Archaeology
Explore your curiosity
Archaeology, ancient history and anthropology encompass the study of humanity from our origins to the present. The Department has a strong offering of part-time learning opportunities in these subjects, offering students the chance for progression from a short course through to a part-time graduate degree programme.
Short courses for adult learners
Explore a new topic or revisit a favourite subject over the course of a few days, a few weeks or a term. Our short courses run in person or online, with some offered in both formats – so you can choose the study option best for you.
Many of our short courses, including flexible online courses, weekly classes (both in Oxford and online) and some summer schools, can be studied for credit, which means they can count towards a recognised qualification such as our Undergraduate Certificate of Higher Education.
Oxford qualifications and professional development
Upcoming courses
Online - flexible • Short courses
What makes humans different from other primates? When did we become human? This course will chart the development of human behaviour.
- Mon 19 May 2025 – 01 Aug 2025
Online - live • Short courses • Hybrid - in person or online
Explore how people and societies, from the ancient world to the 20th century, have understood and coped with crises caused by climatic events or climate change, using evidence from archaeology and economic, social and oral history.
- Sat 31 May 2025
- 9:45am – 5:00pm
Short intensive • Short courses • Professional development
Exploring the role of desk-based assessments (DBA) in managing cultural heritage resource, providing a practical guide to their production, and guidance on their use to fulfil the requirements of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
- Mon 23 Jun 2025
- 1 meetings
- 9:00am – 4:30pm
Short intensive • Short courses • Professional development
Significance is now a core concept within our planning process. Its assessment is a key part of management and development within the historic environment. This course will introduce the process, explore the ways in which they can be used, and more.
- Wed 02 Jul 2025 – 04 Jul 2025
- 3 meetings
- 09.15 Wed - 16.45 Fri
Summer schools • Short courses
This course unravels the path of Rome from a small village in Latium vetus, to an emerging power in Italy, and finally the heart of a Mediterranean Empire, exploring the ecological and socio-political factors that underpin this trajectory.
- Sat 19 Jul 2025 – 26 Jul 2025
- 9:00am – 12:30pm
Summer schools • Short courses
Explore human connections to the environmental world, and of human cultural expressions about it. We will focus on European prehistory with global anthropological and ethnographic case studies.
- Sat 09 Aug 2025 – 16 Aug 2025
- 9:00am – 12:30pm
Award courses and related programmes
Cultural heritage training
Expert CPD tuition for those with a keen interest, professional or personal, in archaeology, historic buildings and cultural heritage.Undergraduate Certificate of Higher Education
A flexible, part-time route to an Oxford University qualification. Gain credit from flexible short online courses, weekly classes, and the Oxford University Summer School for Adults. Explore a wide range of subjects in this multidisciplinary programme.Undergraduate Certificate in Archaeology
An introductory part-time undergraduate course for adults with little or no previous experience of academic archaeology. Taught at first-year undergraduate level, this two-year course introduces ideas, approaches, sites and methods.Undergraduate Diploma in British Archaeology
Gain a grounding in British archaeology with this two-year part-time undergraduate course, taught at second-year university level. Modules available: Early Prehistoric; Later Prehistoric and Roman; and Anglo-Saxon, Viking and Medieval.Advanced Diploma in British Archaeology
This one-year part-time advanced diploma consists of a taught module on one of three periods of British archaeology and includes a 10,000-word dissertation. The course is taught at third-year undergraduate level.MSc in Applied Landscape Archaeology
The MSc in Applied Landscape Archaeology is a part-time modular course over two years.DPhil in Archaeology
The part-time DPhil programme was first offered in Archaeology in 2003 with several successful DPhil completions now having taken place.