BA Archaeology: Durham University

Course Description

In this course you explore the breadth and depth of archaeology. The first year is wide-ranging, covering everything from Olduvai Gorge to Durham Cathedral via Cheops' Pyramid and Hadrian's Wall. You will see how archaeology deals with all these, using methods and approaches from radiocarbon dating to post-modernism. In your second and third years you may specialise more on both methods and results, including practical hands-on skills, laboratory and excavation work. This culminates in your dissertation, a major piece of primary research that you carry out under the supervision of a member of staff.

Archaeology is fundamental to their understanding of the human past. Understanding the development of humans themselves as well as technology, farming, towns, civilisation and the environment, all depends on archaeology. Archaeology can go where other subjects cannot - further back in time than other subjects and into aspects of society and human behaviour that other subjects can never reach.

Archaeology is a very broad and dynamic subject that changes constantly with new discoveries and the development of new research techniques. During an archaeology degree you will learn about fieldwork, finds, historic buildings, scientific methods, archaeological theories, computer techniques and how they all help us to understand the past.

Excellent employment prospects

Durham Archaeology graduates have an excellent employment record. According to the Good University Guide 2009, 73% of their graduates are either in ‘graduate level' employment or further study six months after graduating. This is equal fourth highest in the country and is significantly ahead of other top universities such as Oxford (64%), Cambridge (64%) and Bristol (67%). This reflects both the quality of our teaching and their commitment to producing well-rounded, employable graduates.