Archaeological Practice

Contents

The principal element of the programme, and of assessment, is the 20,000-word research dissertation on a subject agreed by you and a member of staff with appropriate research interests. This research project also forms the core of your application to study, and we recommend that you discuss your proposed research project with a potential supervisor in advance of applying.

The potential areas for research are as diverse as the interests of staff within the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity, including British and European prehistory, the archaeology of the Roman World, Late Antiquity and Greece, and thematic areas such as environment, landscape, death and burial, age and gender, and warfare. The thesis can be regarded as an independent piece of research or a foundation for doctoral-level study.

Alongside the dissertation, you take three taught modules complementary to your research topic and your existing skills profile. The modules available include: Field Survey; Archaeological Geophysics; Landscape Archaeology; GIS and Spatial Analysis; Virtual Landscapes; Palaeoentomology and Archaeobotany; Palynology; Holocene Landscapes; Human and Animal Bone; The Archaeology of Artefacts; and Landscapes of Conflict.

There are dedicated environmental and computer laboratories for these modules and the programme uses the resources of the University’s Visual and Spatial Technology Centre, one of the best-equipped archaeological computing facilities in the world.