This one year Master’s programme provides students from a range of academic backgrounds with a broad-based postgraduate qualification in Archaeology, but with the option of pursuing specific archaeological specialisms, including Viking archaeology, museum studies, cultural heritage management, or biomolecular archaeology.
This course has a September 2024 start date. Apply Now.
This MSc in Archaeology provides an ‘umbrella’ programme to appeal to archaeology students from a range of backgrounds interested in pursuing specific archaeological subjects under the banner of a broad degree designation.
Teaching is research-led and ties into current projects run by the staff at the department, who are prominent researchers and fieldworkers in Northern Europe, Scandinavia, Northeast Asia, the North Atlantic and the circumpolar region from Siberia to the Canadian Arctic.
You will learn about theory and method in archaeological research. The flexibility of our offering means you can choose courses based on your interests, such as Northern Worlds or Viking Archaeology. You can also learn key Geographical Information System (GIS) tools and techniques used in archaeology, and develop practical skills in cartography and geo-visualisation.
The University’s extensive museum collections also present unique opportunities to explore contemporary issues around the preservation and communication of archaeological finds, particularly in relation to osteoarchaeology.
This programme can be taken as preparation for higher research, as a professional qualification, or purely out of interest. This programme is also appropriate as a conversion course for students new to archaeology but with a background in a cognate discipline.
This course, which is prescribed for all taught postgraduate students, is studied entirely online, takes approximately 5-6 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across a number of weeks.
Topics include orientation overview, equality and diversity, health, safety and cyber security and how to make the most of your time at university in relation to careers and employability.
Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Enhanced Transcript as ‘Achieved’.
30 Credit Points
In this course students will follow the development of archaeological thought from its roots in the scientific revolution of the 17th century through to the post-modern thinkers and finally discovering where the current theoretical debates stand. Students will explore the links between the theoretical development of archaeological research and the general developments in the history of science and philosophy. Students also explore different methodologies central to archaeological research, discuss what constitute archaeological data, and how to design a research project. Students will also discuss research ethics, and scientific agendas. These issues are explored through a series of lectures and seminars.
In addition students will take further 30 credit points from the following courses (note, only a maximum of 30 credits can be taken in non-archaeology courses across Stages 1 and 2):
Developing a Theory of Practice: Learning and Museums (ED503E) (30 credit points)
30 Credit Points
In a series of research-led lectures and seminars, students investigate what characterises the Archaeology of the North from environmental, socio-cultural, and ideological aspects. We examine several inter-locking themes, from the first colonisations of the North tracing how these earlier populations established the cultural, ethnic and religious diversity that define later periods. Students will be introduced to the ecological characteristics of higher latitudes, and examine the diverse ways in which communities have made the Northern World their home. We also examine how human communities have responded to climate changes in the past, resilience and adaptation, technology, and spirituality amongst Northern peoples
30 Credit Points
In their brief 300-year heyday, the peoples of Viking-Age Scandinavia transformed the northern world, and themselves. This course explores the Vikings at home, abroad, and in their new homes overseas in the developing colonies of the diaspora that stretched from the coasts of North America to the Asian steppe. In lectures and seminars students will consider themes such as settlement and social structure, urbanism and commerce, pagan and Christian religion, and the political process that created the modern nation states of Norway, Sweden and Denmark
30 Credit Points
This course introduces students to the basic tenets of cultural heritage management at national and international level. Through the interdisciplinary lens of heritage studies, you will learn about the different political, social and economic meanings of heritage. Specific focus is placed on archaeological heritage, how its significance and stewardship has changed over time, and what policies and practices inform its management today. You will also learn about key challenges facing the sector.
30 Credit Points
This course provides a broad introduction to the field of Biomolecular Archaeology and the study of ancient biomolecules. In a series of lectures, seminars and practicals, you will learn key theoretical concepts, principles, and laboratory methods underpinning state-of-the-art research on ancient biomolecules, such as DNA, proteins and lipids
15 Credit Points
This module will introduce students to remote sensing techniques and fundamental geospatial tools for displaying and analysing geospatial data. This will include: navigation, measurement, spatial queries, geocoding, scripting, buffering, digitising, and overlay analysis. Several ‘real world’ examples will be used to illustrate the application of the tools for data exploration, spatial analyses, mapping, and visualisation. Emphasis will be placed on obtaining a sound understanding of the principles of each technique, as well as the importance of selecting the correct approach to a problem, analysing the data, and interpretation of the results.
