Archaeology F400 - Durham University

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Typical offers

Typical offers
A Level	AAB
BTEC	DDD
International Baccalaureate	36

Course details

This course offers an extensive overview of world archaeology, with teaching and training in a wide range of social and scientific methods. The diversity of modules on this course will allow you to build subject and geographic specialisms suited to your own interests and career plans. Depending on your module choices you may even be able to receive professional accreditation from the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists.

Modules in British, European and World archaeology provide you with the opportunity to develop in-depth knowledge of archaeology and heritage in different regions including Europe, the Near East, North Africa and South and East Asia.

Advanced skills training, practicals, lab- and field-based options, will help you develop the knowledge and expertise in a variety of areas, such as data analysis, remote sensing, GIS and survey, materials analysis, 3D modelling, museum and heritage skills and osteology.

In the first year you will gain a basic range of intellectual and practical archaeological skills. In Years 2 and 3 you will then move on to more in-depth study of particular topics and methods, working closely with staff to develop your own independent research project. You can also apply to add a placement year or a year abroad to your degree, increasing the course from three years to four.

Drawing on the latest research, and with an exciting combination of field trips, practical work including excavation, as well as great teaching, this course offers you the chance to gain a good understanding of archaeology across the world, from earliest prehistory to the modern day.

Course Structure

Year 1

Core modules:

Archaeology in Britain gives you a wide-ranging introduction to how archaeologists work, how sites are found and excavated, how archaeological information is generated, theorised and interpreted, and the issues facing archaeology today. It will give you the study skills needed for library work, essays, tutorials and computing. The module also gives a brief overview of British archaeology by period, from the Neolithic to the present day.

Archaeology Practicals introduces field and laboratory techniques for the recording and analysis of primary materials, sites and monuments, using group work wherever possible.

Introduction to Archaeological Methods provides you with a grounding in a range of scientific methods and techniques used in archaeology today, and will help you to develop a critical awareness of the potential and limitations of each.

Scientific Methods in Archaeology 1 provides a grounding in a range of scientific methods and techniques used in archaeology today. It will help you develop a critical awareness of the potential and limitations of data and its analysis when applied to archaeological problems.

In recent years, optional modules have included:

Discovering World Prehistory
Cities in Antiquity
Medieval to Modern: An Introduction to the Archaeology of the Medieval to Post-medieval World
Ancient Civilisations of the East.

Year 2

Core modules:

Professional Training (requires three weeks of fieldwork in the summer before starting Year 2) uses practical experience to give you an understanding of the objectives and operation of a fieldwork project and how data and material produced by archaeological projects is processed. You will learn more about the potential careers open to you as a graduate.

Developing Archaeological Research uses practical experience to develop your understanding of research design for the final year dissertation and the practical skills necessary for archaeological research. You will develop skills in graphics, illustration and presentation techniques as well as learning the basic theory behind research design.

Advanced Skills in Archaeology trains you in advanced technical and applied techniques for scientific, field and public archaeology. It gives an opportunity to understand the context and purpose of these applied methods and techniques and their correct application. The module also equips you with a range of transferable skills relevant to employment and training beyond archaeology, and makes you aware of the potential careers open to you as a graduate.

In recent years, optional modules have included:

Advanced Skills in Archaeology
Prehistoric Europe: From Foragers to State Formation
Becoming Roman: From Iron Age to Empire in Italy and the West
Archaeology of Medieval and Post-Medieval Britain in its European Context
The East Mediterranean World in the Bronze Age
Ancient Mediterranean Civilisations: East and West
Scientific Methods in Archaeology.

Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a placement or year abroad)

Core modules:

Archaeology Dissertation will significantly develop your skills in independent research, the analysis and presentation of evidence and how to structure a persuasive argument. This will involve writing an extended dissertation in your chosen specialist area of archaeology.

Current Archaeology is based around critical reflection on current issues and breaking stories in world archaeology, including current research in the Department of Archaeology.

Advanced Professional Training (requires three weeks of fieldwork in the summer before starting the final year). This module gives you an understanding of professional practice and ethics in the archaeology and heritage sector, including practical experience in archaeology working on an excavation, in a museum, a lab-based project or a similar appropriate placement. It will give you an understanding of project design and an opportunity to think about the way projects are managed and the ethics of archaeological practice.

In recent years, optional modules have included:

Specialised Aspects in Archaeology
Interpreting Heritage
Museum Representation
Scientific Methods in Archaeology
Archaeology and Global Sustainable Development.

Fieldwork

You will undertake six weeks of compulsory fieldwork – three weeks at our field school in Year 1, and three weeks at an excavation of your choice in Year 2.

Additional pathways

Students on the BA in Archaeology can apply to be transferred onto either the ‘with Year Abroad’ or ‘with Placement’ pathway during the second year. Places on these pathways are in high demand and if you are chosen your studies will extend from three years to four.

Placement

You may be able to take a work placement. Find out more.

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Department information

Archaeology

Gain an understanding of the present by unlocking the past. Combine academic theory with lab and fieldwork and the examination of historic objects when you study in this world-leading Department at the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Archaeology at Durham is an exciting and diverse discipline that delves into the past to inform our understanding of the modern world. Covering a wide range of topics from early human development and ancient civilisations to colonialism and slavery in the early modern world, this broad-based discipline can take you into many different careers.

We are an inclusive and vibrant international teaching and research community that offers plenty of opportunities for you to get involved, from research seminars and reading groups to field-based projects. Our research-led approach to learning means you will be taught by subject specialists whose wide-ranging interests span World, European and British archaeology from the last ice age to the post-medieval period.

Combining practical work with traditional academic study, you will explore archaeological sites and historic buildings, study scientific methods, archaeological theories and computer techniques. Fieldwork takes you around the world, with previous projects ranging from Africa to the Lebanon. Closer to home you will learn about the rich and varied heritage of the UK. Our location in Durham is ideal for the study of archaeology with UNESCO World Heritage Site, such as Durham Cathedral and Hadrian's Wall on our doorstep.

We offer a range of single and joint honours BA and BSc degrees with flexible pathways to suit your interests and career goals, and most courses include the possibility of a work placement or year abroad.

For more information see our department pages.

Rankings

10th in the QS World University Subject Rankings for Archaeology 2023
1st in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024
3rd in The Complete University Guide 2024

6th in The Guardian University Guide 2024

Staff

For a current list of staff, please see our Archaeology pages.

Research Excellence Framework

97% of our research outputs graded world-leading or internationally excellent (REF 2021)

Facilities

We are based in the Dawson Building at the heart of the Durham city campus. We are one of the most comprehensively equipped archaeology departments in the UK with research laboratories in DNA, conservation, isotope analysis, environmental archaeology, luminescence dating, paleopathology and bone chemistry.

The Department is also home to a leading commercial archaeological fieldwork unit. This enables us to provide expert training in excavation and fieldwork techniques from working archaeologists. In addition, we have a number of dedicated library collections and a gallery which hosts our extensive collection of archaeological artefacts.

Fieldtrips are an important part of the student experience at Durham. First year students undertake a two-week placement, with most working on our internationally significant excavations at Auckland Castle. Second- and third-year undergraduates join us on digs around the world to gain international experience, with recent projects in France, Spain, Kuwait, Nepal and Egypt.