The Department of Archaeology at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

, England, is a department which provides undergraduate and postgraduate courses in

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and its sub-disciplines and conducts associated research. It was founded in 1978 and has grown from a small department based at Micklegate House to more than a hundred undergraduate students based at

King's Manor The King's Manor is a Grade I listed building in York, England, and is part of the University of York. It lies on Exhibition Square, in the city centre. History King's Manor was originally built to house the abbots of St Mary's Abbey, York. ...

and with scientific facilities at the BioArCh centre on the main campus.

Hosted organisations, research specialities and fieldwork

The archaeology department hosts several specialist organisations: *

Archaeology Data Service The Archaeology Data Service (ADS) is an open access digital archive for archaeological research outputs. It is located in The King's Manor, at the University of York. Originally intended to curate digital outputs from archaeological researche ...

- an open access digital archive for archaeological research outputs *

Internet Archaeology ''Internet Archaeology'' is an academic journal and one of the first fully peer-reviewed electronic journals covering archaeology. It was established in 1995. The journal was part of the eLIb project's electronic journals. The journal is produced ...

- a fully peer-reviewed electronic journal for archaeology * BioArCh - a specialist centre using scientific and molecular techniques for archaeology * York Experimental Archaeology Research (YEAR) Centre * Centre for Digital Heritage - an interdisciplinary centre studying computer-based approaches to heritage. Working with the universities of

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

(Denmark),

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

(Netherlands),

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

(Sweden),

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

(Sweden). * The ''Post Hole'' - is an archaeology journal run by students. The department's faculty has led significant archaeological investigations across

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and occasionally further afield

History

The department opened in 1978, 15 years after the

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

itself. The first head of department,

Philip Rahtz Philip Arthur Rahtz (11 March 1921 – 2 June 2011) was a British archaeologist. Rahtz was born in Bristol. After leaving Bristol Grammar School, he became an accountant before serving with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. D ...

built a thematic undergraduate programme specialising in the British Middle Ages. The programme included a 12-week field course in

archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

. The department expanded under

Martin Carver Martin Oswald Hugh Carver, FSA, Hon FSA Scot, (born 8 July 1941) is Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at the University of York, England, director of the Sutton Hoo Research Project and a leading exponent of new methods in excavation and sur ...

after his appointment in 1986. A

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

programme was added and the department moved to

. Subsequently, the department has grown in numbers of students, staff and the diversity of its specialisms: adding

environmental archaeology Environmental archaeology is a sub-field of archaeology which emerged in the 1970s and is the science of reconstructing the relationships between past societies and the environments they lived in. The field represents an archaeological-palaeoec ...

prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

, computational archaeology,

archaeological science Archaeological science consists of the application of scientific techniques to the analysis of archaeological materials and sites. It is related to methodologies of archaeology. Martinón-Torres and Killick distinguish ‘scientific archaeology ...

and

cultural heritage management Cultural heritage management (CHM) is the vocation and practice of managing cultural heritage. Ann Marie Sullivan, Cultural Heritage & New Media: A Future for the Past, 15 J. MARSHALL REV. INTELL. PROP. L. 604 (2016) https://repository.jmls.edu/cg ...

Academics

Head of Department: *

Nicky Milner Nicola Jane Milner (born 4 September 1973) is a British archaeologist and academic. She is head of the Department of Archaeology at the University of York. Her research focuses on the Mesolithic period, and the transition between the Mesolit ...

Deputy Heads of Department: * Oliver Craig *

Stephanie Wynne-Jones Stephanie Wynne-Jones is an Africanist archaeologist, whose research focuses on East African material culture, society and urbanism. She is Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Archaeology at the University of York. She previously worked ...

Other academics: *

Michelle Alexander Michelle Alexander (born October 7, 1967) is an American writer, attorney, and civil rights activist. She is best known for her 2010 book '' The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness''. Since 2018, she has been an opinion ...

