BA Classics

This course introduces students to a range of conceptual frameworks that archaeologists have used to explain and interpret their evidence in the past and the present. Beginning with a series of sessions that outline the history of archaeological thinking, from the antiquarians of the 16^th to 19^th centuries to the New Archaeology of the 1960s and the ‘post-processual’ archaeology of the 1980s/1990s, the course proceeds to a series of approaches and issues that are pertinent to contemporary archaeology: Marxism and critical theory; the notion of the ‘archaeological record’; structuralism and hermeneutics; phenomenology, the ‘new materialisms’ and assemblage theory. The course concludes with a consideration of the ‘material turn’ in the human sciences, and its manifestation within archaeology in the forms of ‘symmetrical archaeology’ and assemblage theory.

This course provides the student with a ‘toolkit’ of theoretical approaches that can be applied to many different sets of archaeological evidence, and to contemporary representations of the past.  Many of these frameworks are not exclusive to archaeology, and enable the evaluation and interrogation of a very broad range of cultural phenomena, as well as fostering a critical outlook in relation to cultural production in society and the media.  In addition, the assessment work provides the opportunity to critically review a series of pieces of archaeological writing.

By the end of this course students should:

• Have an appreciation of the development of archaeological thought since antiquarian times;
• Be able to discriminate between a variety of inferential frameworks;
• Be able to describe and select from a range of forms of social theory appropriate to the investigation of past communities.

By the end of this course students should:

• Be able to compare and contrast the principal forms of critical theory employed in the evaluation of archaeological arguments;
• Be able to identify the ways in which theory relates to the archaeological methods used in the field and laboratory.

By the end of this course students should:

• Be able to express ideas in both written and oral formats;
• Be able to read critically, to identify theoretical perspectives and how these have influenced interpretation.

By the end of this course students should:

• Be able to use theoretical skills to evaluate the content of arguments;
• Be able to present a short summary of an article in a seminar context
• Be able to discuss abstract ideas in a seminar context;
• Be able to present a written summary of a theoretical argument.

Logbook entries 1-5

50%

Logbook entries 6-10

50%

 

Feedback method	Formative or Summative
Written feedback	After the first five weeks of the course, the submission of the first five logbook entries, based on the first five seminars, provides the opportunity for formative and summative feedback, informing the submission of the second group of entries. Both submissions will be provided with written feedback via Canvas.
Oral feedback	Additional one-to-one verbal feedback will be provided during the consultation hour, or by making an appointment.

Alberti, B., Jones, A.M. and Pollard. J. (eds.) 2013 Archaeology After Interpretation: Returning Materials to Archaeological Theory. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press.

Harris, O. and Cipolla, C. 2017 Archaeological Theory in the New Millennium: Introducing Current Perspectives. London: Routledge.

Hodder, I. 2012 (ed.) Archaeological Theory Today (2^nd Edition).  Cambridge: Polity Press.

Hodder, I. And Hutson, S. 2003 Reading the Past (3^rd edition).  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Johnson, M. 2010 Archaeological Theory: An Introduction (2^nd Edition).  Oxford: Blackwell.

Lucas, G. 2012 Understanding the Archaeological Record. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Murray, T. and Evans, C. 2008 (eds.) Histories of Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Olsen, B., Shanks, M., Webmoor, T., Witmore, C. 2012 Archaeology: The Discipline of Things.  Berkeley: University of California Press.

Scheduled activity hours Fieldwork 7 Lectures 22 Seminars 11 Tutorials 11

Independent study hours
Independent study	149

Teaching staff

Staff member	Role
Julian Thomas	Unit coordinator

Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2027 will be £10,050 per annum. Tuition fees for international students will be £29,200 per annum.

For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

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Learn more about student finance options for UK students .

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As an international student you may be eligible for our Global Futures Scholarships . This is open to students starting their studies in September 2026.