Universities teaching archaeology

There is a long tradition of archaeology at Belfast, often closely linked with the work of the government departments. The Professor is Derek Simpson, and the most notable activity is the work of their radiocarbon laboratory, and the Palaeoecology Laboratory, where Mike Baillie has produced his amazing tree-ring sequence.

Birmingham. The origins of archaeology at Birmingham are very mixed. It began as Classical Archaeology but then there was Graham Webster in the Extra-Mural Department and Philip Rahtz doing Medieval History and then Martin Carver came along and set up the Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit. The head of Department is now John Hunter, formerly at Bradford University, who has special interests both in Orkney, and in forensic archaeology.
Lindsey Stephenson, an undergraduate in the Department writes (1998):
"The research interest of the department continue to be varied - British, European, Classical, Near Eastern, Egyptian and environmental archaeology (the most popular course for second and third students seeming (to me) to be Forensic Archaeology - perhaps a speciality of Birmingham?)and a thriving Ancient and Medieval History department."
BUFAU - the Birmingham University Archaeological Unit - is one of the leading professional units in the country, carrying out widespread contracting work.

Bournemouth is the big success of the 1990s. Bournemouth University was not founded until around 1990 - it was one of the jumped-up polytechics - but the Department of Archaeology, has taken off like a rocket to become one of the leading and largest undergraduate departments in the country. Let's not hold it against them that they do not call it archaeology, but 'Conservation Sciences' (how twee can you get?). But Professor Tim Darvill has not put a foot wrong and has taken every trick in the book (to mix metaphors). They have a very large undergraduate department, a growing graduate side, they encourage mature students, and - their latest wheeze - they have some sort of arrangement with Yeovil college where by those whose A levels are disappointing can go to Yeovil for a year, and if they survive, can then go on to the 'proper' university. (I'd like more info on this, please!) My only doubt is that they may be a little too 'professional' in their approach, and encourage their students to believe there are jobs as professional archaeologists - a belief in which they may well be disappointed.

Bradford is unique in that it is the only university which does archaeology wholly in the Science Department, the Department of Physics. You must see archaeology first and foremost as a science to go there, but it also offers a sound training in the more traditional aspects of archaeology.

Bristol. At Bristol, archaeology was long joined with classics, but recently they have split off to become a separate department. Prof. Peter Warren is a Minoan expert, so there is still a strong emphasis on Mediterranean archaeology. This is still a small department, but they are steadily expanding their interests.

Cambridge has the reputation for being the 'best' or at least the most highbrow archaeology course, and it is also the oldest. It is usually known as "Arch and Anth" as it combines archaeology and anthropology, but there are in fact two courses, one descended from anthropology, the other descended from the English faculty, doing Anglo- Saxon, Celtic and Norse archaeology. The first course has a reputation for being very theoretical - debating the merits of structuralist archaeology versus post-processual archaeology. If you want something slightly less theoretical, try the later courses. Professor Colin Renfrew has recently gained a £10 million grant to study civilisation, so we are all waiting to see whether Cambridge is going to become civilized.

Cardiff was perhaps the leading archaeology department in the 1960s and 1970s with R J C Atkinson as Professor and Leslie Alcock as Reader and they produced what is known as the "Taffia" (the Welsh Mafia) which is found everywhere in archaeology. Cardiff University went through a bit of a crisis in the 1980s when bankruptcy loomed and the Department of Archaeology had to be slimmed down, but the department is now expanding again, and they scored a '4' in the research assessment.

Durham Archaeology at Durham began under Eric Birley, the great authority on Hadrian's Wall. He was succeeded by Rosemary Cramp who is an Anglo-Saxon expert who dug Bede's monastery at Jarrow. Under her, Durham expanded rapidly: it gained a '5' in the 1992 assessment, and is now one of the biggest universities teaching archaeology. Since her retirement, she has been succeeded by Professor Anthony Harding who is an authority on the Bronze Age of central Europe. The department has recently moved out if its previous building in the heart of the medieval city to a modern building.

Edinburgh is the second oldest department of Archaeology. The Chair was founded by Lord Abercromby (author of "Bronze Age Pottery" inventor of Beakers, etc) and has had only 3 holders in 60 years: Cordon Childe, Stuart Piggott and now Dennis Harding. The courses are wide-ranging and, in Scottish fashion require four years of study.

Exeter. At Exeter, Archaeology has a close link with the History Department. The present Professor of Archaeology, Bryony Coles, is an authority on Wetlands archaeology.

Glasgow. The Department of Glasgow was founded in the 1970s, and the first professor was Leslie Alcock, from Cardiff, who was an expert on the 'Dark Age' and excavated some of the key post-Roman sites in souther Scotland. The Professor is now Christopher Morris who has done a lot of excavating in the North of Scotland and Orkney. Glasgow has been expanding rapidly, and now has a reputation for being lively, but it is rather too theoretical for my tastes (and, say it sotto voce, distinctly left-wing!) However they also have a flourishing contracts section called GUARD which stands for the Glasgow University Archaeology Research Division, which help to keep their feet on the ground.

Lampeter is one of the big successes of recent university archaeology and has expanded rapidly. Traditionally Lampeter has been a Welsh theological college, producing clergymen for the Church of Wales. However they wanted to expand, the archaeologists saw their chance, and archaeology has now become one of the biggest and most prestigious departments in the university. Lampeter is, of course very remote - but for many this very remoteness is an attraction.

