Archaeology

Archaeology is the discipline that recovers and interprets the human past through its material remains. It studies the objects, structures, landscapes, and environmental evidence that people have left behind, from the first stone tools made by early humans more than two million years ago to the material culture of recent centuries. Archaeology gives us access to the vast majority of human history that predates written records, and continues to transform our understanding of ancient and more recent societies whose written accounts are incomplete or have survived only partially.

It is a discipline that combines detective reasoning and scientific technique with the historical imagination needed to bring past lives into meaningful focus.

At the University of Glasgow, this four-year full-time programme develops your skills across the full scope of archaeological practice, from excavation and fieldwork methods to the analysis of artefacts, environmental evidence, and landscapes, alongside the theoretical frameworks that guide archaeological interpretation. Glasgow has significant strengths in Scottish, Roman, and early medieval archaeology, as well as broader prehistoric and historical periods, and you will have the opportunity to engage with original source materials and to develop your own research within a richly resourced environment. The programme includes a year abroad, allowing you to study at a partner institution and to encounter different national traditions of archaeological practice.

The typical entry tariff of 200 points reflects the academic rigour of the programme.

Graduates work in commercial archaeology as field archaeologists and project managers, in heritage management for local authorities and historic environment bodies, in museums and galleries as curators and collections managers, in education and public engagement, and in academic research. Postgraduate study is common, and the degree provides a strong foundation for doctoral research as well as for the professional qualifications that specialist and senior roles in the field increasingly require.