Our success speaks for itself - we have a very high employment rate, especially in archaeology, for graduates from these courses, and our approach to teaching archaeological sciences is respected and admired world-wide. We also have a very high take up rate of graduates going on to do higher research degrees - usually in some specialised aspect of archaeology, but also into other applied sciences. All in all, we see our courses as offering challenging, but ultimately highly rewarding, University level education and training. We teach six undergraduate degree courses in Archaeological Sciences:
Through its unique placement scheme students on 4-year courses have the opportunity to spend a year gaining solid practical experience with professional organisations, some of which are overseas (eg Italy, Germany, USA, Canada, Australia).
The Division has nineteen laboratories dedicated to archaeology and archaeological sciences, including general laboratories, teaching laboratories, and those assigned to particular research areas.
The Division is involved in fieldwork in the UK and abroad, with recent excavations and survey conducted in Yorkshire, Shetland, Pompeii and Nokalakevi in the Republic of Georgia. All students participate in a research excavations during their first year and learn to apply advanced field techniques, e.g. electronic survey and geophysics. While many students work on excavations run by the Division, some excavate with external collaborators, for example on the Hungate excavation run by York Archaeological Trust.
The staff in Archaeological Sciences are a unique mix of scientists, archaeological scientists and archaeologists. Within the Division are a number of Research Groups which focus on several areas: the analysis and interpretation of material culture; environmental archaeology; the analysis of contact and interaction between societies; and archaeological chemistry, biochemistry and geophysics. This research is reflected in the range of courses taught in the Division.