Archaeology
By Neda Mostafavi
Published: 15 August 2004
What do you come out with? BA or BSc.
Why do it? Archaeology combines ideas with practical work. It also marries learning with the outdoor life and physical activity. You can make interesting discoveries and do important detective work. You learn about Roman remains and then go and squat down and dig for them in the mud, there is excavation training at the end of the 1st and 2nd years at Durham. Many students are drawn to it through a fascination with the past or because they have watched Time Team on television and been inspired.
What's it about? The study of the material culture of past and present societies - anything from the Palaeolithic period to yesterday's McDonald's wrapper. How science affects day-to-day issues. Some departments have more science than others, at Durham you choose your emphasis (science or arts). All students are introduced to the basic principles of science used in archaeology - radio-carbon and tree-ring dating, as well as the study of animal and pollen remains. At Queen's Belfast you can do a science-based degree containing a lot of palaeo-ecology (the study of ancient environments) or an arts-based one (archaeology).
How long is a degree? Three years. Three years at Bradford or four with a one year placement working for an archaeological organisation, lab or museum.
What are the students like? Highly motivated, patient, good at digging and working in teams. Lots are mature or part-time. Some are scientists who fancy doing something more arty; others have an arts background but enjoy something more concrete. At some universities in can be combined with a variety of courses so a good range of students are attracted to the course.
How is it packaged? At Reading there has been a move away from purely examined work. The first two terms are entirely coursework. So is the dissertation. Essays in the second and third years count towards the final mark. Bradford splits 70:30 with the emphasis on continuous assessment. At Queen's Belfast, it depends on the module. Palaeo-ecology tends to be examined more than archaeology because it's science based.
How cool is it? Pretty cool. Students range from Indiana Jones clones to seriously pierced New Agers.
What A-levels do you need? Anything. History and biology is the most common combination at Cambridge.
What grades? AAB at Cambridge; BBB or BBC at Sheffield; BBC- CCC at Queen's Belfast. 240 points or CCC at Bradford.
Will you be interviewed? Yes at Cambridge, Reading, Bradford and possibly at Sheffield, majority not at Durham.
Will it keep you off the dole? Should do, although you probably won't become an archaeologist. Most graduates enter anything from the Church to the Army, the Civil Service to investment banking. They also go into teaching, management, media, law and public relations. A few will go into archaeology, either in the public sector or in commercial archaeological firms.
What do students say? Sarah-Jane Clelland, in her third year at Bradford. "I picked archaeology because it has a strong emphasis on the practical, although the science is also very strong. The course is good because it is very rounded with a variety of specialities."
"The field-work in Belize at the end of my first year was the highlight of my degree." Susan Robinson, 20, going into her third year at Oxford
Where's best for teaching? King Alfred's, Exeter, York and Southampton scored 24; Queen's Belfast, UCL, Cambridge, Durham, Manchester and Reading, 23; Bournemouth, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Liverpool, Oxford and Sheffield, 22. Edinburgh has been rated commendable. Cardiff and Lampeter were both rated excellent.
Where's best for research? Oxford, Cambridge and Reading have a tip-top 5*. Queen's Belfast, Cardiff, UCL, Southampton, Sheffield, Liverpool, Leicester, Exeter, Durham and Bradford have 5s. Birmingham, East Anglia and North London have 4s.
Where's the cutting edge? The study of how complex societies came about - which is one of the big questions in archaeology. Some departments, for example Sheffield and Queen's Belfast, have developed a glitzy reputation in radio-carbon dating. Ancient DNA (bio-molecular archaeology), the survival of ancient foodstuffs as well as the scientific analysis of the human skeleton.
Who are the stars? Professor David Peacock of Southampton for ceramics and Professor Clive Gamble, also Southampton, for palaeolithic societies; Mark Edmonds, of Sheffield, who studies the archaeology of complete landscapes in Derbyshire, and John Barrett, also from Sheffield, a theoretical archaeologist; Professor Richard Bradley, a pre-historian at Reading; Professor Michael Baillie, of Queen's Belfast, has reinterpreted the exodus of the Jews from Egypt; Professor David Austin, landscape archaeologist at Lampeter; Professor Lord Renfrew, for archaeological theory and European pre-history at Cambridge and Dr Catherine Hills, a television archaeologist at Cambridge.
Added value: Big emphasis on training excavations at Reading. Southampton is known for maritime archaeology. Lampeter has a reputation for radical theory - looking at the relationship between material objects and political and social agendas.
