BA Archaeology with a Placement Year Programme Structure

Classes at UCL take the form of lectures and small-group seminars, as well as laboratory sessions. Each degree is structured around a group of Core Modules (which are compulsory for all students enrolled for a particular degree) and each student then takes Optional Modules, which they choose themselves from a wide range of possibilities.

In your first year, you will receive a solid grounding in the both practical and theoretical methods in archaeology, as well as an introduction to major issues in world prehistory. All students take the following six core courses:

• Introduction to Archaeology (ARCL0010, 0.5 module unit, 11 weeks)
• Field Methods (ARCL0011, 0.5 module unit, 11 weeks)
• Sites and Artefacts (ARCL0012, 0.5 module unit, 11 weeks)
• People and Environments (ARCL0013, 0.5 module unit, 11 weeks)
• World Archaeology: the deep history of human societies (ARCL0002, 1 module unit, 22 weeks)
• Introduction to Social Anthropology (ARCL0006, 0.5 module unit, 11 weeks)

You will also select one 0.5 credit optional module from the following:

• Introduction to Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology
• Introduction to European Prehistory
• Introduction to Greek Archaeology
• Introduction to Roman Archaeology
• Texts in Archaeology

Year 2

The second year provides you with a more advanced understanding of archaeology and allows you to develop your own specialised interests by choosing options. All students take the following four core modules:

• Interpreting Archaeological Evidence (ARCL0037; 0.5 module unit, 11 weeks)
• Research and Presentation Skills (ARCL0038; 0.5 module unit, 11 weeks)
• Public Archaeology (ARCL0026; 0.5 module unit, 11 weeks)
• Current Issues in Archaeological Theory (ARCL0030; 0.5 module unit, 11 weeks)

You will select 0.5 credits in World Archaeology; 0.5 credits in Archaeological Science or Skills and 1.0 credit of optional modules in Archaeology or a related subject to be selected in consultation with your Personal Tutor.

• The full list of modules is available here

Year 3

Placement Year with Archaeology South-East (ASE).

Year 4

In your fourth and final year, you continue to develop knowledge of particular subject areas through a choices of many module options, but are also given the chance to reflect critically on your fieldwork experience during the degree (see below) and to write a 10,000 word dissertation on a detailed subject that you will choose with the help of a supervisor. More precisely, all students do the following:

• a Fieldwork Portfolio (ARCL0059; 0.5 module unit)
• a Dissertation (ARCL0047; 1 module unit)
• Archaeology in the World (ARCL0077, 0.5 module unit, 11 weeks)

You will select a total of 2.0 credits from the following:
0.5 credits in world archaeology
0.5 credits in archaeological science or skills
Optional modules in Archaeology or a related subject, to be selected in consultation with your Personal Tutor to the value of 1.0 credit

• The full list of modules is available here