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Master of Studies in Archaeology

The final intake to the Master of Studies in Archaeology was in Michaelmas term 2019; no further cohorts will begin this course and the course will be discontinued at the end of the 2019/20 academic year. 

  • 1. Within the Division of Social Sciences, the course shall be administered by the School of Archaeology. The regulations made are as follows:

  • 2. Candidates for admission must apply to the School of Archaeology. They will be required to produce evidence of their appropriate qualifications for the proposed course.

  • 3. Candidates must follow for three terms a course of instruction in Archaeology.

  • 4. The registration of candidates will lapse on the last day of the Trinity Full Term in the academic year of their admission, unless it shall have been extended by the committee.

  • 5. The written examination shall comprise three subjects: Not more than one subject of the three selected may normally be taken from either one of Schedule C or D.

    • (a) one subject selected from Schedule A below to be sat as a written exam in Trinity Term of the academic year of their admission;

    • (b) one further subject selected from Schedules B–D, to be examined by two pre-set essays (each of no more than 5,000 words). Candidates will propose essay topics in consultation with their supervisor or relevant course provider. The proposed essay titles, duly approved by the supervisor, must be submitted for approval of the Chair of Examiners by no later than noon on Friday of the eighth week of the term in which the instruction for that subject is completed. Candidates must upload their essays to the Assignments section of the course WebLearn site by not later than noon on Monday of the first week of the term following that in which the instruction for that subject was completed.

    • (c) a dissertation of not more than 10,000 words (excluding bibliography and descriptive catalogue or similar factual matter, but including notes and appendices) the subject to be selected from Schedules A–D.

    • The title of the dissertation must be approved by the candidate’s supervisor and by the Chair of Examiners. The proposed dissertation topic and provisional title, duly approved by the supervisor, must be submitted to the Chair of Examiners no later than noon on Friday of the first week of Hilary Term. The final dissertation title, duly approved by the supervisor, must be submitted to the Chair of Examiners by noon on Friday of the first week of Trinity Term. The topic of the dissertation must be clearly distinct from the topics covered by pre-set essays submitted by the candidate under 5(b). The dissertation must be the work of the candidate alone, and aid from others must be limited to prior discussion of the subject, bibliographic advice, help with access to study material and advice on presentation. The dissertation must be a new piece of work, substantially different from any dissertation previously submitted by the candidate for a degree of this or another university. When the dissertation is submitted, it must be accompanied by a statement, signed by the candidate, confirming that these conditions have been met. Candidates must upload their dissertations to the Assignments section of the course WebLearn site not later than noon on the Friday of the sixth week of Trinity Full Term and should bear the candidate’s examination number but not his or her name.

    • With respect to preset essays and dissertations, only the file submitted via WebLearn constitutes a valid submission;  no concomitant hard-copy submission must be submitted for any purpose.  Each submission must be accompanied by a declaration indicating that it is the candidate's own work.

Schedule A: Core subjects

  • Ancient Maritime Societies

    Archaeological Method and Theory

    Chinese Archaeology

    Environmental Archaeology

    European Prehistory from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age

    Europe in the Early Middle Ages A.D. 400-900

    Landscape Archaeology and Spatial Technology

    Transformation of the Celtic World 500 BC-A.D. 100

Not all Core subjects may be available in any given year.

Schedule B: Options

  • Archaeology of Colonialism

  • Archaeology of Eurasia

  • Archaeology of Early Anglo-Saxon England

  • Archaeology of Late Anglo-Saxon England

  • Archaeology and Geographical Information Systems

  • Archaeology and Material Culture

  • Archaeology of Southern African Hunter-gatherers

  • Body and Adornment Material Culture of Later Medieval Britain, A.D. 1000-1500

  • City, country and economy in the Late Roman Empire (fourth-seventh centuries A.D.)

  • Farming and States in Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Hunter-gatherers in World Perspective

  • Maritime Archaeology up to A.D. 1000

  • Methods and Techniques in Maritime Archaeology

  • Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Europe

  • Palaeolithic Archaeology

  • Practical Archaeobotany

  • Regional studies in Australian and Pacific prehistory

  • Topics in Aegean Prehistory

Not all Schedule B Options may be available in any given year.

Schedule C: Archaeological Science

  • Any subject offered and available in the M.St. in Archaeological Science.

Schedule D: Classical Archaeology

  • Any subject offered and available from Schedule B in the M.St. in Classical Archaeology.

Candidates may apply for other subjects, to be taken under Schedule B, to be approved by the committee, which shall define their scope and inform both the candidate and the examiners of this definition in writing.

  • 6. Candidates will be expected to show a general knowledge of history and geography, appropriate to their subjects.

  • 7. Candidates must present themselves for an oral examination if required by the examiners.

  • 8. The subjects to be offered by the candidates and their method of examination, duly approved by their supervisors, must be submitted for approval to the School of Archaeology's Graduate Studies Committee by noon of Friday of seventh week of the Michaelmas Full Term preceding the examination. Notice of subjects to be offered by candidates must be given to the Registrar (via Student Self Service) not later than Friday of the eighth week of that same term.

  • 9. The examiners may award a distinction for excellence in the whole examination.

  • 10. In the case of failure in just one part of the examination, the candidate will be permitted to retake that part of the examination on one further occasion, not later than one year after the initial attempt. Written papers would be retaken the following year.