Archaeology and Ancient History: Text and Materiality

<p>Written texts such as runes, inscriptions and Icelandic sagas are an important source for our knowledge about the past. In this course, you will read and interpret textual sources and discuss how they came into being and spread. You will also examine written sources in relation to material sources.</p><p>In this course, you read older texts and learn about their source value. You learn about the social function of texts, the relationship between text, speech and materiality, and how different types of texts work. At the same time, you examine how and why different texts have been created, used and passed on between groups, generations and cultures. </p><p>During the course, you discuss the problems and challenges that arise when working with translations and different versions of texts. You work with sources such as ancient writings, epigraphs, runic inscriptions, Icelandic sagas and letters. In seminars, you closely read and interpret a series of key texts in groups. The aim is for you to interpret and become familiar with sources from the past and to relate consciously to their complexity.</p><p>This course is part of the Master's programme in Archaeology and Ancient History - Theory and Practice, but can also be taken as a stand-alone course.</p>