century from the geologists; the prehistorians of the XIX century had a sufficient expertise to identify the archaeological strata in the settlements.
From the published sections we know that very rarely they characterized the single strata; at the same time the scientific reports allow us to say that during the excavations they dug each layer with artificial horizontal cuts rather than following correctly the surfaces of the strata (Guidi, Tarantini, in press).
As a matter of fact, the establishment of stratigraphy as a key factor in archaeological excavation, is an innovation that we can date to the beginning of the 20th century.
This step was made also in Italy; the module will be centered on the most significative advances of the stratigraphical excavation , from the pioneer experinces by Giacomo Boni to the funfamental excavations led by Luigi Bernabò Brea in the central decades of the XX century. Some expert will also come to speak about this argument.

Texts for the exam

D.Cocchi Genick, Preistoria, Verona 2009, pp. 11-53 e 135-307.
A.Guidi, Preistoria della complessità sociale, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2000, pp. 140-193.
A.M.Bietti Sestieri, L’Italia nell’età del bronzo e nell’età del ferro, Roma 2010.

Bibliography of the second module



M. Tarantini Tradizioni e tensioni disciplinari nell’archeologia preistorica italiana tra Ottocento e
Novecento, in Origini XXII, 2000, pp. 7-42.
La storia dell'archeologia preistorica italiana nel contesto europeo, in N.Terrenato (a cura di), Archeologia teorica, Firenze 2000, pp. 23-37.
A.Guidi (a cura di) 150 anni di preistoria e protostoria in Italia, Studi di Preistoria e Protostoria 1, Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria, (Atti del congresso dell’IIPP, Roma 2011) , Firenze 2014 (general papers and other articles to communicate to students).
A.Guidi, M.Tarantini, The Emergence Of Stratigraphic Archaeology In Mediterranean Europe. The Italian Case-Study (1900-1950), in Acta Archaeologica, forthcoming.


Not attending students:

D.Cocchi Genick, Preistoria, Verona 2009 (tranne pp. 287-307).
A.M.Bietti Sestieri, L’Italia nell’età del bronzo e nell’età del ferro, Roma 2010.
A.Guidi (a cura di) 150 anni di preistoria e protostoria in Italia, Studi di Preistoria e Protostoria 1, Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria, (Atti del congresso dell’IIPP, Roma 2011) , Firenze 2014 (tutto il volume).
E.Giannichedda, Archeologia teorica (nuova edizione), Roma 2016.

The course is structured in two 36 hours modules.


The first module (first semester) deals with the acquisition of general themes of pre- and protohistoric archaeology (specially the Italian scene) and will be dedicated also to the visit of Roman prehistoric museums and/or archaeological sites.

The second module deals with The birth and development of archaeological stratigraphy between 1961 and the middle of XX century.
What is exactly the archaeological stratigraphy and when it became the cornerstone of our discipline?
The principle according to which in a succession of strata the lower are the older and the higher are the younger of the serie was understood yet in the XVIII century from the geologists; the prehistorians of the XIX century had a sufficient expertise to identify the archaeological strata in the settlements.
From the published sections we know that very rarely they characterized the single strata; at the same time the scientific reports allow us to say that during the excavations they dug each layer with artificial horizontal cuts rather than following correctly the surfaces of the strata (Guidi, Tarantini, in press).
As a matter of fact, the establishment of stratigraphy as a key factor in archaeological excavation, is an innovation that we can date to the beginning of the 20th century.
This step was made also in Italy; the module will be centered on the most significative advances of the stratigraphical excavation , from the pioneer experinces by Giacomo Boni to the funfamental excavations led by Luigi Bernabò Brea in the central decades of the XX century. Some expert will also come to speak about this argument.

Texts for the exam

D.Cocchi Genick, Preistoria, Verona 2009, pp. 11-53 e 135-307.
A.Guidi, Preistoria della complessità sociale, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2000, pp. 140-193.
A.M.Bietti Sestieri, L’Italia nell’età del bronzo e nell’età del ferro, Roma 2010.

Bibliography of the second module



M. Tarantini Tradizioni e tensioni disciplinari nell’archeologia preistorica italiana tra Ottocento e
Novecento, in Origini XXII, 2000, pp. 7-42.
La storia dell'archeologia preistorica italiana nel contesto europeo, in N.Terrenato (a cura di), Archeologia teorica, Firenze 2000, pp. 23-37.
A.Guidi (a cura di) 150 anni di preistoria e protostoria in Italia, Studi di Preistoria e Protostoria 1, Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria, (Atti del congresso dell’IIPP, Roma 2011) , Firenze 2014 (general papers and other articles to communicate to students).
A.Guidi, M.Tarantini, The Emergence Of Stratigraphic Archaeology In Mediterranean Europe. The Italian Case-Study (1900-1950), in Acta Archaeologica, forthcoming.


Not attending students:

D.Cocchi Genick, Preistoria, Verona 2009 (tranne pp. 287-307).
A.M.Bietti Sestieri, L’Italia nell’età del bronzo e nell’età del ferro, Roma 2010.
A.Guidi (a cura di) 150 anni di preistoria e protostoria in Italia, Studi di Preistoria e Protostoria 1, Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria, (Atti del congresso dell’IIPP, Roma 2011) , Firenze 2014 (tutto il volume).
E.Giannichedda, Archeologia teorica (nuova edizione), Roma 2016.