Skip to main content

Postgraduate Taught

MA Roman Archaeology

Please note: The below is for 2025 entries. Click here for 2024 entries.
UCAS code 1234
Duration 1 year full time
2 years part time
Entry year September 2025
Campus Streatham Campus
Discipline Archaeology
Contact
Typical offer

View full entry requirements

2:2 Honours degree

Contextual offers

Overview

  • Our collaborative programme, led by our departments of Archaeology and Classics and Ancient History, gives you advanced grounding in the main themes and methods in Roman Archaeology
  • Balancing core elements that bring together theoretical sophistication with the latest digital methodologies
  • Tailor your learning through modules which suit your requirements and aspirations
  • Our location is surrounded by sites of archaeological interest and you may have opportunities for international fieldwork

Apply online

View 2024 Entry

Fast Track (current Exeter students)

Open days and visiting us

Get a prospectus

Contact

Programme Director: Dr Ioana Oltean

Web: Enquire online

Phone: +44 (0)1392 72 72 72

Discover MA Roman Archaeology at the University of Exeter.

Top 50 icon

Top 50 in world subject rankings for Archaeology

QS World University Subject Rankings 2024

Top 5 icon

Top 5 in the UK for Archaeology and Forensic Science

5th in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025

Medal with star on icon

Top 10 in the Complete University Guide

Ranked 9th for Archaeology in the UK

Earth icon

4th in the UK for internationally excellent Archaeology research

Research Excellence Framework 2021

Entry requirements

We will consider applicants with a 2:2 Honours degree with 53% or above in their first degree in archaeology, history, ancient history, anthropology, biology, geography, geology, chemistry, heritage, classics, classical studies, or environmental science.

While we normally only consider applicants who meet these criteria, if you are coming from a different academic background which is equivalent to degree level, or have relevant work experience, we would welcome your application.

For applicants from different academic backgrounds or with relevant work experience, please use your Personal Statement to provide additional information. This might include:

  • Why you want to study this course at the University of Exeter and what personal qualities make you suitable for postgraduate study.
  • Relevant background (work/degree experience).
  • Lecturers/modules you are particularly interested in and why.
  • Career/future ambitions and how the course will help you achieve them.

Feel free to informally contact the Programme Director (see above) for advice before submitting your formal application.

Entry requirements for international students

Please visit our entry requirements section for equivalencies from your country and further information on English language requirements.

Read more

Entry requirements for international students

English language requirements

International students need to show they have the required level of English language to study this course. The required test scores for this course fall under Profile B2. Please visit our English language requirements page to view the required test scores and equivalencies from your country.

Course content

The programme is divided into units of study called modules which are assigned 'credits'. The credit rating of a module is proportional to the total workload, with 1 credit being nominally equivalent to 10 hours of work.

The MA in Roman Archaeology programme is a one year full-time programme of study at National Qualification Framework level 7. The programme can also be studied part time. The programme includes 120 compulsory credits, including 30 credits of general archaeology modules (Research Design and Themes in Archaeological Theory and Practice), 30 credits of specialist modules and 60 credits of Dissertation. You must also choose 60 credits of optional modules from those available from the Masters Programmes within the Department of Archaeology or the Department of Classics and Ancient History.

Interim awards

After successful completion of 60 Masters Level credits, you are eligible for a Postgraduate Certificate in Roman Archaeology. After successful completion of 120 Masters Level credits, you are eligible for a Postgraduate Diploma in Roman Archaeology.

The modules we outline here provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.

120 credits of compulsory modules and 60 credits of optional modules

a - You must select either ARCM700 or CLAM043 (you cannot choose more than one module from this group).

