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Archaeology

Archaeology at Corpus Fact File

Typical offer: A*AA in A Levels (or equivalent)

Required subjects: no specific subjects required

Typical number of Archaeology undergraduates admitted per year: 1-2

Submitted written work requirements: see our Written Work webpage

Admissions assessment: College-registered assessment

Archaeology at Cambridge

Archaeology is the study of the past from its material remains, meaning everything that past generations have left behind for us to study from their artefacts to the DNA in their bones. Its theories and methods embrace the humanities and sciences. Its time range extends from the evolution of humans millions of years ago to the archaeology of the 21st century, through major transitions in human history including the beginnings of farming, states, empires and globalization. The complex role of the archaeological heritage for our own societies is another major interest of Cambridge archaeologists. The Department of Archaeology and McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research make up one of the largest centres of archaeological research in Britain, indeed in the world. 

Students benefit enormously from direct, hands-on access to world-class collections in Cambridge’s many museums, especially the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology (whose curators contribute to Archaeology teaching), the Fitzwilliam Museum, and the Duckworth Laboratory, one of the world’s largest repositories of fossil human remains. Archaeology students are also trained in fieldwork techniques. Every summer, students doing dissertations go to the field, with a choice of field sites from all over the world.

For more information about the Archaeology course at Cambridge, visit the University website.

Why study Archaeology at Corpus?

Archaeology has a long and distinguished history at Corpus, extending back to the time of William Stukeley, who is generally regarded as the first major ‘field archaeologist’, in the seventeenth century. Corpus-trained archaeologists, many of them students of Sir Paul Mellars, one of the most distinguished prehistorians of the age, occupy senior positions in the subject all over the world. Prof Graeme Barker, Disney Professor of Archaeology Emeritus and Senior Fellow at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, is the Director of Studies in Archaeology for Corpus students.

What do we look for in applicants?

We are looking for students who show a strong interest in studying the subject - in other words, students who have invested time and effort in exploring the subjects independently. You don't need to have studied any particular subjects at school to apply for Archaeology, but you should have engaged with super-curricular resources to find out about the subject and to see if you would enjoy studying the subject at university.

We welcome applications from students studying humanistic fields such as History, English, Classics, and ancient languages; social sciences such as Geography, Sociology, Psychology, or Anthropology; and sciences such as Biology, Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. Applicants for Egyptology and Assyriology are strongly encouraged to study an ancient or modern language.

Super-curricular resources

There are lots of great online resources that prospective applicants can use to explore Archaeology. For example

A suggested reading list can be found on the right hand side of this page. None of these are required, but they may give you a good sense of what the academic studies of Archaeology, Assyriology, Biological Anthropology and Egyptology are all about.