Archaeology and Ancient Civilisations
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.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
Using archaeological techniques and approaches, this course puts the heritage of Greece and Rome under the lens. Drawing on the latest research, it also provides a chance to explore Egypt and North Africa, as well as the lesser-known civilisations of the Near East and South Asia.
**Year 1**
Compulsory modules: Archaeology Practicals / Ancient civilisations: Methods, Approaches, Sources / Cities in Antiquity.
Optional modules; choose one or two modules from the following lists of modules which have been available in previous years: Archaeology
Archaeology in Britain / Discovering World Prehistory / Ancient Civilisations of the East / Medieval to Modern: An Introduction to the Archaeology of the Medieval to Post-Medieval World
Or ONE or TWO modules in another department including Classics and language modules: Greek Art and Architecture / Living in a Classical World / Remembering Athens / Monuments and Memory in the Age of Augustus.
**Year 2**
Compulsory modules: Professional Training (requires three weeks of fieldwork in the summer preceding Level 2) / Ancient Mediterranean Civilisations: East and West / Developing Archaeological Research (required to take a dissertation in Archaeology at Level 3).
Optional modules; choose three modules from the following list of modules which have been available in previous years: Archaeology / Becoming Roman: from Iron Age to Empire in Italy and the West / Archaeology of Medieval and Post-medieval Britain in its European Context / East Mediterranean in the Bronze Age
Advanced Skills (Single or Double).
A module in any Department including Classics or language modules: Roman Religion / Roman Buildings and Decoration / Crisis of the Roman Republic / History of the Hellenistic Age / Archaic Greece / A module in another department (including a language module).
**Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a Year Abroad)**
Compulsory modules: Dissertation (double module) / Current Archaeology / Specialised Aspects in Archaeology.
Optional modules; choose TWO modules from: Advanced Professional Training (requires three weeks of fieldwork in the summer preceding Level 2) / Specialised Aspects in Archaeology (single or double) / Interpreting Heritage / Museum Representation / A module in any department.
**Fieldwork**
You will undertake six weeks’ compulsory fieldwork; three weeks at our field school in the first year, and three weeks at an excavation of your choice in the second year. For Single Honours students, only one module in any department may be taken over Levels 2 and 3.
We review course structures and core content (in light of e.g. external and student feedback) every year, and will publish finalised core requirements for 2020 entry from September 2019.
**Study Abroad**
Archaeology: We are part of the ERASMUS programme which encourages students to study for part of their course in a university of another EU country. We currently have links with the universities of Gothenburg (Sweden), Mainz (Germany), Bordeaux (France), Vienna (Austria) and the Free University of Berlin (Germany), as well as Bergen (Norway) and Koc (Turkey). Studying abroad through one of these exchanges, like the Year Abroad, will involve inserting an extra year into your programme of study between your second and final years. If, in your second year, your application for a place is successful, you will be transferred from the three-year version of your degree to a four-year version. Students will also have the opportunity to participate in excavations run by members of staff and colleagues of other universities at various places round the world.
For more information on this course, please see our website.
Modules
Year 1
Compulsory modules:
Archaeology Practicals
Ancient Civilisations: Methods, Approaches, Sources
Cities in Antiquity.
Optional modules:
Choose one or two modules from the following lists of modules which have been available in previous years:
Archaeology
Archaeology in Britain
Discovering World Prehistory
Ancient Civilisations of the East
Medieval to Modern: An Introduction to the Archaeology of the Medieval to Post-Medieval World
Or ONE or TWO modules in another department including Classics and language modules.
Classics
Greek Art and Architecture
Living in a Classical World
Remembering Athens
Monuments and Memory in the Age of Augustus.
Year 2
Compulsory modules:
Professional Training (requires three weeks of fieldwork in the summer preceding Level 2)
Ancient Mediterranean Civilisations: East and West
Developing Archaeological Research (required to take a dissertation in Archaeology at Level 3).
Optional modules:
Choose three modules from the following list of modules which have been available in previous years:
Archaeology
Becoming Roman: from Iron Age to Empire in Italy and the West
Archaeology of Medieval and Post-medieval Britain in its European Context
East Mediterranean in the Bronze Age
Advanced Skills (Single or Double)
A module in any department including Classics or language modules.
Classics
Roman Religion
Roman Buildings and Decoration
Crisis of the Roman Republic
History of the Hellenistic Age
Archaic Greece
A module in another department (including a language module).
Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a Year Abroad)
Compulsory modules:
Dissertation (double module)
Current Archaeology
Specialised Aspects in Archaeology.
Optional modules:
TWO modules from:
Advanced Professional Training (requires three weeks of fieldwork in the summer preceding Level 2)
Specialised Aspects in Archaeology (single or double)
Interpreting Heritage
Museum Representation
A module in any department
Please note that the list of optional modules available in any year will vary depending on available teaching staff. The lists above provide an example of the type of modules which may be offered
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
St Mary's College
College of St Hild and St Bede
St Aidan's College
Grey College
Collingwood College
Trevelyan College
John Snow College
Stephenson College
St Chad's College
No college preference
Van Mildert College
Hatfield College
St John's College
University College
St Cuthbert's Society
South College
Josephine Butler College
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.
History and 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
£30k
£37k
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.
Explore these similar courses...
This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Course location and department:
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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?
Have a question about this info? Learn more here