BA Ancient History & Archaeology

The cultures of Greece and Rome lie at the heart of Western civilisation, and resonate throughout the world. Whether you already have some familiarity with the ancient world or not, we welcome you to study the fascinating history, literature, culture and art of two societies that have done much to shape our own. The Department of Classics provides a range of stimulating and challenging courses for students from a wide variety of backgrounds, and we regularly update our provision to embrace new approaches to the ancient world.

Description:
Archaeology and Ancient History are both concerned with understanding past human social, political and cultural experience, focusing in particular on Greek and Roman antiquity. This joint degree gives you the opportunity to gain both historical and archaeological skills, and to combine the analysis of ancient texts with research on material culture and scientific techniques to understand the lives of people in antiquity. In Archaeology, practical aspects involve the opportunity to participate in the Field School at the Roman town of Silchester.

Year 1

Compulsory Modules
Practising Archaeology
From Rome to Reformation
Fifth-Century Athens
Augustan Rome

Optional Modules
From Primates to Pyramids
Bones, Bodies and Burial
Analysing Museum Displays
Latin
Ancient Greek
Text and Object

Year 2

Compulsory Modules
Field School
Contemporary practice in British archaeology                                At least 2 from:                                                                      Greek History
Roman History                                                                            Themes and Issues         

Optional Modules
Archaeological Thought                                                                   Object Analysis and Museum Interpretation                                
The Middle Palaeolithic of Europe
Later Prehistoric Europe
Roman Britain                                                                             
Post-Roman and Early Medieval Europe                                           

Ancient Medicine
Greece and Egypt
Greek and Roman Sculpture                                                    Ancient Epic
Macedonian History                                                                       Latin
Ancient Drama         

Final Year

Dissertation
                                                                                        Optional Modules from Archaeology:
Burial Archaeology
Gender Archaeology
Museum Studies
Studies in the Lower Palaeolithic
Palaeopathology                                                                    Emergence of Civilisation in Mesopotamia
Ancient Aegean landscapes
British Prehistory
Roman Britain
Roman Material Culture                                                              Early Anglo-Saxon England
England in the Later Middle Ages                                         

Optional modules from Ancient History:

Ancient Biography
Conversion of the Roman Empire
Roman Life Cycle
Ancient Medicine
Rome on Film
Ancient Greek Gods
Gender in the Ancient World                                                        Latin
Ancient Greek Modern Greek