SACE Stage 2 Ancient Studies case studies
SACE Stage 2 Ancient Studies · Put your knowledge to work in context.
Ancient Studies is one of the Stage 2 subjects listed by the SACE Board of South Australia, the body that administers the South Australian Certificate of Education. It sits within the Stage 2 (Year 12) subject suite, so it is designed for students in their final year of senior secondary schooling, including adult entry students and interstate or overseas students working toward the SACE. The SACE Stage 2 Ancient Studies case studies are 5 cases and about 2,647 words.
1Reading the Knossos Storeroom Sealings as Evidence for Administration
A student is analysing 1,240 clay sealings recovered from a single storeroom at Knossos. Of these, 38% carry a single impression from one seal, 54% carry two or more impressions from different seals, and 8% show no impression at all but retain cord holes.
517 words, about 3 min2Evaluating a Herodotean Anecdote Against Inscriptional Evidence
A student is writing on the Athenian general Miltiades and finds in Herodotus (6.132–136) an account of his expedition against Paros after Marathon: a night visit to a shrine, a bribed priestess, a thigh wound, and a trial before the Athenian assembly. The student also has a fragmentary inscription from Athens, badly worn, listing payments to a general whose name is restored as [Miltia]des.
623 words, about 3 min3Interpreting a Roman Building Inscription with Missing Text
A student is cataloguing a building inscription from a provincial Roman town. The stone is broken on the right edge, so the ends of lines are lost.
430 words, about 2 min4Weighing a Grave Assemblage as Evidence for Social Status
A student is interpreting an Iron Age cemetery of 60 graves. Grave 14 contained a bronze fibula, 12 amber beads, a iron spearhead, and a ceramic cup; it is the richest grave in the cemetery by object count.
579 words, about 3 min5Assessing a Museum Reconstruction Against the Excavation Record
A student is evaluating a museum display that reconstructs a Minoan room with a reconstructed fresco, a replica wooden throne, and a label stating 'throne room of the palace, used by the priest-king'. The excavation record shows the fresco fragments were scattered across three rooms and were restored by the excavator using substantial conjecture; the 'throne' is a stone seat built against the wall; and the room contained large storage jars.
498 words, about 2 min