30 Credit Points
As an advanced engagement with current trends and approaches in Northern Archaeology students examine current cutting edge debates associated with new theories and methodologies in archaeological research. Students will encounter the versatility of methodological and theoretical approaches in Northern research through four different themes central to the Archaeology of the North; Body and Death, Heritage and Memory, Social Space and Structures, Human and Environment. Each theme is explored through series of research led seminars and a practical, approaching the theme from different theoretical/methodological angels. The main assessment of the course is an Internal Masters Conference on these four themes.
In addition students will take further 30 credit points from the following courses, but no more than 30 credit points in
non-archaeology courses, including those taken in Stage 1:
30 Credit Points
In a series of text based student-led seminars we study past Northern Peoples and Cultures through key topical debates, characteristic for different cultural regions and time periods. In the seminars students examine a range of northern contexts, from prehistory to more recent times all over the Circumpolar North. Students encounter topics as versatile as animal domestication in Northern Eurasia, Scandinavian Vikings, and Colonial North America illustrating the diversity of life and thought in Northern communities. Each seminar will also explore how particular key issues have become central to the 'identity' of archaeological research in the respective areas
30 Credit Points
The last centuries of the Scandinavian Iron Age, c. 750-1050, is the dynamic era in which Norse peoples made a lasting impression on Northern European and indeed world history. We call it the Viking Age. It was characterised by a society in transition – between Pagan beliefs and Christianity, Iron Age Chiefdoms and Medieval States, Thing and Law. In this course we explore the impacts that the Vikings had on Northern European society through the ancient artefacts and places they left behind. In addition to biweekly seminars, this course lets you meet the Vikings in their World through a week-long field trip where we will explore how society, landscape, economy and worldview was radically changed by the Viking Age.
30 Credit Points
Archaeologists are accused of not engaging with the significance of skeletal remains, osteologists are accused of not engaging with the mortuary context. This course aims to draw both worlds together and understand the complex and intertwined relationships between the two. Incorporating archaeological studies of skeletons and mortuary sites, as well as ethical, anthropological and forensic perspectives, you will explore and work to understand how people in the past reacted to, and dealt with, the realities of the inevitable.
30 Credit Points
The Eurasia steppe has been presented as an engine that drove past political, technological and genetic changes in the well-known regions around the periphery of the Eurasian continent. The archaeology and prehistory of this region is not widely or directly known. The course will provide a detailed introduction of the cultures and datasets that form the bases of a range of grand narratives as well as allowing students to work with the practical and theoretical issues common the archaeology of Eurasia. Course material will focus on a 5000 year period roughly from the advent of advent of pastoralist and food producing societies to the rise of the medieval Mongol Empire.
15 Credit Points
This module will examine some of the many different applications of the geospatial technologies. It comprises two sections: 1) invited lectures from external guest speakers on a selection of current GIS applications embracing academic, commercial and research topics on e.g. physical and human geography, planning, archaeology, geology, computer science, and specialist applications from amongst others: the renewable energy sector, oil and gas industry, offshore surveying, marine spatial planning, precision agriculture, environmental management, local authorities, and the business sector; 2) the execution of a practical-based mini GIS project chosen from a list of topics of specific interest to the student.
15 Credit Points
This module will introduce students to remote sensing techniques and fundamental geospatial tools for displaying and analysing geospatial data. This will include: navigation, measurement, spatial queries, geocoding, scripting, buffering, digitising, and overlay analysis. Several ‘real world’ examples will be used to illustrate the application of the tools for data exploration, spatial analyses, mapping, and visualisation. Emphasis will be placed on obtaining a sound understanding of the principles of each technique, as well as the importance of selecting the correct approach to a problem, analysing the data, and interpretation of the results.
15 Credit Points
Central to the application of Geographical Information (GI) in the 'real world' is the acquisition of a fundamental knowledge and understanding of the 'data into information’ pathway using GIS and the geospatial information technologies. This module introduces students to a number of examples of both theory and application of geographical data and information, and the relationships to remote sensing, cartography. visualisation, multimedia, global positioning systems (GPS), mobile GIS, and the Internet. A practical study of mobile GIS and Smartphone Apps for field data collection is included. A practical introduction to the Idrisi GIS software is used for the course.
