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BSc ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE F420

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Full Time: 3 Years

Explore one of the top scientific Archaeology courses in the UK through our outstanding teaching collections and laboratory facilities – with dedicated spaces for the analysis of human remains, artefacts, plant pollen, and archaeological soils and sediments.

Study at a top 10 university for archaeology (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2017), where 97% of our research was judged to be of international standing in the latest Research Excellence Framework, 2014.

We also have an outstanding track record for student satisfaction, with 90-100% of students satisfied with the quality of their course in consecutive National Student Surveys (2010-2016).

BSc Archaeological Science differs from our BA Archaeology course as it concentrates much more on the scientific and forensic aspects of archaeology. On this course, you will gain a wide range of skills to assist you in the study of human bones (including osteology and palaeopathology), enabling you to learn more about past societies, diets and diseases. 

You will have the opportunity to participate in a dedicated Field School during your course, providing you with direct hands-on experience in all aspects of an archaeological excavation. Put your skills into practice, including excavation, surveying, GIS (geographical information systems) mapping, planning, and finds processing, and contribute to archaeological knowledge through our discoveries.

The course also has a strong focus on environmental archaeology and geoarchaeology, through which you will make fascinating discoveries about ancient human societies, as well as the evolution of landscapes and climate change.

This diverse approach presents you with many areas to explore and specialise in, providing you with plenty of options for your final-year dissertation.

If you are interested in studying abroad, you have the opportunity to spend a term at Aarhus University in Denmark or the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland in your second year, getting to know a new academic and cultural environment.

Placement year or year abroad

All Archaeology degree programmes (single and joint honours) are also available as 4-year courses, which give you the option of spending your third year on a placement or studying for one year at a University abroad, gaining valuable professional and international experience. You can also combine the two options by spending one semester studying abroad and then undertaking a half-year professional placement abroad or back in the UK.

We provide opportunities for you to undertake placements in a variety of contexts. Placements are an excellent way to enhance your work-related skills and develop a network of contacts, as well as strengthen your employability prospects.

Opportunities are available working across the Archaeological, Heritage, Planning and Museum sectors including: research institutions, government organisations, local planning authorities, archaeological consultancies, field units, specialists and archivists. Alternatively you can choose a placement in a non-related business or industry, exploring different career options and enhancing your employability by drawing on the many non-vocational, transferable skills you obtain from an Archaeology degree.

Recent examples include:

  • Traineeship with Oxford Archaeology
  • Traineeship at the Field School
  • Archaeological science placement at QUEST, the University of Reading’s scientific consultancy company
  • Volunteering at the Ure Museum, Cole Museum of Zoology and the Museum of English Rural Life
  • Human remains placement
  • Mediterranean Palaeoclimate Project placement
  • Hominin Skeletal Morphology placement
  • Archaeological Graphics placement
  • Lithics Reference Collection placement
  • “Developing Experimental Archaeology for Research and Training” placement
  • “The Ecology of Crusading: Isotope Analysis and Faunal Remains” placement
  • Summer Enterprise Experience and Discovery internship scheme

Our department has a dedicated member of staff in charge of placements, who can provide you with advice and support.

Students opting to undertake a standard three-year degree course will also have the opportunity to take a fully-credited placement or to spend a single term at one of our partner Universities abroad. Current options include the Universities of Malta, Aarhus (Denmark), Torún (Poland) and the University of Florida in Gainesville (U.S.A.).

Quick look entry requirements A Level ABB-BBB | IB 30-32 pts overall

Typical offer

ABB–BBB including one Science at grade B.

Acceptable subjects: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, Further Maths, Statistics, Psychology, Geography, Applied Science, Environmental Studies and Geology.

International Baccalaureate

30–32 points including 5 in Science at higher level

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5, with no component below 5.5

For information on other English language qualifications, please visit our international student pages.

Further requirements

If you are an international student planning to apply for one of our degree programmes, you may need to take a foundation course or pre-sessional course if you do not have qualifications that are equivalent to British A levels or if you need to improve your English language level.

Look at entry requirements by country.

Find out the English language requirements for our courses and our pre-sessional English programme.

Learn more about our international foundation programme.

What will you study?

  • Year 1
  • Year 2
  • Year 3

Year 1

Core modules include:

  • Bones, bodies and burials: the archaeology of death
  • Practising archaeology: methods and approaches

Optional modules include:

  • Museum history, policy and ethics
  • Plant diversity, structure and utilisation
  • Biogeography and ecology
  • Earth materials
  • Earth structure and processes
  • Ecology: species and their interactions
  • Exploiters and exploited
  • From Rome to the reformation: an introduction to historic archaeology
  • Museum communication and interpretation
  • Primates to pyramids: an introduction to world prehistory

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

For more information about this course, visit the Department of Archaeology's website.

