Anthropology and Archaeology

Anthropology and archaeology are disciplines that share a common concern with understanding human societies, past and present, but approach that concern from different directions. Anthropology studies human culture, society, and behaviour across the full range of human diversity, using observation, interview, and comparative analysis to understand how people live, believe, and organise their worlds. Archaeology studies the material remains of past cultures, reading in objects, sites, and landscapes the evidence of how people lived before the written record or alongside it.

Together, they offer a uniquely comprehensive engagement with the human story across time and space.

At the University of Winchester, this three-year full-time programme combines a broad approach to anthropology with more in-depth study of archaeological approaches and time periods. You will learn from specialists with interests across a wide range of areas, including human osteology, art and cultural heritage, religion and ritual, migration and transnationalism, conflict archaeology, and funerary practice. The course draws on both humanistic and scientific approaches to past and present cultures, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of both fields.

You will develop research skills across both disciplines, from ethnographic fieldwork methods to archaeological excavation and analysis. With a typical entry tariff of 104 UCAS points, the programme is accessible to students with an interest in understanding human diversity.

Graduates from anthropology and archaeology programmes pursue careers in heritage and museums, archaeological excavation and consultancy, international development and aid organisations, cultural policy, education, journalism, the voluntary sector, and academic research. The combination of social scientific and material culture approaches is particularly useful in fields that require sensitivity to cultural diversity and the ability to engage with communities on their own terms. Postgraduate study in anthropology, archaeology, heritage management, or development studies is a natural continuation.