Archaeology - BA (Hons)

Durham University

Gain a thorough overview of world archaeology. Explore the Palaeolithic to the post-medieval, from Iceland to India and everywhere in between.,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. 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.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.Course structureYear 1 modulesCore 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.Optional modules:In recent years, optional modules have included: Discovering World PrehistoryCities in AntiquityMedieval to Modern: An Introduction to the Archaeology of the Medieval to Post-medieval WorldAncient Civilisations of the East.Additional Pathways Students can apply to be transferred onto either the with Year Abroad or with Placement pathway. Places on these pathways are in high demand and if you are chosen your studies will extend from three years to four or four to five depending on course.