Leicester. The Department of Archaeology at Leicester was originally formed by an amalgamation of several other departments. There is a very strong department of Museum Studies and traditionally it has been very strong on local history - W C Hoskins (author of the classic book 'The Making of the English Landscape') was there. They recently appointed Graeme Barker as the new Professor - ex Sheffield and the former director of the British School of Rome.

Liverpool. For years, Liverpool's archaeologists seemed to pride themselves on seeing how many departments they could divide themselves between. Now there appear to be moves to bring them closer together, and there is also a new Institute, and a new professor, Elizabeth Slater who is an archaeological scientist. It will be interesting to see in which direction they go.

London. The Institute of Archaeology was originally founded by Sir Mortimer Wheeler as a postgraduate institute because Wheeler did not believe that archaeology was a suitable subject to be taught at undergraduate level. It then began to diverge from the Wheeler ideal, first by taking undergraduates and most recently by giving up its independence and merging with nearby University College which had a long tradition of teaching Medieval Archaeology. The Field Archaeology Unit does archaeology in Sussex. It is about the biggest Department of archaeology with far flung interests in distant parts of the world. But does it lack a certain 'zing'? They recently appointed Peter Ucko who was previously at Southampton (qv) as the new Director, (an appointment that was not without controversy), so everyone is wondering whether there are going to be fireworks.

Manchester. Manchester did not do very well in the 1992 research assessment, and as a result the Department has been re-organised and amalgamated with the Department of the History of Art. But there is a strong museum nearby, and the Institute of Field Archaeologists has its headquarters there, and they are particularly strong in the study of textiles.

Newcastle was for a long time closely associated with Durham and with Hadrian's Wall but it has recently gone in different directions. It has had several professors recently, Martin Harrison, who was a Byzantinist, and Peter Fowler who was interested in Museums and museology. They were disappointed that they only scored a '3b' in the Research Assessment, but they have recently appointed Geoffrey Bailey as the new professor, and one waits with interest to see where they go now.

Nottingham has long been a very friendly and happy department, but unfortunately they only scored a '2' in the 1992 Research Assessment. This caused a crisis, and they decided to appoint a 'hot-shot' professor, and Roger Wilson, an expert in Roman Sicily, was appointed from Dublin. He has been very energetic and as a result they scored a '3a' in the 1996 Assessment, so they are now feeling happier - though they still remain a friendly department.

Sarah Morriss, a second-year undergraduate writes (1999):
I am a second year student studying Ancient History and Archaeology at Nottingham. While I agree with the comments made in the guide, I do feel too much emphasis has been placed upon the research rating. The department is small, therefore ensuring its friendly nature, but this does not mean that we do not have excellent lecturers. There is a lack of scientific modules, but the course is well balanced and often provides opportunities for excavation. The overall comment I have to make is that the course is very enjoyable and the lecturers work hard to maintain interest and to allow you to diversify wherever possible. As a student currently studying there, I can recommend it highly. Nottingham also has the added benefit of being a pleasant city, and the campus itself is gorgeous. As the impressions of students were requested, I felt I had to comment.The guide is excellent by the way, and the web site is very user friendly. acyrsem@nottingham.ac.uk

Reading. Archaeology at Reading grew slowly for many years until the sudden arrival of Richard Bradley doing prehistory and then Michael Fulford doing Roman archaeology. Both are now professors and Reading offers a stimulating course where you must be prepared to argue.

Sheffield was the only university apart from Oxford and Cambridge to scored a 'starred 5' in the recent Research Assessment Exercise, so naturally they now like to think they are the best university in the country. They have just moved in to new accommodation, with splendid laboratory space, and a separate graduate building. Sheffield's success is due to a large extent to the skilful chairmanship of Professor Keith Branigan. Archaeology in Sheffield originally began in the Ancient History Department. They had a young lecturer called Colin Renfrew who rapidly built up the Prehistoric side. Meanwhile Sheffield has gone on to become one of the biggest and most well-rounded archaeology departments, with a friendly reputation.

Southampton. Whereas most other archaeology departments grew out of existing departments, Southampton was set up from scratch. The first Professor was Barry Cunliffe who went off to Oxford and the second Professor was Colin Renfrew who went off to Cambridge. He was followed by Peter Ucko who is an anthropologist and a specialist in the Australian aborigines, who has now gone to London. Their most distinguished event occurred in 1986, when they hosted the World Archaeology Congress which caused considerable controversy when they dis-invited all the South African delegates and split the archaeological world over apartheid.
They now have three professors, three readers and three lecturers with research interests ranging from the deserts of Egypt, where Professor David Peacock is investigating the quarries where the Roman obtained imperial porphyry; through to south-west Scotland where Julian Thomas is investigating Neolithic monuments - see the accounts in CA 141 and CA 160

York is one of the most recent archaeology departments to be founded. The first Professor of Archaeology was Philip Rahtz who was essentially a digging archaeologist and an inspired teacher. He recently retired and was succeeded by Martin Carver, also ex Birmingham who also came to archaeology late in life after a first career in the army. He too is first and foremost a digger, and is directing excavations at Sutton Hoo. A strong practical and professional bias at York then. York is one of the few universities which has decided to specialize - they have moved in with the Institute of Medieval Studies, and they no longer teach earlier prehistory, but concentrate on the Middle Ages.

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