牛津大学

Overview

Archaeology and anthropology together encompass the study of humankind from the origins of the human species to the present day. Both disciplines have a long history: archaeology grew from 18th-century antiquarianism, while anthropology began even earlier in the first days of colonial encounter. Today, both subjects involve a range of sophisticated approaches shared with the arts, social sciences and physical sciences.

Oxford’s distinctive combination of archaeology and anthropology, pursued over three years, offers an unusually broad perspective on human societies from earliest prehistory to the present. The course offers a comprehensive guide to the richness and diversity of human cultural experience throughout space and time. By choosing to study here you will be able to:

• explore how humans evolved
• get to grips with major transformational processes in human history such as the development of farming, the emergence of towns and trading systems and the spread of world religions
• learn why societies structure their families, economies and political systems in the ways that they do
• investigate how material culture represents and reproduces beliefs and ideologies.

Six Oxford institutions specialise in these subjects: the Schools of Archaeology and of Social and Cultural Anthropology, the Ashmolean Museum, the Pitt Rivers Museum, the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art. All play a key role in the provision of teaching for the degree.

Fieldwork/work placements/international opportunities

As part of your course you must undertake a minimum of four weeks of fieldwork (subject to approval by your tutors), which is normally completed in the summer vacation at the end of your first year. This can take place in the field (for example, an archaeological excavation or survey) or in a laboratory or museum. It may include anthropological as well as archaeological projects and at its conclusion you will be required to complete a (non-assessed) report on what you have done and its significance. Recent destinations include archaeological digs in Georgia, Ireland, and Lesotho, an anthropological field school in New York, and internships at the British Museum.

Financial support for your fieldwork is available from the University and may also be available from your college. You may also choose to engage in further fieldwork as part of your final-year dissertation, while other opportunities may exist for work-based learning in the University’s own museums.

Careers

Archaeology and Anthropology opens up a wide range of career opportunities, in part because the degree offers a unique perspective on how human societies operate and develop and on how people interact with each other. This is also due to the intellectually demanding requirements of an Oxford degree, and to the combination of independent study and tutorial teaching. Graduates of this course have found opportunities in heritage management, international development, education, the law, the media and the Civil Service among other careers.