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Archaeology and Ancient Civilisations

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About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Archaeology

Have you ever wondered what it was like to live in an ancient civilisation? Are you fascinated by what the civilisations of the past can teach us about the present?

This course gives you a good overview of the world of archaeology, but also allows you to focus in particular on the great ancient civilisations of Europe, the Near East and Asia, including Ancient Greece and Rome, Egypt, India, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

This degree offers great flexibility, with options to take modules from other departments, including Classics and Ancient History. Depending on your module choices you may even be able to receive professional accreditation from the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists.

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. The course provides an exciting mix of traditional scholarship and field-based skills.

The course offers an optional study abroad element, where you may spend the third year of a four-year course studying at an overseas university. You can also put your learning into practice by applying to add a placement year to your degree.

Modules

Year 1
Core modules:
Ancient Civilisations: Sources, Approaches and Methods* gives you a grounding in a range of scientific methods and techniques used in contemporary archaeology, and will help you develop a critical awareness of the potential and limitations of each.

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

Cities in Antiquity provides you with a broad overview of the archaeology of the Greco-Roman world from 800 BC to AD 400. It also gives you the opportunity to develop your knowledge and to practice your evaluative skills through essay writing and a written examination.

Examples of optional modules:
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.

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.

Developing Archaeological Research* develops your understanding of research design 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.

Ancient Mediterranean Civilisations: East and West gives you a broad overview of the archaeology of the Mediterranean from 750 BC to AD 700. It also allows you to develop your knowledge and to practice your evaluative skills through essays and seminar presentations and a written examination.

Examples of optional modules:
Advanced Skills;
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 in the Bronze Age;
Scientific Methods in Archaeology.

Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a placement or year abroad)
Core modules:
Archaeology Dissertation* significantly develops 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.

Specialised Aspects in Archaeology will help you develop an understanding of specialised aspects of archaeology, chosen from a list of topics representing the main areas of research in the Department.

Examples of optional modules:
Advanced Professional Training (requires three weeks of fieldwork in the summer before starting Year 3);
Current Archaeology;
Interpreting Heritage;
Museum Representation.
All modules marked with * form part of an Accredited CIfA pathway.

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.

The Uni


Course locations:

College allocation pending

Durham City

Department:

Archaeology

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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.

93%
Archaeology

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

95%
Staff make the subject interesting
97%
Staff are good at explaining things
95%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
81%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

84%
Library resources
98%
IT resources
89%
Course specific equipment and facilities
87%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

80%
UK students
20%
International students
40%
Male students
60%
Female students
95%
2:1 or above
5%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
A

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.

£20,000
med
Average annual salary
91%
med
Employed or in further education
54%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

13%
Business, research and administrative professionals
9%
Natural and social science professionals
9%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

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

£22k

£29k

£29k

£40k

£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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Higher entry requirements
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here