 

Compulsory modules

CodeModule Credits
ARCM700 Dissertation in Roman Archaeology [See note a above]60
CLAM043 Dissertation in Classics and Ancient History [See note a above]60
ARCM010 Roman Archaeology in the Digital World 15
ARCM110 Research Design in Archaeology 15
ARCM120 Themes in Archaeological Theory and Practice 15
CLAM108 Rome: Globalisation, Materiality 15

Optional modules

b - If you are beginning a classical language, you must take 15 to 30 credits from CLAM088, CLAM089, CLAM090, CLAM091

c - If you have a classical language at beginners' level, you must take 30 credits from either CLAM252 or CLAM202.

d - If you have a classical language at intermediate level, you must take 30 credits from CLAM254, CLAM255 or CLAM204, or CLAM205.

e - If you have a classical language at Degree level, you must take 30 credits from or CLAM068 or CLAM012A.

CodeModule Credits
MA Roman Archaeology Optional Archaeology Modules 2024-5
ARCM005 Professional Skills in Archaeology 15
ARCM007 Advanced Project 15
ARCM011 Musculature Anatomy 15
ARCM012 Skeletal Anatomy 15
ARCM106 Plants and Animals as Craft Resources 15
ARCM107 Digital Pasts 15
ARCM108 Experimental Archaeology: Research and Public Engagement 15
ARCM109 Practical Pasts 15
ARCM111 Approaches to Pottery: Archaeology, Archaeometry, and Experimental Archaeology 15
ARCM130 Discovering the Past with Molecular Science 15
ARCM200 Field Study 15
ARCM225 Landscape Archaeology: Understanding the Historic Environment 15
ARCM300 Material Culture 15
ARCM403 Advanced Zooarchaeology 15
ARCM407 Zooarchaeology 15
ARCM412 Funerary Osteoarchaeology 15
ARCM415 The Archaeology of Humans and Other Animals 15
ARCM501 Researching the Historic Environment Online 15
ARCM602 Forensic Anthropology: Principles and Practice 15
MA Roman Archaeology Optional Classics Modules 2024-5
CLAM046 The City of Rome 30
CLAM077 Ancient Texts and their Interpretation 15
CLAM078 Classical Reception: An Introduction 15
CLAM079 Cultures of the Body in the Roman Empire 15
CLAM101 The Western Dragon in Lore, Literature and Art 15
CLAM106 Ancient Philosophy 15
CLAM108 Rome: Globalisation, Materiality 15
CLAM111 Ancient Drama in its Social and Cultural Context 15
CLAM261 Homers Odyssey and the Caribbean 15
CLAM262 Pandemics and disease in the ancient Mediterranean 15
CLAM259 Ancient Epigraphy 15
CLAM263 Magic and Folklore in the Greek and Roman Worlds 15
CLAM107 Roman Myth 15
CLAM088 Classical Language and Texts Greek I (A) [See note b above]15
CLAM089 Classical Language and Texts: Greek I (B) [See note b above]15
CLAM090 Classical Language and Texts: Latin I (A) [See note b above]15
CLAM091 Classical Language and Texts: Latin I (B) [See note b above]15
CLAM252 Classical Language and Texts: Latin II [See note c above]30
CLAM202 Classical Language and Texts: Greek II [See note c above]30
CLAM254 Latin III [See note d above]30
CLAM255 Latin IV [See note d above]30
CLAM204 Greek III [See note d above]30
CLAM205 Greek IV [See note d above]30
CLAM012A Latin Epic [See note e above]30
CLAM068 Supervised Independent Study in the Humanities [See note e above]15

Fees

2025/26 entry

UK fees per year:

£12,500 full-time; £6,250 part-time

International fees per year:

£25,300 full-time; £12,650 part-time

Scholarships

We invest heavily in scholarships for talented prospective Masters students. This includes over £5 million in scholarships for international students, such as our Global Excellence Scholarships*.

For more information on scholarships, please visit our scholarships and bursaries page.

*Selected programmes only. Please see the Terms and Conditions for each scheme for further details.

Teaching and research

Learning and teaching

Most of the formal classes that you attend will be based on a mixture of lectures, seminars, and workshops. The precise mix will vary between modules. These aim to outline the principal issues of the module, to explore some detailed issues, and, where relevant, to give you experience of working with a particular technique or data set.

Modules

Through a range of optional modules you will learn and understand advanced techniques for methodological study in modern archaeology applied to the Roman World, appreciate their major advantages and disadvantages, understand the main strands of current thinking in Roman archaeological method and theory and demonstrate an advanced understanding of specific areas and assemblages from the Roman Empire.

Practical skills

You will have a wider choice in the acquisition of practical skills in collecting and analysing relevant evidence in the field, laboratory, archives and libraries both formally in the class room and informally through fieldwork and/or access to other facilities.

The assessment of these skills is through a combination of essays, other written reports/projects, oral presentations, visual presentations, and you will be given an opportunity to develop your own study skills through a piece of individual research, a dissertation.

Research areas

This MA course draws directly on the internationally-recognised research and teaching expertise located in the Departments of Archaeology and Classics & Ancient History. In particular, it builds on the recent success of the vibrant cross-departmental Centre for Connectivity in the Roman World, which has a strong archaeological emphasis in its research activity, as well as drawing upon recent developments in Digital Humanities.

Research culture

The research culture in the Departments of Archaeology and Classics & Ancient History at Exeter is characterised by world-leading and internationally excellent research projects and publications in a wide range of sub-disciplinary fields. Interdisciplinary work is an increasingly important part of funded research and we regularly work with colleagues from across the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, and the wider University.

Societies

You will be also welcome to join our Centre for Hellenistic and Romano-Greek Culture and Society, where academic staff and Postgraduate students work together to develop cutting-edge research in this area.

Find out more about our research on the Classics and Ancient History and Archaeology websites.

Read more

Dr. Ioana Oltean specialises in the archaeology of the Roman Empire, particularly in its European provinces, and in aerial archaeology.

She is interested in the reconstruction of ancient landscapes, the analysis of settlement pattern evolution and in social changes from the Late Iron Age to the Roman period in the Lower Danube area and in Britain, in order to quantify the nature and extent of their change through Roman imperialist expansion. She has been involved since 1998 in establishing aerial reconnaissance as a standard method of archaeological prospection in Romania (browse online photo archive).

Read more from Dr. Ioana Oltean

Dr. Ioana Oltean

Senior Lecturer

Facilities

As a member and key part of our Postgraduate community you will have full access to the exceptional, modern facilities available in the Archaeology Department. We have dedicated Experimental Archaeology laboratories and workshop spaces. We have a clean lab with fume cupboards for chemical work, wet labs for sample processing, a kiln room and a microscope room equipped with high specification microscopes and image processing facilities.

We have a landscape archaeology project office with a giant scanner for maps and plans, market-leading software for processing and mapping aerial photographs and satellite imagery, and we have state of the art surveying equipment which includes resistivity equipment, magnetometers, differential and hand-held GPS, and a total station theodolite; a drone can also be provided by the Digital Humanities team.

Collections

On top of all that, we also have extensive reference collections of artefacts.

You will also have access to the wider resources of the University too, including the Library and Special Collections.

We have also invested £1.2 million into Digital Humanities to create a new lab and research space for the examination and preservation of important historical, literary and visual artefacts. The lab will allow you to use high-tech equipment to find out more about our cultural heritage, examine items in greater detail and share discoveries with the public. For more information visit our Digital Humanities Lab page.

Read more

Careers

Graduation

Our programme develops your specific competences and research skills required in Roman Archaeology at an advanced level through extensive engagement with primary evidence. You will also acquire advanced competence in core academic, personal and key skills, to provide a solid basis for career progression in the academic world of doctoral research or for a specialist career.

Skills

Of course doctoral study is not the only option available to you, you will graduate with a full range of skills that will make you competitive in the job market. You will be encouraged to become a productive, useful and questioning member of society.

You will be well placed to go onto work in either Archaeology or the wider Heritage Sector.

Employment support

While studying at Exeter you can also access a range of activities, advice and practical help to give you the best chance of following your chosen career path. For more information visit our Careers pages.