| Program start date | Application deadline |
| 2024-09-01 | - |
Program Overview
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Archaeology at University of Galway
Course Overview
This course is not on offer for entry in September 2023. You may find the MA (Landscape Archaeology and Heritage) of interest instead.
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Archaeology is the study of past peoples and societies. By understanding how they adapted and changed over time, you as an archaeologist will gain insights into the development of the contemporary world. This programme gives a grounding in a variety of aspects of Irish and European archaeology, stretching from the first arrivals of ancient peoples to the continent to today’s society.
The Higher Diploma in Archaeology is a Level 8 programme, which is a gateway to postgraduate research (MA, MLitt) in Archaeology and to becoming an advocate for heritage in your community. The programme can be taken full time over one year (60 ECTS) or part-time over two years (30 ECTS per year). To be eligible to apply for the Higher Diploma in Archaeology you need a primary degree or equivalent qualification in any area of the arts, sciences, engineering, etc.
This Higher Diploma equips the student with core knowledge in aspects of prehistoric, medieval and modern Irish and European archaeology. It also develops first-stage archaeological research skills in order to position the student to conduct independent research and provides a basis for entry to higher-level postgraduate degree programmes. The structure and content of the programme may suit those interested in changing career direction and especially mature students who wish to enter the postgraduate sector and require a flexible schedule.
To view the Discipline of Archaeology website please click HERE.
Scholarships available
Find out about our Postgraduate Scholarships here.
Applications are made online via the University of Galway Postgraduate Applications System.
Who Teaches this Course
Dr. Stefan Bergh
College Lecturer, Above the Bar
Archaeology
Arts/Science Building
NUI Galway
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Dr. Michelle Comber BA, BA, PhD View Profile
Dr Carleton Jones BA,MA,PhD View Profile
Mr. Conor Newman MA
Senior Lecturer
Archaeology Department
Quadrangle
NUI, Galway
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Dr Kieran Denis O'Conor
Senior Lecturer
Dept. of Archaeology
Room 213
Arts/Science Building
NUI Galway
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Ms Margaret Ronayne
LECTURER ABOVE THE BAR
Archaeology
Room 211
Arts/Science Building
NUI Galway
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Assessment is by continuous assessments, essays and exams.
Program Outline
Course Outline
Students will take an approved selection of six modules within the Second and Final Year BA undergraduate programme to the equivalent of 30 ECTS, along with a 10 ECTS module Reading the Past in Practice, and a 20 ECTS dissertation module, Archaeology and Place. Reading the Past in Practice, and Archaeology and Place, both have fieldwork components. Part-time students will take courses to the equivalent of 30 ECTS in Year 1 and courses to the equivalent of 30 ECTS in Year 2.
The modules on offer include:
Module details for the full-time course
Module details for the part-time course
Curriculum Information
Curriculum information relates to the current academic year (in most cases).
Course and module offerings and details may be subject to change.
Glossary of Terms
Credits
You must earn a defined number of credits (aka ECTS) to complete each year of your course. You do this by taking all of its required modules as well as the correct number of optional modules to obtain that year's total number of credits.
Module
An examinable portion of a subject or course, for which you attend lectures and/or tutorials and carry out assignments. E.g. Algebra and Calculus could be modules within the subject Mathematics. Each module has a unique module code eg. MA140.
Optional
A module you may choose to study.
Required
A module that you must study if you choose this course (or subject).
Semester
Most courses have 2 semesters (aka terms) per year.
Year 1 (60 Credits)
Required
AR246:
Castles, Colonists & Crannogs 1100-1350
AR246: Castles, Colonists & Crannogs 1100-1350
Semester 1 | Credits: 5
Assessments
This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.
Module Director
Research Profile
| EmailLecturers / Tutors
The above information outlines module AR246: "Castles, Colonists & Crannogs 1100-1350" and is valid from 2014 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.
Required
AR2102:
People, Ritual and Death: Life in Early Prehistoric Europe
AR2102: People, Ritual and Death: Life in Early Prehistoric Europe
Semester 1 | Credits: 5
This course focuses on a critical understanding of daily life in Europe during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. c. 10 000 BC to c. 2000 BC. The course introduces evidence from various parts of the European continent to create a context for the understanding of people’s lives in early prehistoric Ireland. One aspect of the course is to understand the reasons for the varied subsistence patterns, their development and change in different parts of Europe. Another central aspect is to critically examine the role of ritual in people’s daily life and its material expression in the treatment of the dead. The societal meaning and function of large scale monument-building that develops in the Neolithic forms another important part of the course. A theme running through the course is the focus on the interplay between social, ritual and subsistence aspects of life within people’s daily routine. The course is structured thematically illustrating the above aspects by using case studies from a wide range of chronological and geographical contexts within Europe.
(Language of instruction: English)
Learning Outcomes
- Critically interpret the evidence for the development of prehistoric communities and societies in Europe
- Discuss the evidence for the development of prehistoric societies in Ireland in a wider context
- Demonstrate critical understanding of the nature of prehistoric evidence, its chronology and classification including awareness of problems in the use of classification tools
- Recognise selected key artefacts and site types from the relevant periods in Europe
- Interpret the interplay between ritual and daily life in prehistoric societies
Assessments
This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.
Module Director
Research Profile
| EmailLecturers / Tutors
Reading List
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"Britain Begins" by Cunliffe
Publisher: Oxford University Press
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"Prehistoric Britain" by Darvill, T
Publisher: Routledge
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"Stone Age studies in post-glacial Europe" by Randsborg, K
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
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"Europe in the Neolithic.The creation of new worlds" by Whittle, A
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
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"Prehistoric Archaeology of Ireland" by Waddell, J.
Publisher: Wordwell
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"The megalithic monuments of Britain and Ireland" by Scarre, C.
Publisher: Thames and Hudson
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"The Significance of Monuments" by Bradley, R.
Publisher: Routledge
The above information outlines module AR2102: "People, Ritual and Death: Life in Early Prehistoric Europe" and is valid from 2020 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.
Required
AR343:
Public Archaeology
AR343: Public Archaeology
Semester 1 | Credits: 5
Assessments
This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.
Module Director
Research Profile
| EmailLecturers / Tutors
The above information outlines module AR343: "Public Archaeology" and is valid from 2014 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.
Required
AR3100:
Metal, Warfare, and Chiefdoms - The Bronze Age Roots of European Civilization
AR3100: Metal, Warfare, and Chiefdoms - The Bronze Age Roots of European Civilization
Semester 1 | Credits: 5
This course focuses on investigating the types of societies that occupied Europe in the Bronze Age. A range of themes will be addressed including patterns of production, exchange and interaction, the exceptional social and economic developments in the Aegean region, the role of warfare, and patterns of metalwork deposition and hoarding. Following these thematic treatments, we will investigate the nature of Bronze Age societies by focusing on how the concept of ‘chiefdoms’ has been developed and used by anthropologists and archaeologists. This will involve a close look at some Polynesian chiefdoms that have been used as interpretive models to help understand Bronze Age European societies and specific European case studies focusing on Wessex in England, Denmark, and the Munster region in Ireland.
(Language of instruction: English)
Learning Outcomes
- Summarise and critique the salient points of a piece of archaeological writing
- Critically assess the merits and demerits of various explanatory models and theories put forward regarding the nature of societies in Bronze Age Europe
- Compose an organized, logical argument
- Discuss how ethnographic-based models of chiefdoms have been used by archaeologists to model European Bronze Age societies
- Demonstrate a developed understanding of the international context of the Irish Bronze Age
- Apply knowledge of key international archaeological issues and sites
Assessments
This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.
Module Director
Research Profile
| EmailLecturers / Tutors
Reading List
-
"Prehistoric Europe" by Timothy Champion... [et al.]
ISBN: 0121675521.
Publisher: London ; Academic Press, c1984.
Chapters: 6, 7
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"The Oxford illustrated prehistory of Europe" by edited by Barry Cunliffe
ISBN: 0198143850.
Publisher: Oxford ; Oxford University Press, 1994.
Chapters: 5, 6, 7, 9
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"Symbols of Power at the Time of Stonehenge." by Clarke, D., T. Cowie, A. Foxon (eds.)
Publisher: National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland
Chapters: 4
The above information outlines module AR3100: "Metal, Warfare, and Chiefdoms - The Bronze Age Roots of European Civilization" and is valid from 2016 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.
Required
AR338:
Explaining Prehistory - Current Research Trends
AR338: Explaining Prehistory - Current Research Trends
Semester 1 | Credits: 5
Assessments
This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.
Module Director
Research Profile
| EmailLecturers / Tutors
The above information outlines module AR338: "Explaining Prehistory - Current Research Trends" and is valid from 2014 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.
