Archaeology
Entry requirements
A level
Applicants taking Science A-levels that include a practical component will be required to take and pass this as a condition of entry. This refers only to English A Levels.
Access to HE Diploma
We require 60 credits with a minimum of 45 credits at level 3 (or equivalent). Applicants may be required to meet additional subject-specific requirements for particular courses at Durham.
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Seventeen points (6, 6, 5) from Higher Level subjects.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Advanced Higher
Scottish Higher
We will normally make offers based on Advanced Highers. If an applicant has not been able to take 3 Advanced Highers, offers may be made with a combination of Advanced Highers and Highers, or on a number of Highers.
At Durham we welcome applications from students of outstanding achievement and potential from all educational backgrounds. We will consider applicants studying T level qualifications for entry to many of our courses. Where a course requires subject specific knowledge and this is not covered within the T level being studied, you may need to supplement your T level studies with a suitable qualification to meet this requirement, for example at A level. Where this is needed this will be clearly stated in our entry requirements. Detailed entry requirements can be found on individual course entries on our courses database (https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/).
UCAS Tariff
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About this course
This dynamic course brings together the discipline of the scientific laboratory with the excitement of fieldwork. You will get an overview of the world of archaeology and a thorough grounding in the scientific techniques used to explore the past. Depending on your module choices you may receive professional accreditation from the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists.
With access to state-of the-art laboratory facilities, and outstanding training from some of the world’s leading archaeological scientists, you will have the opportunity to learn the cutting-edge techniques used in archaeology. These include: DNA and isotopic analysis, Geographical Information Systems, geoarchaeology, archaeobotany and the analysis of human and animal skeletal remains. By the end of your degree you will have a comprehensive set of science and social science research skills for archaeology, but also a range of transferable skills relevant to many careers, including data management and analysis, critical thinking and writing, and written and oral presentation.
You will develop your knowledge through a series of Scientific Methods in Archaeology modules, and build on these with Advanced Skills and Specialised Aspects of Archaeology options. Classroom teaching is supported by small-group tutorials and lab-based practicals. These will guide you in developing your expertise in ancient landscapes and environments, past climate change, diet, migrations, mobility, health, animal-human interactions, scientific dating, materials science, and conservation techniques relevant to archaeological objects.
All BSc Archaeology students can take part in archaeological fieldwork in the UK and abroad, engaging with departmental research projects and learning further archaeological and transferable skills. The degree culminates in a research project, or dissertation, which you will develop under the guidance of a member of staff, many of whom are experts in the field.
Modules
Year 1
Core modules:
Archaeology in Britain gives wide-ranging introduction to how archaeologists work, how sites are found and excavated, information generated, theorised and interpreted and issues facing archaeology today. It gives basic study skills for library work, essays, tutorials, computing and brief overview of British archaeology by period from Neolithic to the present.
Archaeology Practicals* introduces field and laboratory techniques for recording and analysis of primary materials, sites and monuments using group work when possible.
Scientific Methods in Archaeology 1* provides grounding in a range of scientific methods and techniques used in archaeology, develops critical awareness of potential and limitations of data and analysis when applied to archaeological problems.
Examples of optional modules: 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 3 weeks fieldwork the summer before Year 2) uses practical experience to give an understanding of the objectives and operation of a fieldwork project and how data and material produced is processed.
Developing Archaeological Research* (requires dissertation in Archaeology at Year 3) uses practical experience to develop understanding of research design for the final year dissertation and practical skills necessary for archaeological research and develops skills in graphics, illustration and presentation techniques as well as basic theory behind research design.
Scientific Methods in Archaeology 2* introduces scientific procedures and methods that are the basis of key archaeological science techniques, including data analysis, scientific dating methods, geophysical techniques, materials analysis and palaeoenvironmental analysis and insight into theory behind these, relating this to discussion of experimental methods and interpretation.
Advanced Skills in Archaeology* trains you in advanced technical and applied techniques for scientific, field and public archaeology and opportunity for understanding context and purpose of these and correct application. It also gives a range of transferable skills relevant to employment and training and awareness of potential graduate careers.
Examples of optional modules: Advanced Skills in Archaeology; Prehistoric Europe: From Foragers to State Formation; Becoming Roman: From Iron Age to Empire in Italy & the West; Archaeology of Medieval & Post-Medieval Britain in its European Context; The East Mediterranean World in the Bronze Age; Ancient Mediterranean Civilisations: East & West.
Year 3 (Year 4 if taking a Year Abroad)
Core modules:
Archaeology Dissertation* significantly develops skills in independent research, analysis and presentation of evidence, how to structure persuasive argument (involves writing an extended dissertation in a chosen specialist area of archaeology).
Scientific Methods in Archaeology 3* develops a critical approach to using scientific techniques in archaeology, enhances skills in assessing scientific and archaeological limitations of techniques and application and examines latest developments. You will also engage with current debates and research in contemporary archaeological science.
Advanced Professional Training (requires 3 weeks fieldwork the summer before starting Year 3) gives an understanding of professional practice and ethics in the archaeology and heritage sector including practical experience in working on an excavation, in a museum, lab-based project or a similar appropriate placement. It gives an understanding of project design and opportunity to think about the way projects are managed and the ethics of archaeological practice.
Examples of optional modules: Specialised Aspects in Archaeology; Interpreting Heritage; Museum Representation; Current Archaeology; Archaeology & Global Sustainable Development.
Assessment methods
On this course you will be assessed through your coursework, traditional skills and presentations, as well as through hands-on practical exercises, including archaeological fieldwork.
In the final year you will write a dissertation, led by independent research and supported by one-on-one supervision, and this makes up one-third of your final-year marks.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
Durham City
College allocation pending
Archaeology
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Archaeology
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Archaeology
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
Want to do a job in the arts - with lots of the great outdoors? Try archaeology! There don't tend to be many archaeology undergraduates out there (just under 700 graduated in 2015) - but it's quite a popular subject at postgraduate level. In fact, over a quarter of archaeology graduates take some kind of further study when they graduate - usually more study of archaeology. When you look at the stats, be aware that junior jobs in archaeology are not always well paid at the start of your career, and that temporary contracts are not uncommon. Thankfully, though, unpaid work, whilst not completely gone, is less common than it used to be. The archaeology graduates of 2015 found jobs in archaeology, of course, but also management and heritage and environment work, as well as more conventional graduate jobs in marketing and the finance industry.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Archaeology
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£22k
£29k
£40k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
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It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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