Archaeology and Anthropology

Archaeology and anthropology together encompass the study of humankind across the full sweep of time and culture, from the earliest traces of our species to the present day. Archaeology investigates the human past through material evidence, including artefacts, buildings, landscapes, and biological remains, and it encompasses periods for which there are no written records. Anthropology, in both its social and its biological forms, examines human societies, cultures, biological variation, and behaviour, asking what it means to be human in the full range of contexts in which people have lived.

Together they provide one of the broadest and most intellectually ambitious approaches to the study of humanity available in any university curriculum.

At Oxford this three-year full-time programme draws on a long tradition of leadership in both disciplines, engaging with the sophisticated range of methods and theoretical approaches that archaeology and anthropology now share with the arts, social sciences, and physical sciences. You will develop skills in analysing material culture, conducting ethnographic research, evaluating archaeological evidence, and applying theoretical frameworks drawn from multiple traditions. The programme's breadth is one of its greatest strengths: it prepares you to think about the human condition from multiple angles simultaneously, developing an unusually rich and nuanced perspective.

The depth of Oxford's tutorial system and research culture means you will engage with questions at the frontier of both disciplines, developing intellectual habits that are genuinely formed by close encounter with scholarship rather than simply exposure to its conclusions.

Graduates of archaeology and anthropology programmes move into careers in museums and heritage, research, international development, journalism, the civil service, education, and a wide range of other roles. Many continue to postgraduate study in archaeology, anthropology, or related fields.