Ranked 34th globally for archaeology

Recognising the strenght of our teaching and research across archaeology, heritage science and forensics

"This ranking reflects the reach and impact of our transdisciplinary approach" Prof Naomi Sykes, Head of Archaeology and History

Transforming knowledge about past cultures and their environmental impact

We're hugely pleased that the archaeology side of our department has been ranked 34th in the QS World University Rankings! These prestigious annual rankings assess global university performance based on research, teaching, employability, and internationalisation.

Photo of a table with old OS maps and finds (e.g. rocks, flint, pottery) in boxes with labels, and some books. On a display board behind is a timeline of Lady Aileen Fox's life and a poster entitled 'pioneering Exeter archaeologist' with a large black and white photo of her.

This display, created for the @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social International Women's Day event on Monday, was made by students Jo, Lilian & Georgie. It focuses on the achievements of Lady Aileen Fox, lecturer here 1947-71, who was instrumental in founding the teaching of archaeology @exeter.ac.uk.

We should have said - this lecture will be given by Dr Benjamin Roberts, FSA. We're looking forward to welcoming him to Exeter!

The event will be hybrid, with both in-person attendance and a Zoom option. Please register via the SAL website: it is required to join online.

You can catch the livestream on the SAL YouTube channel with no registration needed.

🍽️ Catering will be available afterwards, so stay and mingle!

Discover the ancient art of tattooing!
On Thursday, 12 Feb (12:35 - 13:55 GMT), join us online for a seminar with Dr Aaron Deter-Wolf from the Tennessee Division of Archaeology.
Dive into 5,000 years of tattoo traditions from North America, Europe, and the Andean Pacific coast.

Two students and Naomi smile for the camera while holding up tile fragments.

Students and a lecturer (Sue) talking about tiles

Close-up view of Roman tile fragments

A group of students, all smiling, post while looking at tiles. In front of them are some callipers.

This time last week we held a CBM (Ceramic Building Material) workshop, training keen students how to identify and record Roman tiles! This collection is from an important site in the centre of Exeter. They all know their imbrex from their tegula now! Huge thanks to Naomi Payne for leading the day.

Follow @naomisykes.bsky.social for more, and thanks to @leverhulme.ac.uk

New research fellowship seeking to address the UK’s ‘crisis’ of archaeological curation A leading authority on the interaction between animals, humans and the environment through history has been awarded a prestigious national fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust, focusing on the crisis ...

Research funding news! Our very own Prof Naomi Sykes will be spending the next three years working on a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship, providing important context on the value of archaeological archives. More details here: news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-h...

📢NEW POST: a report on Chris Hoban's recent performance of music inspired by our wills at a sold gig for Topsham Folk Club 📢

📜🎶🎻🪗🪕

@leverhulme.ac.uk @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social @uoearchhist.bsky.social @cemsexeter.bsky.social

The Exeter Live Podcast is launching! With free entry for both students and staff, hear live discussions and get to know the History Department better. Tickets are not needed for this event.

Find out more here: fixr.co/event/the-re...

The project will form our student fieldschool for the next few years, but will also be a major community project with opportunities for local people to get involved in the excavations. Sign up to our mailing list here: sites.ac.uk/share

New archaeology project awarded grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to unearth and save a rare Roman villa in Devon A new research and community project, funded by a £249,000 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, will excavate a rare Roman villa in Devon containing archaeologically significant mosaics. The...

So pleased to announce that with our partners (Devon County Council, Tiverton Archaeology Group and Sampford Peverell Society) we've have been awarded a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant to rescue a threatened and rare Roman villa site in Devon: news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-h...

Our fieldschool! Thanks for reminding us of last year's great summer excavation!

Hi - it's a Teams meeting, with dial-in details in the photo. Let me know if you can't see these for any reason and I'll DM them across.

Poster image for event. Full title is: Predicting and protecting lithic landscapes: exploring lithic scatter distribution across Dartmoor. Ther eis a photo of a test pit excavation on a misty boggy hillside, where people are kneeling down excavating and Emma is holding GNSS survey kit.

Our first archaeology research seminar of 2026 is a cracker! On Thursday 15 Jan at 12.35pm, Dr Emma Stockley of @archanchistleic.bsky.social will be coming to talk to us about prehistoric lithic landscapes on Dartmoor. In preson and online, all welcome!

Join our PGTs for their annual conference!

📢 Researching the past
📅 Thursday 11 December 9.30-4.30
📍 Talks in Streatham Court LTC and posters displayed in Marchant Syndicate Room A in Building One

Do come along to support our students and socialise ❤️

Post for event 'Recent work on Cut Hill, Dartmoor'. The photograph show a small excavation trench with scale rods, cut into dark peaty soil. Several capstones of the cist can be seen.

