Archaeology of border
The contemporary borders are the issue on the Special Teaching Project titled “Archaeology of Borders”, promoted by the class of Methodology of the Archaeological Research. The project plans a trans-disciplinary archaeological and anthropological path. “Archaeology of Border”, starting from the broader approaches carried on by the MAPPALab’ projects such as “Contemporary archaeology” (https://www.mappalab.eu/en/contemporary-archaeology/) and “Archaeology of undocumented contemporary migrations” (https://www.mappalab.eu/en/archaeology-of-undocumented-contemporary-migrations/), aims to involve the students in a didactic experience through the idea of the contemporary borders. The stiff border on the mountains of Versilia, along the Gothic Line during the Second World War on one side and the “fluid” and changeable border of the contemporary migrations traces on the Lampedusa island on the other side. For both of them, tangible and intangible testimonies will be the core of the narrative method.
The project aims to make the students as actors of a practical experience explore a new methodological and thematic point of view.
Throughout learning the archaeological method, the anthropology of remembrance, and video documentation, participants can discuss inside an interdisciplinary team, sharing skills and specific methodological approaches, and building a common way for recording, analysing, and narrating the contemporary borders.
Tasks:
18 October 2021: Introductory seminars
9:30-10:30 Francesca Anichini: “Introduction to Contemporary Archaeology”
10:30 – 11:30 Caterina Di Pasquale: “Introduction to Anthropology of remembrance”
11:45 -12:45 Gabriele Gattiglia: “The ‘border’ as an archaeo-anthropological issue. Introduction to the cases study”
12:45-14:30 Lunch and interviews
14:30-15:30 Francesca Anichini, Gabriele Gattiglia, Caterina Di Pasquale: Pratical introduction to field methodology
18 October – 5 November 2021: Archaeo-anthropological survey on Apuan Alpes on the municipalities of Camaiore, Seravezza e Stazzema
20-29 November 2021: Archaeo-anthropological survey on Lampedusa.
December 2021: Presentation of the results of the teaching experience
Ending the archaeological surveys along the Gothic Line on the Alpi Apuane
Three weeks of an archaeological survey on the Versilia’ side of the Alpi Apuane came to an end. Analysing the landscape, we collected data on every evidence of its population military, civil, social and economic life that we were able to locate on the Gothic Line.
The project’ multidisciplinary approach foreseen the involvement of students from various educational background from the Department of Civilisation and Forms of Knowledge, providing both internship and thesis occasions.
Step 2. 22 nd November – 01 st December 2021
Archaeo-anthropological survey on Lampedusa to study ‘another border’ The second part
of the project is going to start soon: one week on Lampedusa’s Island documenting
another kind of border.
Ending the archaeological research in Lampedusa
The small team carrying out archaeological-anthropological surveys in Lampedusa, and in a few chosen places in Sicily, is back and is now preparing for Step 3!
Step 3. 20th December 2021
Teachers and students who took part in it will meet to review and discuss the ongoing project “Archaeology of Borders”. The aim of the event is to update each other on the multiple aspects of the project and its first preliminary results. Students who did their internship during the project [and are writing their thesis about it] will keep short talks, along with the teacher coordinating the whole activities.
Progetto a cura di:
Francesca Anichini francesca.anichini@unipi.it
Caterina Di Pasquale caterina.dipasquale@unipi.it
Nicola Trabucco nicola.trabucco@unipi.it