60 Credit Points
This course let the students build on the skills and knowledge they acquired in the other courses of the MSc in Archaeology and Archaeology of the North, as they design and conduct their own research project. The student conduct independent studies on a topic of their own choice within the northern theme. All students will receive staff supervision in identifying a suitable topic and in completing an original research project. The course also includes a number of research seminars, and in addition to their written dissertation students are expected to produce a short popular piece presenting their research to a non-academic audience.
We will endeavour to make all course options available. However, these may be subject to change - see our Student Terms and Conditions page.
| Fee category | Cost |
|---|---|
| EU / International students | £22,000 |
| Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year In addition to the tuition fees, students will be required to pay an offsite training fee TBC. | |
| UK | £10,000 |
| Tuition Fees for 2024/25 Academic Year |
Self-funded international students enrolling on Postgraduate Taught (PGT) programmes for January 2025 will receive one of our Aberdeen Global Scholarships, ranging from £3,000 to £8,000, depending on your domicile country. Learn more about these Aberdeen Global Scholarships here.
From September 2025 all eligible self-funded international Postgraduate Masters students will receive an £8,000 scholarship. Learn more about this Aberdeen Global Scholarship here.
To see our full range of scholarships, visit our Funding Database.
Classes are taught through lectures, small group tutorials and seminars. A main focus of the MSc is development of individual research skills through dissertation work.
Assessment for each 30-credit taught module is on the basis of one 3000-word essay and one 3000-word project on topics relevant to the course. The nature of the project may vary from course to course and include reports, exercises and oral presentations.
The information below is provided as a guide only and does not guarantee entry to the University of Aberdeen.
2:1 (upper second class) UK Honours degree, or an Honours degree from a non-UK institution which is judged by the University to be of equivalent worth in Archaeology or a related discipline.
2:2 in Archaeology or related discipline plus related professional experience.
Please enter your country to view country-specific entry requirements.
To study for a Postgraduate Taught degree at the University of Aberdeen it is essential that you can speak, understand, read, and write English fluently. The minimum requirements for this degree are as follows:
IELTS Academic:
OVERALL - 6.5 with: Listening - 5.5; Reading - 5.5; Speaking - 5.5; Writing - 6.0
TOEFL iBT:
OVERALL - 90 with: Listening - 17; Reading - 18; Speaking - 20; Writing - 21
PTE Academic:
OVERALL - 62 with: Listening - 59; Reading - 59; Speaking - 59; Writing - 59
Cambridge English B2 First, C1 Advanced, C2 Proficiency:
OVERALL - 176 with: Listening - 162; Reading - 162; Speaking - 162; Writing - 169
Read more about specific English Language requirements here.
You will be required to supply the following documentation with your application as proof you meet the entry requirements of this degree programme. If you have not yet completed your current programme of study, then you can still apply and you can provide your Degree Certificate at a later date.
Eligible self-funded Postgraduate Taught (PGT) students will receive the Aberdeen Global Scholarship. Explore our Global Scholarships, including eligibility details, on our dedicated pages.
January 2025 September 2025An Archaeology degree can be the gateway to many other professions, and the training in analytical and communication skills acquired by our graduates make them employable in a wide variety of fields including industry, commerce and research.
The broad-based nature of the discipline enables graduates to compete strongly in the employment market place. Today Archaeologists in the UK work in an increasingly wide range of professions. A significant percentage of graduates are employed in private or university-based archaeological units and consultancies. These professionals are responsible for mitigating the impact to archaeological sites in relation to different forms of development. Typically, such posts involve a good deal of fieldwork and the production of high quality scientific reports.
Others graduates go on to research, teaching and curatorial posts in universities, museums and private institutions and work in a range of areas from interpreting ancient environments to communicating archaeology to the public. In addition to more traditional occupations, a growing number of Archaeologists are now employed by a range of governmental and non-governmental heritage organizations.
Careers in this area are primarily involved in making decisions about the management and conservation of archaeological resources at local, national and international levels. Archaeologists and individuals with archaeological training also work in a growing number of non-traditional careers where archaeological knowledge is central. These positions range widely, from jobs with engineering firms, where knowledge of archaeological principals can be crucial to project planning, to careers which engage the public's appreciation of the past.
You will be taught by a range of experts including professors, lecturers, teaching fellows and postgraduate tutors. However, these may be subject to change - see our Student Terms and Conditions page.
In partnership with the village corporation Qanirtuuq, Inc. and the Yup’ik Eskimo village of Quinhagak, Alaska, is working to record archaeological sites threatened by rising sea levels along the Bering Sea.
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