Archaeology and Anthropology

Archaeology and anthropology together offer a uniquely comprehensive framework for understanding human beings across time and space. Archaeology recovers the material traces of past cultures and societies, using the objects, structures, and landscapes that survive to reconstruct how people lived before or alongside written records. Anthropology examines human diversity in the present and recent past, asking how different societies organise themselves, how culture shapes perception and behaviour, and what it means to be human in different times and places.

Together they develop an exceptional capacity for evidence-based inquiry into the human condition.

At the University of Exeter, this three-year full-time programme combines both disciplines in a curriculum that encourages students to get involved with fieldwork from early in their studies. Fieldwork is central to archaeology, and Exeter has a strong tradition of taking students to dig and survey at significant sites internationally. The programme includes a sandwich placement year, a year abroad, and a work placement component, meaning you will have structured opportunities to develop professional and international experience before you graduate.

The typical entry tariff of 152 points reflects the academic standard expected.

You will develop research skills across both disciplines, learning to work with material evidence, ethnographic data, and the critical frameworks that give meaning to both. Analytical thinking, careful observation, and the ability to present complex findings clearly are all central to the programme's design.

Graduates pursue careers in archaeology, heritage management, museum and gallery work, international development, social research, conservation, cultural resource management, and the broader academic and public sector. Many continue to postgraduate study in archaeology, anthropology, heritage studies, or related fields, where the combination of disciplinary expertise and fieldwork experience provides a strong foundation for specialist research and practice.