BA Archaeology and History / Course details

Study past cultures, not just through the texts that framed their lives, but the landscapes, architecture and objects they made or inhabited. Your studies will allow you to combine the best of both worlds, with training in critical historical source analysis and practical archaeological methods.

You'll select course units in Ancient, Medieval or Modern History as well as Economic and Social History, or even specialise in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine. Other course units offer insights into gender history or the history of warfare and violence.

By drawing from the widest range of sources and methods, History and Archaeology embraces a rich tapestry of perspectives on the human past. You'll receive expert training in analysis and critical reasoning while developing important transferable skills in communication and presentation, argument and debate, teamwork, research, and time management, all of which will help prepare you for life after university.

Experience digs in the UK and abroad

Fieldwork training is an integral part of Archaeology, and you'll be introduced to excavation techniques by experienced archaeologists, with the opportunity to join fieldwork or museum placements during your degree.

Fieldwork takes place during the summer vacation.

Placement year option

Apply your subject-specific knowledge in a real-world context through a placement year in your third year of study, enabling you to enhance your employment prospects, clarify your career goals and build your external networks.

Study abroad

You can apply to spend one semester studying abroad during Year 2 . 

Exchange partners are offered in Sweden, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Destination specific specialisms could support research on such as Inuit material culture, Australian rock art, or Scandinavian hoards, enriching your final year dissertation.

Meet like-minded students

Both History and Archaeology benefit from well-established student societies.

The CAHAE Society offers trips to museums, monuments, conferences and places of archaeological interest, as well as research seminars and artefact handling sessions.

As part of the History Society, you'll have the opportunity to take part in activities including Manchester Histories Festival and student-led publication The Manchester Historian .

You'll benefit from a breadth of teaching methods designed to develop your transferable skills, including:

• tutorials;
• seminars;
• laboratory sessions;
• lectures;
• fieldwork;
• group exercises;
• presentations;
• reports;
• one to one academic support sessions;
• original research guided by academic tutors.

Subsidised fieldwork includes one-day site visits as well as extensive periods of excavation in a wide range of locations such as Herefordshire, Yorkshire and Scotland.

You'll also be trained in our archaeological labs and museum archives, to use a wide range of equipment to analyse and record objects or engage with texts.

Assessment methods include:

• written examinations;
• coursework essays;
• research reports;
• practical tests;
• fieldwork workbooks;
• individual projects;
• oral presentations;
• third-year dissertation.

You will get written feedback on all assessments.

This will come in the form of online mark-up and essay reports from the lecturer, allowing you to easily map your progress with your course lecturers and academic advisor.

In addition, archaeology field training involves a variety of assessment over a range of skills and techniques.

Manchester Museum

Manchester Museum is home to important prehistoric, classical and ethnographic collections.

You'll go behind the scenes to handle, analyse and interpret rare artefacts, including one of the finest Egyptology collections in Britain.

Our ongoing collaboration between the museum and the global work of archaeology staff offers unique opportunities for students to get involved in the design of major exhibitions.

Whitworth Art Gallery

The Whitworth Art Gallery holds important archaeological textile collections, and art and sculpture on themes such as landscape as part of its broader internationally significant collections.

The Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology

The Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology is home to a film library with some 1,500 titles, from classic ethnographic film to contemporary documentary and world cinema.

Archaeological laboratories

You'll learn within our archaeological labs, where you'll use microscopes, digital cameras, delicate measuring equipment and portable XRF to analyse and record objects. You can also access training in digital illustration and GIS packages to support this activity and loan landscape survey and geophysics equipment for fieldwork. Our labs are supported by a dedicated technician who can offer training and assistance.

Field survey equipment

Equipment to support your studies includes three total stations and a traverse kit, a sub metre GPS survey system, a drone and professional photography equipment. Several of our lab-based resources can also be used in the field, including our PXRF instrument, ProScope and 3D scanner.

Find out more on the facilities page.