Archaeology MSc

This module will provide students with a set of skills that is necessary for the development, structuring and presentation of their dissertation topic (which can be later applied to PhD research) alongside transferable skills (clarity of written expression, critical faculty, advanced level ability to structure and present arguments in a range of media, and project management) applicable to academic and non-academic work environments; The module also aims to develop your abilities to engage with current historiographical and theoretical debates appropriate to MA level in an informed, analytical and critical manner.

This strongly practical module provides an introduction to field of experimental archaeology with a focus on ancient materials and technologies. From the first use of fire to the glass furnaces of Medieval Europe, we will consider how our understanding of cultural material is shaped and extended by practical experience of materials, skills and processes. We will examine the history, the potential, and the pitfalls of experimental studies in archaeology and learn to identify archaeological questions and to design and carry out practical experiments to address them in the laboratory and in the field. The module provides a baseline for students interested in ancient materials and artefacts, or their production and use.

These skills can further developed in ALGY737 and/or through focussed dissertation research. The module is a good complementary module for students interested in lithic technologies studying ALGY763.

This module provides students with a detailed overview of the theoretical principles and practical applications of archaeobotany and plant macrofossil analysis, focusing on the study of wood, seed and fruit plant remains retrieved from archaeological and palaeoecological sites. Students will have the opportunity to learn hands-on how plant remains are analysed (including botanical identification, recording and data analysis methods), what sort of information can be gained for reconstructing past economies, vegetation ecologies, landscapes and people-environment interactions, and how such analyses are integrated with archaeological and palaeoecological fieldwork projects, and other classes of archaeological and palaeoecological data. The module is delivered through a series of lectures, laboratory-based practical sessions, seminars and tutorials. Assessment is through one essay (students have a choice from a range of topics), one lab-based project report, and a portfolio of work undertaken during laboratory practical sessions.

This module will examine the conceptual frameworks and research methods used in investigating the development of the world’s first agricultural, pastoralist and sedentary communities, all changes fundamental to the development of complex and modern society. We will explore the behaviours of these ‘Neolithic’ communities across the Near East and Europe in a thematic fashion, possible themes selected by students might include ritual and symbolism, mortuary practice, the development of the household, the development of religion, human-animal relationships, landscapes and landscape management, identities, the first monuments and institutions.

This module provides students with a detailed overview of the theoretical principles and practical applications of archaeobotany and plant macrofossil analysis, focusing on the study of wood, seed and fruit plant remains retrieved from archaeological and palaeoecological sites. Students will have the opportunity to learn hands-on how plant remains are analysed (including botanical identification, recording and data analysis methods), what sort of information can be gained for reconstructing past economies, vegetation ecologies, landscapes and people-environment interactions, and how such analyses are integrated with archaeological and palaeoecological fieldwork projects, and other classes of archaeological and palaeoecological data. The module is delivered through a series of lectures, laboratory-based practical sessions, seminars and tutorials. Assessment is through one essay (students have a choice from a range of topics), one lab-based project report, and a portfolio of work undertaken during laboratory practical sessions.

​The study of the frontiers of the Roman empire represents one of the oldest branches of European archaeology. Their study has traditionally complimented explanations of Roman history and therefore the foreign policies of the various imperial dynasties. The discipline of Roman Frontiers Studies has, however, tended to be subservient to an interpretative framework initially derived from historical sources. Today the archaeology of the subject is now sufficiently self-confident to stand independent scrutiny. In turn more recent scholarship on the subject of the frontiers of the empire have focused on them as zones and regions rather than simply as linear barriers. This fresh outlook has, in turn, occasioned a greater awareness of the evidence of life, military and non-military, in frontier situations.

This module is designed to promote key skills in the collection, analysis and interpretation of primary material (archaeological and textual) relevant to a reconstruction of the nature and organisation of settlement in ancient Egypt;

It will use detailed case-studies to encourage students to develop their ability to formulate and present independent argument using this archaeological and textual material as data;

It will further encourage the presentation of such argument and analysis in a coherent format as might be appropriate for publication.

This module examines the formative period in the development of the Greek world, marked by the rapid expansion of Greek culture and the emergence of distinct regional identities. Using small-group discussions, we will utilise diverse forms of archaeological evidence combined with early documentary and epigraphic sources (in translation) to examine this crucial proto-historical period, for which there exists a large and complex body of archaeological evidence at a time when Greek writing systems and historical traditions are in their nascence.

We live in a time of unprecedented technological change. As a species we are reliant on technological solutions to many of the world’s problems, including those created by technology such as climate change. This module provides the deep time context for understanding how we came to be so dependent on the things we make. We will examine the archaeological evidence for early technologies based on stone, bone and wood. And we will consider the social processes in learning to be a toolmaker.

You will learn to make some simple stone tools and to analyse the tools in terms of the planning and knowledge of the materials involved. Basic descriptive statistics forms part of your practical skills learning. You will use these skills in the main assessment which is a written comparison of the tools you and your classmates have created. We conclude with a consideration of the broad sweep of general purpose technologies that are the foundations of our world.