We're very excited that our next research seminar will be given by Dr Lee Bray of Dartmoor National Park, giving us an update on the fascinating Cut Hill Bronze Age cist excavation. Thursday 4 Dec, 12.30pm. DM us for the Teams link if you'd like to join!

Current Archaeology Awards, Nomainated 2026 Book of the Year: Medieval Warhorse: Equestrian Landscapes, Material Culture, and Zooarchaeology in Britain, AD 800-1550

Great news! Our AHRC-funded Warhorse book has been nominated as Book of the Year in the 2026 Current Archaeology Awards. Prof Oliver Creighton's 'From Bayeux to Bosham' project is also up for Project of the Year! Voting is open at www.archaeology.co.uk/vote

Classroom full of students listening to Alex talk. He is pointing at a slide with various images.

There was a great turnout yesterday to Prof Alex Pryor's (birthday) talk on 'Hunters of Giants: How to kill an Upper Palaeolithic mammoth, revealed by stable isotopes and DNA'. This was part of our Centre for Human-Animal-Environment Bioarchaeology (HumAnE) series of events, to which all welcome!

On 18 November we organised an Employability Event attended by over 70 Undergraduate and Postgraduates from across the HASS Faculty.

The panellists provided advice, guidance and perspectives on how they had utilised archaeology and history degrees in their careers.

Many thanks to the panel!

History in the spotlight! On 12 Nov, a moving premiere of 'Albert Figg & the Battle for Hill 112' showed the courage and sacrifice of 7,000 men in one of WWII's bloodiest battles. Hosted by Prof Richard Follett & Rear Admiral Chris Snow CBE DL, showing the resilience of those West Country regiments

Join our online masterclass on writing a PhD proposal and potential sources of funding:

📅Wednesday 3 December
🕰️ 10am or 4pm
📍ZOOM

All welcome!

🎫 Book your place:
• 10am: fixr.co/event/master...
• 4pm: fixr.co/event/master...

PhD: AHRC Studentship | University of Exeter Project descriptionThe University of Exeter is offering up to three fully funded AHRC doctoral studentships and training and development opportunities across a range of the AHRC’s disciplines for cand...

Here at Exeter we are offering three AHRC-funded PhD scholarships in humanities subjects. Please contact us if you'd like to come and research archaeology or history? Apply by 23 February: www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...

Slide/poster for event. Title is 'Where power lies: the origins of England's earliest lordly centres'. The image is an aerial photo showing a rural area, with a church with a spire and an excavation trench in a field.

Next up in our archaeology seminar series is a talk by Dr Duncan Wright from Newcastle University on how medieval aristocracy established their authority through lordly centres. All welcome! Thursday 20 November, 12.30pm. Online - Teams meeting details on image.

🔥Hot off the press: Extensive dog diversity existed thousands of years before humans began selective breeding 🐩

“These results highlight the deep history of our relationship with dogs,” said Dr Carly Ameen “Diversity among dogs is a legacy of thousands of years of coevolution with human societies”

Join us for the Movember Special History Talk! 🧔To Beard or Not to Beard: The History of Facial Hair in Britain 1650-1900 with Dr Alun Withey

📅 Wednesday 19 November
🕰️ Doors open at 6pm, start at 18:15
🎫 fixr.co/event/movemb...

📚 News from the world of peace and economic history ☮️ Dr Marc-William Palen’s Pax 'Economica: Left-Wing Visions of a Free Trade World' has just received the Elise M. Boulding Prize in Peace History🏆 for groundbreaking work that rethinks how free trade once carried hopes for ending empire and war🌍

Associate Lecturer in Archaeology (Education and Scholarship) at University of Exeter Searching for an academic job? Explore this Associate Lecturer in Archaeology (Education and Scholarship) opening on jobs.ac.uk! Click to view more details and browse other academic jobs.

Come join us (for a little while at least)! Associate Lecturer job at Exeter in archaeology (especially people with human osteology, zooarch or forensic skills), until 30 April 2026: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPI165/a...

How scientists are cracking the secrets of the world’s oldest tattoos Turns out, ancient body art is a lot more common than we once thought—and it's providing historians with new ways of understanding our ancestors.

Congratulations to Dr Aaron Deter-Wolf, one of our PhD by publication students, who successfully passed his viva yesterday. Aaron is one of the world’s leading experts on ancient tattoos & was recently featured in National Geographic magazine: www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...

🐾 Explore 'Do Not Feed the Animals?' where science meets art to reveal the surprising stories behind why we feed animals, from home to zoo.

Experience vibrant artworks, hands-on research and reflect on your own animal encounters!🦉

📍Queens Building, Streatham campus
📆Until 12 December, all welcome