The four-year BA Archaeology with a Year of Study Abroad allows you to combine the study of past communities with the opportunity to study for a year at a partner institution abroad.

Archaeology provides a unique perspective as the only subject which deals with all the temporal and spatial dimensions of the human past.  Defined as the study of the human past through its material remains, it studies a very broad range of evidence including landscapes, buildings and monuments; buried material such as artefacts, biological remains, and structures; and written sources.  Archaeology ranges chronologically from the earliest hominids circa five million years ago to the present day, and geographically across the entire inhabited world.

The aims of the BA Archaeology degree at Cardiff University are to:

• Familiarise you with the disciplined and critical study of the past through the work of archaeologists.provide you with the expertise to assemble and critically analyse archaeological evidence.
• Allow you to develop an understanding of how to assemble the varied types of archaeological evidence and, where appropriate, written source material available for the study of these fields
• Promote critical understanding of the political, social and cultural structures and achievements of past societies.
• Cultivate archaeological skills and transferable skills, including, the ability to recover, record and assess evidence of widely differing kinds, to make honest and informed judgements, and to express them cogently in speech and writing.

Distinctive features

• You will gain invaluable cross-cultural experience by spending a year studying abroad in a partner institution in Europe, the USA, Canada or Hong Kong. 
• The year of study abroad introduces novel academic study opportunities and will also provide you with the life skills to compete in an increasingly global workforce, such as cultural adaptability, resilience and independence.
• Our Archaeology degree schemes are noted for their geographical and chronological breadth and the range of choice they offer.  
• As a student at one of the highly respected Russell group universities, you will learn with staff who undertake exciting research on archaeology and history as well as developing innovative techniques in forensics, dating, and osteology.