Newcastle University

Archaeology BA Honours
UCAS Code: V400 (3 Years)

• Course Overview
• Modules
• Entry Requirements
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Our degrees are divided into Stages. Each Stage lasts for an academic year and you need to complete modules totalling 120 credits by the end of each Stage.

Please be aware that programme modules do change and therefore may differ for your year of entry.

Stage 1

Compulsory modules

• ARA1026 Introduction to Archaeological Science
• ARA1027 Introduction to Archaeology
• ARA1028 Prehistoric Britain
• ARA1030 The Archaeology of Britain from the Romans to the 20th Century
• ARA1031 Archaeological Observation and Recording

Optional modules 

You choose a further optional module. We recommend the following:

• SOC1027 Comparing Cultures
• CAH1012 West Meets East: Greek History and Society 776-404 BC

At the end of Stage 1 you complete at least two weeks of excavation fieldwork.

Stage 2

Compulsory modules

• ARA2001 Archaeological Theory and Interpretation
• ARA2100 Fieldwork Methods and Artefact Analysis

Optional modules 

You choose one module from the Prehistoric Periods (P) pathway or Historic Periods (H) pathway:

Pathway P

• ARA2011 Later European Prehistory

Pathway H

• ARA2091 Archaeologies of the Roman Empire: The Roman World from Augustus to Justinian
• ARA2097 Historical Archaeology of the Modern World (Post 1492)
• ARA2098 Understanding Historic Landscapes: From the Early Middle Ages to the 21st Century

You choose further optional modules to bring your total credits to 120. The following are recommended choices:

• CAC3045 Human Dissection in Antiquity
• CAC3057 Greek and Roman Music
• HIS2021 Slavery and Anti-slavery in the Atlantic World, c. 1740 - 1863
• HIS2085 Pre-Columbian and Spanish America
• HIS2103 The Dark Ages: Early Medieval Europe and its Neighbours, 500-900
• HIS2114 Death, Dying and the dead in early modern England 1500 - 1800

At the end of Stage 2 you complete a further two weeks of fieldwork.

Stage 3

Compulsory modules

• ARA3001 Dissertation in Archaeology

Optional modules 

You choose one module from the Prehistoric Periods pathway, one from the Historical Periods pathway, and one or two further modules from either pathway:

Pathway P

• ARA3022 Themes in European Prehistory (Cosmology, Bodies, Persons and Art)
• ARA3025 Social Prehistory of the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Britain
• ARA3100 Later Mediterranean Prehistory

Pathway H

• ARA 3021 Frontiers Communities of Roman Britain
• ARA3029 Early Medieval Churches of Europe
• ARA3031 Historical Archaeology of Britain 1500-Present
• ARA3114 Regionality and the Fall of Rome

You choose further optional modules to bring your total credits to 120. The following are recommended choices:

• CAC3044 Building for the Gods: The Archaeology and Art of Greek Religion
• CAH3009 The Emperor and the Empire
• CAH3015 The Persian Empire 560 - 330 BC
• CAH3030 The Jews in the Greek and Roman World
• CAC3050 History, Literature and Truth: The Case of the Ancient Historians
• NCL 3007 Career Development for Final Year Students