This strongly practical module provides an introduction to field of experimental archaeology with a focus on ancient materials and technologies. From the first use of fire to the glass furnaces of Medieval Europe, we will consider how our understanding of cultural material is shaped and extended by practical experience of materials, skills and processes. We will examine the history, the potential, and the pitfalls of experimental studies in archaeology and learn to identify archaeological questions and to design and carry out practical experiments to address them in the laboratory and in the field. The module provides a baseline for students interested in ancient materials and artefacts, or their production and use.

These skills can further developed in ALGY737 and/or through focussed dissertation research. The module is a good complementary module for students interested in lithic technologies studying ALGY763.

ALGY731 is a tutorial-based module that provides you with the opportunity to work with member of archaeology staff from the department examining key issues on a topic of personal interest. You will work with your chosen supervisor to identify a research topic, engage with and critically evaluate key literature and primary data, and evaluate the feasibility of potential dissertation topics. You will also have the opportunity to develop real public engagement activities on the basis of your research.

An introduction to the scientific examination of archaeological artefacts, this course provides students with a critical understanding of scientific research in the field of archaeological materials. It provides opportunities for the discussion of relevant theoretical and ethical issues in the study of artefacts and enables you to develop practical skill and experience in artefact analysis and reporting.

This module explores a number of themes and issues which are central to the ongoing debate in the study of the history and archaeology of Roman Britain.
The study of Roman Britain was for many decades treated as an insular subject, where the part of archaeology was to supplement or ‘flesh-out’ the historical account of the island. In turn, many of the questions asked by Roman archaeologists of the island in that period arose from the framework created by the study of the historical/literary sources for the province, where their research was designed to illuminate particular events or circumstances revealed in the ancient written evidence. Since the 1960s, however, Romano-British archaeology has become more free-standing and its research directions have been influenced by theoretical developments in a range of disciplines including anthropology and sociology and especially prehistory. One of the consequences of these developments is that our comprehension of the so-called romanisation of Britain, a process which began in the C1st B.C., owes much to the work of specialists working in the Iron Age.

The module examines the socio-economic behaviour of the Egyptians, through the evidence of texts (literary and documentary) and the archaeological record (tombs, town sites, art and objects). Egyptian documents providing socioeconomic and legal data, and literary discussions of morality and of proper behaviour are compared to the
documentary and archaeological data relevant to a description of social life in Egypt. Social organisation is examined, at the personal family level and in the political context, and related to economic behaviour and economic organisation. The integration between social custom and law provides a focus for developing an independent appreciation of the social realities of an ancient society. Students are expected to use the acquired knowledge base, and theoretical frameworks for the study of ancient society, as a context for collection, processing and evaluation of specific primary data for research writing.

This module introduces the students to key issues, methods and evidence essential to conducting archaeological and historical research on production and trade in the Ancient Near East, from the Fifth to the First Millennium BC, with a focus on the earliest history of Mesopotamia.

In this module students are introduced, through practical classes, to the identification and study of human skeletal remains from archaeological / palaeontological contexts. The module covers the identification of adult and juvenile human bones, ageing and sexing, palaeopathological conditions and taphonomy. These aspects are taught through the assignment of one adult and one juvenile skeleton to each student, which they then study through the different classes. At the end of the module students provide a written report on their material. Students will also become familiar with how human / hominin remains have proven crucial to the understanding of one area of archaeology / palaeontology of their choice.

This module covers the Bronze Age and Iron Age in Britain from 1600 BC until AD 43. We will focus on the development of later prehistoric studies in Britain, and the themes of settlement, traditions of artefact deposition, land use, burial traditions, and the understanding of later prehistoric social organisation. The aims of the module are to provide an advanced understanding of later prehistoric studies and an opportunity to practice critical method in approaching this material.

This module intends to give a holistic insight of a number of marine and terrestrial microfossils that are conventionally used for reconstructing past environmental conditions for the Quaternary period, including recent past. Microfossils are biological indicators that can help to either qualitatively and/or quantitatively estimate environmental conditions such as atmospheric temperature and precipitation (pollen), sea-surface conditions (foraminifera, diatoms, radiolaria, dinoflagellate cysts), salinity (ostracods, diatom), pH (diatoms), sea-ice cover (diatoms, dinoflagellate cysts), etc. These conditions are of paramount importance for modelling past climate conditions and the data derived from microfossil assemblages enable to better calibrate models, which in turn, are essential to forecast future climate. In addition, microfossil assemblages help to understand the natural evolution of our environment as well as measuring the amplitude of human activities over time.​​

An introduction to the scientific examination of archaeological artefacts, this course provides students with a critical understanding of scientific research in the field of archaeological materials. It provides opportunities for the discussion of relevant theoretical and ethical issues in the study of artefacts and enables you to develop practical skill and experience in artefact analysis and reporting.

ALGY600 provides the framework for MA students, in the Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, to undertake independent guided research on a scholarly topic of relevance in the discipline of their choice. This substantial piece of work is developed and written up over the course of the M-level study in conjunction with the ‘taught’ component of the programme.