Archaeology research

Archaeological research at the Department for Continuing Education

Research in the Department includes:

• Landscape archaeology (all periods)
• Theory and material culture
• Environmental and Scientific approaches, the Ancient Near East
• Heritage and professional archaeology
• Community, outreach and public engagement
• Archaeology of early medieval northern Europe

Archaeology has been a focus of research at the Department for Continuing Education for over 50 years, under successive Directors of Study. In the 1970s the Department played a key role in bringing archaeological research and teaching into the professional sphere. In the 1980s and 1990s a number of high-profile research projects and excavations inspired many people to undertake study and research in the subject, and provided fieldwork opportunities and training.

In the 21st century, our research has provided a context for postgraduate studies including the part-time MSc in Applied Landscape Archaeology and DPhil in Archaeology. The emphasis in staff and student research continues to be on landscape archaeological approaches (of all periods), but these are by no means limited to the UK in scope. Professional archaeology and heritage have formed a strong focus, backed up by our short training courses in the historic environment. We have also developed our emphasis on community archaeological research, public engagement and outreach. We maintain close links with the University museums and with the School of Archaeology at Oxford (which runs full-time masters and DPhil courses), with which we share many common interests.

Research highlights, past and present: