The 3rd summer school on Ancient Technology and Crafts is organized again this summer by the International Hellenic University (29/06 – 10/07), Thessaloniki, Greece.
Programme Outline and Goals
Progress and innovation in technology were of exceptional importance for the development of ancient societies. Ancient technologies and crafts are of interest to archaeologists and historians but also many other scientists. The International Hellenic University Summer School in Ancient Technologies and Crafts offers the opportunity to study different aspects of the technological advances of ancient cultures, with a principal focus on ancient Greece, revealing the outstanding technological level that in fact the ancient civilizations had reached.
In the course of the programme, the latest historical research along with state-of-the-art scientific techniques applied to the analysis of archaeological findings will be presented by senior academics and field archaeologists who are experts in various research areas, such as the exploitation of natural resources, the crafts exercised in everyday life or recorded by state bureaucracy, building technology, the outcomes of the interconnection between technology and science or technology and ideology, etc.
The Summer School on Ancient Technology is planned to be held annually with the aim of a) providing an international forum on technological achievements of the ancient Greek world and b) making greater use of the rich resources of Greece in terms of specialists in ancient technology research.
The aim of this 2-week intensive school is to make the participants more acquainted with aspects of ancient technologies by providing up-to-date knowledge presented and discussed by the experts of the relevant fields. It is of great benefit for the students to study ancient technologies and crafts in a location such as Northern Greece where in recent years major works in preservation have been accomplished by applying modern techniques and ideas and the museum exhibitions display impressive results of ancient technologies.
Programme Directors
Programme Director, Dr Anna Michailidou, Research Director Emerita, Research Centre for Greek and Roman Antiquity, Institute of Historical Research, The National Hellenic Research Foundation.
Programme Scientific Coordinator, Dr Georgia Aristodemou, Researcher of Roman Archaeology, Academic Associate, School of Humanities, International Hellenic University
Subject Topics and Programme Structure
The series of lectures deploy around three interconnected topics. Each year the School will focus on at least two research areas from each topic, with a variety of lectures offered for each field. For 2015, the series of lectures offered are:
Introductory Lecture: An Introduction to the Ancient Greek Technology, by Prof. Dr Theodosios Tassios, Civil engineer, Professor Emeritus, National Technical University, Athens, Greece, President of the Association of Ancient Greek Technology Studies, Member of the Academy of Sciences of Turin.
ANCIENT TECHNOLOGY: FROM MATERIAL RESOURCES TO FINAL PRODUCTS
Technology and ownership of metals
Technology and diffusion of Ceramics
Invention of faience and early glass
Glass technology in architecture
Stone building technology
ANCIENT TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE
Ancient astronomy and mechanisms inventions
Script technology as communication technology
Ancient Harbours and Navigation
Mapping, technology, and culture
Geophysical methods in archaeological fieldwork
ANCIENT TECHNOLOGY, ART AND IDEOLOGY
Paintings and Mosaics in their political milieu
Coinage and social structure
Script technology in the service of power
Restoration principles of ancient buildings
Water management in public and private service
Archaeological Photography and Art Education
Click here to see the course poster
