MA Aegean Archaeology (Contact: Dr Sue Sherratt, s.sherratt@sheffield.ac.uk)
email : s.sherratt@sheffield.ac.uk
An advanced programme available over one year (full-time) or two years (part-time)
The Aegean Sea was home to some of the world´s great civilisations, some of the key developments in early European human history emerged there, and some of the most significant excavations in the history of the archaeology have been carried out there. Sheffield is home to the largest group of Aegean prehistorians in the United Kingdom. Our MA in Aegean Archaeology draws heavily on their wide-ranging and groundbreaking research – and combines it with the department´s strengths in landscape archaeology, in the integration of textual and material evidence, and in archaeological science. The programme will be of interest to all who want to deepen their understanding of the prehistory and history of this region - and will appeal especially to students who wish to create a strong platform for doctoral research in any aspect of Aegean archaeology.
The programme offers a series of specialist modules on the archaeology of the Aegean and neighbouring regions, situated within a sophisticated and intellectually demanding theoretical context that examines archaeology from first principles to reconsider the discipline´s aims and methods and to evaluate its place in the contemporary world. You can specialize in later prehistory (Neolithic-Early Iron Age) or early history (classical antiquity), but a diachronic perspective and broad range of approaches are encouraged. Themes covered range from landscape change and subsistence to material culture and identity, from Neolithic village society to the archaeology of Greek colonisation, from analysis of single sites to Bronze and Iron Age world systems, and from field survey and excavation to laboratory analysis and archival research. Throughout the programme we will encourage and support you in the development of intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, problem solving and independent judgement.
Sheffield is the ideal place to pursue this programme. The Sheffield Centre for Aegean Archaeology provides our staff, students and academic visitors with an interdisciplinary environment for research into all aspects of the archaeology of the Aegean. Our teaching staff are leading scholars in Aegean archaeology. Through their research and field projects they are active in the generation of new knowledge that feeds directly into their teaching. As in all our programmes, we stress the integration of `humanities´ and `science-based´ approaches to produce a deeper understanding of past humanity, and throughout provide you with the opportunity to work between and across different view points and approaches and to make your own mind up about their strengths and weaknesses. What we will ask of you, as a member of our lively academic community, is that you learn, think and develop your own answers to the questions raised.
Programme Structure
Four core modules (each 15 credits) provide you with the key knowledge and understanding for research in Aegean archaeology -
Reinventing Archaeology - what archaeology does, what it could do, and how it might develop; consideration of all aspects from theory to fieldwork and conservation policy (Barrett)
Research Methods in Archaeology: from field to assemblage - ways of understanding field monuments and artefact assemblages (Barrett, Doonan, Merrony, Sherratt)
Research Design: Planning, Execution and Presentation - understanding how to design, manage and present research, in preparation for your Masters dissertation and for possible doctoral research applications (Bennet, Halstead, Pettitt)
Either
Current Issues in Aegean Prehistory - a critical survey of key debates, from early farming communities to Bronze Age `palatial´ societies, Dark Age Greece and the exploitation of the past in the present (Bennet, Day, Halstead, Sherratt)
or
Greeks, Romans and `Others´ in the Ancient World - investigates European societies from the beginning of Greek colonisation in the 8th century BC through the rise and fall of the Roman empire, drawing on material from the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and central and northern Europe. It is structured around four main themes: colonisation and the implications of cultural interaction; peripheries and frontiers; the family and social mobility; and the role of the past in the past (Rempel, Carroll).
You then choose optional modules worth a total of 60 credits. Optional modules are normally 15 credits (though some have 30 credit variants). Availability varies from year to year but the following gives you a flavour of the kind of specialised modules we will offer1 -
- Mediterranean Landscapes
- Archaeological Practice
- Archaeology and Texts in the Aegean 1700-700 BC
- The Archaeology of Cyprus
- Europe 8000-800 BC: from Early to Late Prehistory
- Funerary Archaeology
- Introduction to Material Culture Studies
- Method & Theory in Archaeozoology
- The Archaeology of Classical Athens
- Reconstructing Ancient Technologies: Ceramics
- Archaeology & Ethnography of Production & Consumption
- The Archaeology of the Eastern Mediterranean, 14th – 7th centuries BC
Finally, you complete a 60-credit dissertation on a subject of your choice. You can use this as a platform for the further study of topics/issues in your doctoral research, or simply to advance your knowledge and understanding of a key topic in Aegean archaeology
Programme Requirements2
We welcome applications from candidates with a good honours degree (2.1 or better) in archaeology, history or a related subject.
1See the Options at Sheffield page for further details of these modules.
2See also the Applying to Sheffield page for details of University entry and language requirements.
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