Required
AR3103:
Minor Dissertation
AR3103: Minor Dissertation
Semester 2 | Credits: 15
7,000-word, in-depth, desk-based study of an archaeological or related topic or theme, including descriptive and critical content, analysis and context, positioned relative to existing published research. There are preparatory lectures, and topics of research are discussed and agreed with a designated supervisor.
(Language of instruction: English)
Learning Outcomes
- Carry out in-depth research on an archaeological or related theme or topic.
- Identify, comprehend and rehearse accurately and concisely key concepts and hypotheses in an area of active research.
- Identify and articulate research questions, appropriate methodologies, and a suitable schedule of work.
Assessments
This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.
Module Director
Research Profile
| EmailLecturers / Tutors
The above information outlines module AR3103: "Minor Dissertation " and is valid from 2021 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.
Required
AR3101:
Landscape and Archaeology: Context and Practice
AR3101: Landscape and Archaeology: Context and Practice
Semester 2 | Credits: 5
This module refers to the interface between landscape and archaeology, focusing on landscape and place theory, legislation and practice for archaeologists, with reference to Irish and international case studies.
(Language of instruction: English)
Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate knowledge of landscape and place theory
- Discuss national and international conventions and practice in the areas of landscape and heritage generally, and from the perspective of the practice of archaeology
- Situate the practice of landscape archaeology in the wider context of interdisciplinary discourses on landscape, place, heritage and community
- Critically assess landscape archaeology, theory and practice
Assessments
This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.
Module Director
Research Profile
| EmailLecturers / Tutors
Reading List
-
"Placeways" by Eugene Victor Walter
ISBN: 0807842001.
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
-
"Landscapes of Cult and Kingship" by edited by Roseanne Schot, Conor Newman, Edel bhreathnach
ISBN: 9781846822193.
Publisher: Four Courts Press
-
"Heritage and Beyond" by Council of Europe
ISBN: 9789287166364.
Publisher: Council of Europe
-
"Wisdom sits in places" by Keith H. Basso
ISBN: 0826317243.
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
-
"Irish Contemporary Landscapes in Literature and the Arts" by Marie Mianowski (Editor)
ISBN: 9780230319394.
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
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"Senses of place" by edited by Steven Feld and Keith H. Basso
ISBN: 9780933452954.
Publisher: School of American Research Press
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"Landscape Values: place and praxis" by edited by Tim Collins, Gesche Kindermann, Conor Newman and Nessa Cronin
ISBN: 9781908358431.
Publisher: Centre for Landscape Studies, University of Galway
-
"Decoding the landscape" by edited by Timothy Collins
ISBN: 0954397800.
Publisher: Centre for Landscape Studies, University of Galway
-
"Exploring the history and heritage of Irish landscapes" by Patrick J. Duffy
ISBN: 9781851829651.
Publisher: Four Courts Press
-
"Landscape Interfaces: Cultural Heritage in Changing Landscapes" by edited by Hannes Palang and Gary Fry
ISBN: 1402014376.
Publisher: Kluwer Academic Press
-
"Handbook of Landscape Archaeology" by Bruno David (Editor), Julian Thomas (Editor)
ISBN: 9781598746167.
Publisher: Left Coast Press
-
"Order and History: Isreal and Revelation" by Erich Voegelin
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press
Chapters: Introductiion
-
"Theory and Practice in Heritage and Sustainability" by Elizabeth Auclair and Graham Fairclough (eds)
ISBN: 9781138778900.
Publisher: Routledge
Chapters: 1
-
"The kingship and landscape of Tara" by Edel Bhreathnach, editor
ISBN: 1851829547.
Publisher: Four Courts Press for The Discovery Programme, c2005.
-
"Space and place" by Yi-Fu Tuan
ISBN: 9780816638772.
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
The above information outlines module AR3101: "Landscape and Archaeology: Context and Practice " and is valid from 2017 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.
Required
AR236:
Interpretation in Archaeology
AR236: Interpretation in Archaeology
Semester 2 | Credits: 5
Assessments
This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.
Module Director
Research Profile
| EmailLecturers / Tutors
The above information outlines module AR236: "Interpretation in Archaeology" and is valid from 2014 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.
Required
AR245:
Archaeology in Practice
AR245: Archaeology in Practice
Semester 2 | Credits: 5
Assessments
This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.
Module Director
Research Profile
| EmailLecturers / Tutors
The above information outlines module AR245: "Archaeology in Practice" and is valid from 2014 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.
