The archaeology and ancient history program studies ancient societies from the greater Mediterranean world and Australia. We explore how we can use the physical remains of communities to understand the past and its relevance to the present. Our approach is multi-disciplinary; we incorporate information from archaeology, history, classics, anthropology, art history, landscape studies, archaeozoology, and archaeobotany to create a broad and deep view of the ancient world. Core studies span 250,000 years of history and include pathways that focus on the Ancient Near East (Egypt, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Persia), Ancient Greece and Rome, and Indigenous Australia. Themes include the study of settlements and cemeteries, politics, technologies, economies, visual and literary cultures, religions, myth, gender and sexuality.
Availability
Archaeology and ancient history is listed in A2000 Bachelor of Arts at Clayton as a major and a minor, and in A0502 Diploma of Liberal Arts at Clayton as a major.
Outcomes
In addition to achieving the broad outcomes of their course students successfully completing this major will:
- know how archaeologists and historians build hypotheses about past societies
- understand philosophical, historical and cultural debates about the past
- have acquired skills in combining disciplinary methodologies to reconstruct and interpret ancient communities and relate them to the present.
Major requirements (48 points)
No more than 12 points at level 1 may be credited to the majormajor (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2019handbooks/undergrad/arts-07.html) and at least 18 points must be at level 3.
Students complete:
- Two level 1 gateway unitsgateway units (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2019handbooks/undergrad/arts-08.html) (12 points):
- One level 2 cornerstone unitcornerstone unit (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2019handbooks/undergrad/arts-08.html) (6 points) chosen from:
- ATS2019Not offered in 2019 Beyond 'primitive' art: Understanding meaning and symbolism in Indigenous art
- ATS2283 The archaeology of empires
- ATS2351 The archaeology of death in ancient Egypt
- One level 3 capstone unitcapstone unit (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2019handbooks/undergrad/arts-08.html) (6 points) chosen from:
- ATS3338 Master class in archaeology and ancient history
- ATS3350 From Alexander to Kleopatra: The rise and fall of the Hellenistic world
- ATS3543 Australia's ancient Indigenous past: A 65,000 year archaeological odyssey
- Four units (24 points) from the remaining cornerstone and capstone units or the elective list below, with at least two units at level 3.
Minor requirements (24 points)
No more than 12 points at level 1 may be credited towards the minorminor (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2019handbooks/undergrad/arts-07.html).
Students complete:
- Two level 1 gateway units (12 points):
- Two level 2 or 3 units (12 points) as listed within the major including cornerstones, capstones and electives. It is a highly recommended that students complete a level 2 unit before enrolling in a level unit 3.
Elective list
Units are 6 points unless otherwise stated.
- ATS2084 Ancient mythologies
- ATS2277 Making sense of archaeological sites through their cultural objects
- ATS2337Not offered in 2019 The minotaur to the Trojan War: Aegean archaeology
- ATS2349 The golden age of Athens
- ATS2352 Egypt's golden age
- ATS2748Not offered in 2019 Introduction to Ancient Greek
- ATS2750Not offered in 2019 Intermediate Ancient Greek
- ATS2913 Greek tragedy: Performance and reception
- ATS2924 Introduction to Ancient Egyptian language
- ATS3230Not offered in 2019 Sex, gender and power in the Ancient Near East
- ATS3328Not offered in 2019 The archaeology of world rock art
- ATS3346Not offered in 2019 Imperial Rome: Power and perversion in the age of Augustus and Nero
- ATS3404Not offered in 2019 Eros and the body: Sexuality and body politics in the classical world
- ATS3935 Professional practice
Complementary units
The following complementary units cannot be completed as a part of the minor or major in archaeology and ancient history, but can count towards the free elective component (where available) of the relevant course:
- ATS1267Not offered in 2019 Latin language 1
- ATS1269Not offered in 2019 Latin language 2
Domestic field trip
- ATS3544 On a dig: Practical archaeology in the field (12 points)
International study tours
ATS2344Not offered in 2019/ATS3344Not offered in 2019 Study tour in Italy: Etruscan and Roman archaeology
ATS2991/ATS3991 Archaeological fieldwork in Italy
Diplomas
- A0502 Diploma of Liberal Arts
Bachelors
Single degrees
Successful completion of the minor or major can be counted towards meeting the requirements for the following single degree:*
Students in other single bachelor's degrees may be eligible to complete the minor or major by using 24 or 48 points of their free electives.
Double degrees
Successful completion of the minor or major can be counted towards meeting the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts component in the following double degrees:*
- A2004 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music
- A2005 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Art
- B2019 Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Arts
- B2020 Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Arts
- B2038 Bachelor of International Business and Bachelor of Arts
- B2039 Bachelor of Marketing and Bachelor of Arts
- B2046 Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Arts
- C2002 Bachelor of Information Technology and Bachelor of Arts
- D3002 Bachelor of Education (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts
- E3002 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts
- L3003 Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts
- S2006 Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts
