10 courses offered in the Department of Archaeology
Archaeological Research - MPhil
The MPhil in Archaeological Research is a research degree for students who already have significant experience in archaeology at undergraduate level and who wish to pursue a focused research project under academic guidance.
Often a stepping stone toward PhD studies, this course allows students considerable freedom in designing an independent course of study under the direction of a supervisor. The MPhil in Archaeological Research provides training in archaeological research methods and associated transferable skills, and the opportunity to complete long essays and an extended research dissertation under academic guidance. Applicants will normally have already assembled an appropriate data set and questions for their dissertation research project at the time of application. This dissertation and its topic are normally considered as a vehicle for working out detailed plans for pursuing a PhD, but may also be taken as a standalone one-year MPhil degree.
Our department is ranked first in the world in the QS World University rankings as well as first in the Complete University Guide and the Guardian’s Best Universities league table. The UK's 2021 Research Excellence Framework ranks our department fourth overall in the UK, including top rankings for research impact and environment.
Archaeological Science - MPhil
The Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge is recognised internationally as one of the leading centres for research and education in archaeological science. With a substantial number of UTOs and postdoctoral fellows specialising in different strands of archaeological science and capitalising on state-of the-art laboratory facilities and shared resources of several other Departments and Faculties, the Department is among the very few in Europe that can truly offer comprehensive training across the sciences, covering both biological and non-biological materials, and well-grounded within archaeological theory and questions.
Our department is ranked first in the world in the QS World University rankings as well as first in the Complete University Guide and the Guardian’s Best Universities league table. The UK's 2021 Research Excellence Framework ranks our department fourth overall in the UK, including top rankings for research impact and environment.
The MPhil in Archaeological Science aims to introduce students to the main theories and research approaches in archaeological science, particularly within the fields of archaeological materials science, environmental archaeology and biomolecular archaeology. Archaeological science has experienced phenomenal growth in the last two decades. Virtually all of the most prominent archaeological research projects led from the developed world include input from the sciences, and the greatest challenge for these is the relative lack of researchers with relevant interdisciplinary training, capable of engaging critically with archaeological questions while upholding the best standards of scientific practice.
Archaeology - MPhil
The Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge has long been recognised nationally and internationally as one of the leading centres for archaeology research, theory and education. Our MPhil in Archaeology is a broad course that combines lectures, seminars and research for a dissertation. This course incorporates core teaching that gives students a critical appreciation of archaeology, the human past, and its place in the modern world, as well as training in research methods and skills, theory and analytical skills. It also enables a level of specialisation in a chosen, specialist area, though not all course options are available every year.
The MPhil in Archaeology provides training in archaeological research methods and associated transferable skills, and the opportunity to complete essays and a research dissertation under academic guidance. This course may be taken as a standalone one-year MPhil degree, or it can be used as a springboard for going on to pursue a PhD. Applicants should contact potential supervisors informally for discussions before they make their formal applications and name them on their application.
Our department is ranked first in the world in the QS World University rankings as well as first in the Complete University Guide and the Guardian’s Best Universities league table. The UK's 2021 Research Excellence Framework ranks our department fourth overall in the UK, including top rankings for research impact and environment.
Archaeology - PhD
The Department of Archaeology offers an outstanding environment for research and supervision leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Archaeology on a wide range of archaeological topics ranging in time from the Palaeolithic to the modern day, and in space from the Americas to the UK and Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia and Australia. We also specialise in archaeological theory, heritage studies, African studies, Assyriology, Egyptology and archaeological science.
Applications to carry out doctoral research within these research areas are welcomed from well-qualified candidates. Applicants should contact potential supervisors informally for discussions before they make their formal applications and name them on their application.
Our department is ranked first in the world in the QS World University rankings as well as first in the Complete University Guide and the Guardian’s Best Universities league table. The UK's 2021 Research Excellence Framework ranks our department fourth overall in the UK, including top rankings for research impact and environment.
Assyriology - MPhil
The MPhil in Assyriology introduces students with little or no previous knowledge to the study of ancient Mesopotamia and allows those with previous experience to continue their exposure to the subject. The course provides instruction in one or more of the principal languages of ancient Mesopotamia and opportunities to learn about Mesopotamian history, culture and archaeology.
Students choose from a range of of modules covering Akkadian and Sumerian language, Mesopotamian culture (‘Mesopotamian Religion, Literature, and Scholarship’ or ‘Mesopotamian Society, Economy, and Politics’), and the Archaeology of Mesopotamia ('Prehistory to early States' or 'States to Empires' ). The combination of Sumerian and Akkadian is at the discretion of the course coordinator. Not all modules will be available in all years. Students develop a research project for a dissertation on a topic agreed with a dissertation supervisor; the supervisor provides support and guidance through the process of developing and writing up the research project.
Our department is ranked first in the world in the QS World University rankings as well as first in the Complete University Guide and the Guardian’s Best Universities league table. The UK's 2021 Research Excellence Framework ranks our department fourth overall in the UK, including top rankings for research impact and environment.
Biological Anthropological Science - MPhil
The MPhil in Biological Anthropological Science provides a unique opportunity to immerse completely in a research experience - designing, implementing and writing-up a very substantial research project in the course of one year. This world-class Master's degree by research, in which the sole requirement is a thesis, is suitable for those who have a strong background in Biological Anthropology and closely related fields, possibly including research experience. Interested students should contact potential supervisors before applying to confirm that they are interested in supervising the study, and to discuss project ideas and feasibility.
An MPhil in Biological Anthropological Science may be obtained after one year of research (or 2 years if undertaken part-time) on an approved subject within the field of Biological Anthropology and includes an oral examination of the thesis and the general field of knowledge in which it falls. The thesis topic is decided between the student and the supervisor, and assistance is provided on elements of methodology and analysis, as well as with the written presentation.
Our department is ranked first in the world in the QS World University rankings as well as first in the Complete University Guide and the Guardian’s Best Universities league table. The UK's 2021 Research Excellence Framework ranks our department fourth overall in the UK, including top rankings for research impact and environment.
Biological Anthropology - PhD
Biological Anthropology has a thriving PhD programme. Topics covered include human evolution, bioarchaeology, human behavioural ecology, primate behaviour and evolution, comparative human biology and health, evolutionary medicine, human evolutionary genetics and Bioinformatics, primatology, prehistoric archaeology, and cultural evolution. Applications to carry out doctoral research within these fields are welcomed from well-qualified candidates. Applicants should contact potential supervisors informally for discussions to confirm that they are interested in supervising the study, and to discuss project ideas and feasibility before they make their formal applications and name the potential supervisor on their application.
Our department is ranked first in the world in the QS World University rankings as well as first in the Complete University Guide and the Guardian’s Best Universities league table.
The UK's 2021 Research Excellence Framework ranks our department fourth overall in the UK, including top rankings for research impact and environment.
Egyptology - MPhil
The MPhil in Egyptology allows students to expand their knowledge of Egyptology and to develop independent research under the guidance of an academic supervisor. Students choose three options from a range of Modules including : The Historical Archaeology of Ancient Egypt (content is variable); Landscapes, Built Environment and Material Culture of Ancient; Egyptian Language; Coptic and Demotic. Not all modules are available every year. It is also possible, at the discretion of the course director, to choose one module from another Archaeology MPhil programme. Students develop a research project for a dissertation on a topic agreed with a dissertation supervisor; the supervisor provides support and guidance through the process of developing and writing up the research project.
Our department is ranked first in the world in the QS World University rankings as well as first in the Complete University Guide and the Guardian’s Best Universities league table. The UK's 2021 Research Excellence Framework ranks our department fourth overall in the UK, including top rankings for research impact and environment.
Heritage Studies - MPhil
The MPhil in Heritage Studies is designed to provide a world-class Master’s-level education in the interdisciplinary field of Heritage Studies. The MPhil programme emphasises critical thinking about heritage and approaches that seek to analyse and understand the many ways heritage is involved in key contemporary challenges facing society. Students will attain a critical appreciation of the development of heritage as a public enterprise, its theory, its values and its uses.
The programme is built around two distinctive themes: the socio-politics of the past and heritage management. The MPhil in Heritage Studies combines interactive teaching, seminars and research-based learning. Central part of the training is the Heritage Seminar every Thursday lunchtime during term time. Flexibility and choice are provided by the ability of students to select a period or region-based modules from the MPhil in Archaeology, allowing specialisation in heritage issues affecting particular areas of the world or types of heritage.
Our department is ranked first in the world in the QS World University rankings as well as first in the Complete University Guide and the Guardian’s Best Universities league table. The UK's 2021 Research Excellence Framework ranks our department fourth overall in the UK, including top rankings for research impact and environment.
Human Evolutionary Studies - MPhil
The MPhil in Human Evolutionary Studies provides a world-class Master’s-level education in the interdisciplinary field of Human Evolutionary Studies. Over the course of ten months, students are exposed to the theories and controversies of studying humans from an evolutionary perspective, challenged to think critically about how our evolutionary past shapes our present, taught skills in data science that transform their engagement with research, trained on how to communicate scientific ideas and results effectively, and helped in designing and implementing a research project that leads to an original scientific article or substantial dissertation.
The course is divided into taught and research components, and offers a unique opportunity to acquire a broad knowledge base in evolutionary anthropology, while carrying out an in-depth research project on a particular topic. The formal teaching involves lectures, seminars, and practicals in hominin evolution, primate behaviour and evolution, human behavioural ecology and cognition, health and disease in human evolution, evolutionary medicine, cultural evolution, prehistoric archaeology, evolutionary genetics and quantitative methods, as well as a series of seminars focused on research skills. MPhil students also attend the BioAnth weekly seminars, join informal discussions with researchers and peers afterwards, and other relevant seminars, workshops and activities. The lecturers are primarily involved in research and teaching within Biological Anthropology in the Department of Archaeology.
Our department is ranked first in the world in the QS World University rankings as well as first in the Complete University Guide and the Guardian’s Best Universities league table. The UK's 2021 Research Excellence Framework ranks our department fourth overall in the UK, including top rankings for research impact and environment.