Year 2

Core modules include:

  • Archaeological science
  • Archaeological thought
  • Careers for archaeologists
  • Field school

Optional modules include:

  • Celts and Romans: northern Europe and Britain
  • Crime scene analysis
  • Curatorship and collections management
  • Human activity and environmental change
  • Introduction to zooarchaeology
  • Later medieval Europe
  • Later prehistoric Europe
  • Museum learning and engagement
  • Peoples and societies of the ancient near East
  • Post Roman and Early Medieval Europe
  • Quaternary global climate change
  • Rome's Mediterranean empire
  • Techniques in artefact interpretation
  • Techniques of skeletal interpretation
  • The Mesolithic of North-West Europe
  • The Middle Palaeolithic of Europe and SW Asia

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

For more information about this course, visit the Department of Archaeology's website.

Year 3

Core modules include:

  • Dissertation

Optional modules include:

  • Hominins, hearths and handaxes: studies in the lower Palaeolithic of north-western Europe
  • People, plants and environmental change
  • The archaeology of money: coins, power and society
  • Archaeology of the city of Rome
  • Archaeology of the Dark Ages
  • Coastal and maritime archaeology
  • Emergence of civilisation in Mesopotamia
  • Expansion or contraction in the twelfth century?
  • Holocene climate change and human society
  • Imperial encounters in the Roman world
  • Microarchaeology
  • Neolithic and early Bronze Age Britain
  • Palaeopathology
  • Roman material culture studies
  • Science and the dead: taphonomy and molecular analysis of human remains
  • The archaeology of crusading
  • The archaeology of early Iran
  • The archaeology of food and nutrition
  • The artefacts of medieval daily life

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

For more information about this course, visit the Department of Archaeology's website.

How much will it cost?

How much will it cost?

New UK/EU students: £9250* per year

New international students: £19330 per year

* UK and EU Fee Changes

Subject to the Government passing legislation to raise the minimum fee cap, we will raise undergraduate tuition fees from £9,000 to £9,250 for new UK/EU students applying to start courses in the 2017/18 academic year. You will not be affected by this rise if you have deferred entry to the 2017/18 academic year. The Government will confirm future arrangements for EU students in due course.

Information on this page is based on 2018/19 figures and is likely to change slightly for 2019/20 entry. We will publish up-to-date information about 2019/20 entry as soon as it becomes available.

For further information, please see our webpage on the Teaching Excellence Framework and future tuition fees.

Additional Costs

These course fees cover the cost of your tuition. Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.

Financial support for your studies

You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK and other EU countries may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.

* UK and EU Fee Changes

Subject to the Government passing legislation to raise the minimum fee cap, we will raise undergraduate tuition fees from £9,000 to £9,250 for new UK/EU students applying to start courses in the 2017/18 academic year. You will not be affected by this rise if you have deferred entry to the 2017/18 academic year. The Government will confirm future arrangements for EU students in due course.

The tuition fee will remain £9,000 per year for the full duration of this course if you start in the 2016/17 academic year or have accepted an offer but deferred your entry until the 2017/18 academic year. This is unlike other institutions who are planning to raise fees midway through courses.

For further information, please see our webpage on the Teaching Excellence Framework and future tuition fees.

Additional costs

These course fees cover the cost of your tuition. Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.

Financial support for your studies

You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK and other EU countries may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.

What career can you have?

What career can you have?

The University of Reading is 5th in the UK for percentage of graduates in employment or further study six months after graduation (The Guardian University Guide 2016; Forensic Science and Archaeology subject table) and we have long-established, excellent relationships with employers within archaeology and related sectors.

You will gain a broad range of subject-specific and transferable skills spanning the humanities and sciences. The majority of employers consider your attitude and abilities to be even more important than the subject you choose to study (CBI Skills Survey 2014). Our curriculum is designed with this in mind, giving you not just knowledge in subjects you are passionate about, but also the qualities that employers really care about – qualities that are transferable to a diverse range of careers.

As a world-class department with internationally-renowned teaching staff, a degree in Archaeology at the University of Reading is the best possible foundation to begin your career in commercial archaeology, planning, heritage management and archaeological research, as well as disciplines such as teaching, business and marketing.

Our recent graduates are represented among the staff of major employers such as Oxford Archaeology, Wessex Archaeology, the Museum of London Archaeology and the Natural History Museum. Some of our graduates have progressed into roles in the police force and in teaching at both primary and secondary levels. Each year a number of graduates pursue further, higher study following graduation.

Why choose Archaeology at Reading?


Watch our video to find out more.

Take the next step:


How to apply

Come to an Open Day

Get a prospectus

Ask us a question

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