* Ian Armit * Steve Ashby * Penny Bickle * Gill Chitty * Samuel Cobb * Lu Cooke * Phil Cox * Oliver Craig * Gareth Dean * Jonathan Finch * Laura Fitton * Kate Giles * Dawn Hadley * Jessica Hendy * Don Henson * Malin Holst * Matt Jenkins * Jim Leary * Aimée Little *

Aleksandra McClain Aleksandra McClain is an archaeologist who specialises in church archaeology and the study of the Middle Ages. She is editor of the journal ''Medieval Archaeology'', and assistant editor of ''Church Archaeology''. McClain joined the University ...

* Colleen Morgan * Paul O'Higgins * David Orton * Stephanie Piper * Paola Ponce *

Julian D. Richards Julian Daryl Richards is a British archaeologist and academic. He works at the University of York where he is Professor of Archaeology, director of its Centre for Digital Heritage, and director of the Archaeology Data Service (ADS). He is also ...

* Steve Roskams * John Schofield * Dav Smith * Penny Spikins * Daryl Stump * Alice Toso * Nathan Wales * Kevin Walsh Honorary and visiting staff: *

Joann Fletcher Joann Fletcher (born 30 August 1966) is an Egyptologist and an honorary visiting professor in the department of archaeology at the University of York. She has published a number of books and academic articles, including several on Cleopatra, an ...

* Terry O'Connor * Dominic Powlesland

Former academics

Heads of department: *

- 1978-1986 *

- 1986-1996 *

Jane Grenville Jane Clare Grenville, (born 17 June 1958) is a British archaeologist and academic, specialising in the archaeology of medieval buildings. Her early career was in field archaeology, heritage, and building conservation. In 1991, she joined the Uni ...

- 2001-2006 *

- 2006-2012 * John Schofield - 2011-2018 * Sara Perry - left 2019

Alumni

Ken Dark Kenneth Rainsbury Dark (born in Brixton, London in 1961) is a British archaeologist who works on the 1st millennium AD in Europe (including Roman and immediately post-Roman Britain) and the Roman and Byzantine Middle East, on the archaeology o ...

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

: BA Archaeology, 1982 *

Helen Geake Helen Mary Geake (born 1967) is a British archaeologist and small finds specialist. She was one of the key members of Channel 4's long-running archaeology series ''Time Team''. Early life and education Geake was born in Wolverhampton in 1967 b ...

: DPhil Archaeology, 1991 *

Roberta Gilchrist Roberta Lynn Gilchrist, FSA, FBA (born 28 June 1965) is a Canadian-born archaeologist and academic specialising in the medieval period, whose career has been spent in the United Kingdom. She is Professor of Archaeology and Dean of Research at ...

: DPhil Archaeology, 1989 *

Greg Jenner Greg Jenner (born 10 September 1982) is a British author and public historian with a particular interest in communicating history through pop culture and humour. Early life Jenner studied for a History and Archaeology BA and a Medieval Studie ...

- Historical Consultant to CBBC's 'Horrible Histories' *

Leen Ritmeyer Leen Ritmeyer (; born 1945) is a Dutch-born archaeological architect who currently lives and works in Wales, after having spent 22 years (1967–89) in Jerusalem. Career Ritmeyer holds an M.A. in Conservation Studies from the Institute of Advance ...

, archaeologist : MA Conservation Studies * Ben Robinson, '' The Flying Archaeologist'' (BBC Series) : PhD Archaeology

Rankings and awards

Amongst archaeology departments, York ranked 2nd for Impact, 2nd equal for Environment, and 4th overall in the 2014

Research Assessment Exercise The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) was an exercise undertaken approximately every five years on behalf of the four UK higher education funding councils ( HEFCE, SHEFC, HEFCW, DELNI) to evaluate the quality of research undertaken by British ...

. In the 2015 University Subject Tables, the department was ranked 6th out of 40 with a score of 92.6%. The Department was awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2011

References

External links

Department of Archaeology Home Page

The Posthole

Internet Archaeology

Archaeology Data Service
{{authority control Departments of the University of York History departments Archaeological research institutes in the United Kingdom