A buried boat in a frozen land by Trevor Cole/Unsplash

Archaeology

This is a broad subject, with topics ranging across the humanities, the social sciences and the sciences.

Museum of archaeology and anthropology doors

Archaeology at Wolfson

Archaeology is the study of human societies from prehistory to the recent past, focusing on the evidence from material culture but linking to ancient history and many other subjects in the social sciences and humanities. It covers a huge range of topics, spanning the evolution of humans through the development of farming, ancient complex societies and world empires, as well as heritage in the modern world.

Students can follow several streams – Archaeology (covering all world cultures), Biological Anthropology, Egyptology and Assyriology. Its flexibility means you can either specialise from Year 1, or opt for a broad start before concentrating on up to two subjects from the second year.

You can find further information about studying Archaeology on the University's course pages. Detailed information is also available on the Department's Prospective Undergraduates page

Buried boat in a frozen land by Trevor Cole

What are we looking for?

We seek students who are curious, who enjoy reading and debating ideas, and who wish to engage in hands-on study of artefacts in our museums and/or to experience archaeological fieldwork and laboratory work.

Entry Requirements

Students with almost any combination of subjects at A level can apply; there are no specific required or recommended courses. Please consult the University's entry requirements for Archaeology for further information.

Applications

Applications to study Archaeology at Wolfson are submitted through UCAS. The College additionally requires the submission of written work, a separate written assessment and an online interview, as detailed below.

Written WorkApplicants are required to submit one piece of written work. This should be in essay format (not science coursework or a timed exam) with a word limit of up to 1500 words. The work can be extracted from an EPQ. Submission deadlines can be found here.
AssessmentThose interviewed will also sit a written assessment around the time of the interview. Further information about the written assessment can be found on our applying page.
InterviewShortlisted candidates will be invited to be interviewed in December (or late March for those applying in the March round). There will be one or two interviews (in total lasting 40-50 minutes) which will be conducted online via Zoom.

For more information about making an application, please visit our application webpages.

You can also find useful information on our Application FAQs page.