Situated between three continents, the East Mediterranean Sea has always enabled the flow of people, things, and ideas.  From the advent of early complex societies in the Levant, to the cultural developments of Greece, we can trace the impacts of interaction and exchange on the material remains of this region’s past.  This class introduces the archaeological methods and theories that help us contextualize and interpret material culture.  The things people made, used, and discarded tell us about how they lived, so we will examine a wide range of material evidence, including art, pottery, technology, architecture, and landscapes.  Archaeology provides diverse ways to study and conceptualize ancient material culture to better understand society.  Our focus will be the Middle/Late Bronze and the Iron Ages of the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE in the areas covered by Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israeli, Palestine, and Jordan.  Cultures and periods covered will include Minoans, Hittites, Canaanites, Myceneans, Syro-Hittites, Cypriots, Phoenicians, Biblical Archaeology, Phrygians, Lydians, Greeks, and end with the Romans in Asia.  We will also discuss cultural heritage and the impact of archaeology in our contemporary world.