The University of Sheffield
Prospective Postgraduates

MA Medieval Archaeology

Margaret James - MA European Historical Archaeology

Key facts

  • Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts and Humanities
  • 1 year full-time/2 years part-time

Fees and funding

If you accept a place on this course, you're automatically considered for the Conart Bursary, worth up to £1,000, and the Keith and Nong Branigan Bursary, worth up to £800.

You may also be eligible for the Ian Sanders Occasional Postgraduate Bursary, worth between £500 and £1,000, for students researching in the fields of Classical or Mediterranean Archaeology.

You may be eligible to apply for AHRC and University of Sheffield studentships. If you're considering applying for funding, we recommend you contact us as soon as possible.

Financial information for postgraduate taught courses

Entry requirements

2:1 honours degree in a relevant subject such as archaeology, history, classics or anthropology.

English language requirements: overall IELTS grade of 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component, or equivalent.

Entry requirements for international students

Any questions?

If you'd like to know more about any aspect of our courses, contact us:

E: archaeology@sheffield.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)114 222 2900

Apply now

About the course

Sheffield has one of the biggest communities of medieval archaeologists in the UK; this course draws heavily on their research, examining European societies from the end of the classical period to the early modern period. You'll get hands-on experience with a field placement on a medieval project.

Core modules

  • Research Design: planning, execution and presentation
  • Heritage, Museum and Field: Medieval Archaeology in Practice
  • Ethnicity and Identity in the Early Middle Ages; Society and Culture in the late Middle Ages
  • Viking-Age Europe
  • Wars of the Roses to Elizabeth:Archaeology of England 1455–1603
  • Death and Burial in Anglo-Saxon and Medieval England
  • Dissertation in Medieval Archaeology.

Optional modules

Choose two from a list including:

  • Introduction to Material Culture Studies
  • Archaeozoology
  • Death and Burial in Anglo-Saxon England
  • Introduction to Human Osteology
  • Imagining the Unseen in the Middle Ages (History)
  • Order and Disorder around the Year 1000 (History)
  • The Dawn of Modernity in the Late Middle Ages (History)

Teaching

  • Seminars
  • Lectures
  • Practical classes
  • A field placement on a medieval project.

Some optional modules (see above) are taught by the Department of History. Assessment is by coursework assignments and a dissertation.

Assessment

  • Coursework assignments
  • Dissertation

Part-time study

This course can be taken full-time or part-time.

If you study part-time, you'll take two 15-credit modules in each semester during Year 1 and Year 2, and either a dissertation or placement module over the summer of Year 2. We arrange for you to attend two days a week but we try to be as flexible as possible.

Your future

This course is excellent preparation for a PhD and a research career.

Sheffield graduates hold archaeological posts in Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia. They use their expertise in universities, museums, archaeological consultancies, heritage parks and government. Jobs include Historic Buildings Projects Officer, Commercial Field Archaeologist and Postdoctoral Researcher.

World-leading expertise

Our track record is excellent – we've made the UK top ten for archaeology research in every national assessment since 1992. Our teaching benefits from this strength in research. As a masters student you learn from the best.

The foundations of great teaching

Our research is organised into four areas: bioarchaeology and human evolution, landscapes and environments, material culture and technologies, and Old World archaeology.

There are several specialised research centres here: Sheffield Centre for Aegean Archaeology; Sheffield Centre for Archaeobotany and Ancient Land-Use; Sheffield Centre for Historical Archaeology; Zooarchaeology Laboratory. Their projects, conferences and seminars all add to the quality of your course.

Specialist facilities

You'll have everything you need to explore your ideas. We have a complex of laboratories, imaging and GIS resources and storage facilities.

There are labs for research and teaching in environmental archaeology, human and animal skeletal analysis, landscape and aerial archaeology, and materials sciences.

Global fieldwork

We offer the opportunity for you to get involved in our research projects in the UK, mainland Europe, Asia and Africa.

Apply now

You can apply for postgraduate study using our Postgraduate Online Application Form. It is a quick and easy process.

Postgraduate Online Application Form