Optional
AR2101:
Early Kingship: From Chaos to Cosmos
AR2101: Early Kingship: From Chaos to Cosmos
Semester 1 | Credits: 5
Cult centres and ‘royal’ complexes like Tara, Emain and Cruachain are where early kingship found expression in religion, politics and the sword in pre-Norman Ireland. The landscapes associated with these special, sacral kings were probably perceived and designed as analogues of the cosmos, and all of them were culturally enriched with monuments, mythology, history, legends and placenames. This course investigates how such landscapes evolved over time, how ancient monuments were combined with new ones, and how monuments and topographical formations were marshalled into cultural landscapes through toponomy (placenaming), totemism, mythology and history.
(Language of instruction: English)
Learning Outcomes
- Discuss the evolution of kingship and the sacralisation of ‘royal’ landscapes in early Ireland, from prehistory to the early medieval period
- Demonstrate an understanding of the landscape concept in archaeology
- Demonstrate an understanding of how archaeologists formulate a coherent research design from fieldwork strategies to interpretation and dissemination
Assessments
This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.
Module Director
Research Profile
| EmailLecturers / Tutors
Reading List
- "The kingship and landscape of Tara" by Bhreathnach, E. (ed.)
- "Landscapes of cult and kingship" by Schot, R., Newman, C. & Bhreathnach, E. (eds)
- "Introduction: the character of kingship in The character of kingship" by Quigley, D. (ed)
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"The prehistoric archaeology of Ireland" by Waddell, J.
Chapters: 9
-
"Tara" by n/a
Publisher: Royal Irish Academy
-
"!!!Book Not Found" by n/a
ISBN: 0337083619.
-
"Rathcroghan. Archaeological and Geophysical Survey in a ritual landscape" by J. Waddell, J. Fenwick, K, Barton
ISBN: 9781905569311.
Publisher: Wordwell
-
"Archaeology and Celtic Myth" by John Waddell
ISBN: 9781846824944.
Publisher: Four Courts PressLtd
The above information outlines module AR2101: "Early Kingship: From Chaos to Cosmos" and is valid from 2018 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.
Optional
TI254:
Space, Place and the Irish Landscape
TI254: Space, Place and the Irish Landscape
Semester 1 | Credits: 5
This module aims to critically explore the historical and contemporary complexities of Irish culture, place and landscape through select case-studies, thematic and/or locational, and through a range of theoretical concerns from both Archaeology and Geography. The module engages the key challenge of carefully contextualising and historicising understandings of landscape, heritage and environment, and exploring urgent contemporary questions of landscape/environment sustainability, governmentality and management. The module will provide an introduction to the various ways in which human societies interact(ed) with their environment, and will be able to provide both chronological depth and thematically-specific case-study knowledge of key sites and spaces across the island of Ireland. Particular attention too will be given to the range of competing discourses on issues of environment, landscape and development in both rural and urban Ireland and their implications for communities in the present and the future. Some of the case studies will be able to provide a long term trajectory of developments (in rural landscapes, urbanisation etc.), while others may choose to focus on other aspects of the physical or social environment.
(Language of instruction: English)
Learning Outcomes
- Engage with the history of landscape through many different materialities.
- Differentiate between different sensory engagements that combine to make landscapes.
- Understand and critically engage with the constructed nature of landscapes through history.
- Analyse policies at a range of scales that impact upon the construction and maintenance of landscapes.
- Critically review the uses to which landscapes are being deployed in contemporary society.
- Appreciate aesthetic qualities emanating from landscapes.
Assessments
This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.
Module Director
Research Profile
| EmailLecturers / Tutors
Reading List
-
"The Construction off Heritage" by Brett, David
Publisher: Cork University Press
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"Representing Place. Landscape, Painting, Maps." by Casey, Edward
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
-
"The Iconography of Landscape" by Cosgrove, Denis and Daniels, Stephen (Eds.)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
-
"Landscape" by Wylie, John
Publisher: Routledge
The above information outlines module TI254: "Space, Place and the Irish Landscape" and is valid from 2020 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.
Why Choose This Course?
Career Opportunities
Graduates have found employment in various areas in the state sector and in the heritage and tourism sectors. Others have taken the course to continue their studies to Master’s level or through doctoral research.
About University of Galway
Founded in 1845, we've been inspiring students for 178 years. University of Galway has earned international recognition as a research-led university with a commitment to top quality teaching.
The HDip is open to students with a NQAI Level 7 or Level 8 primary degree in any discipline (other than Archaeology), who wish to acquire an academic qualification in Archaeology. A basic knowledge of and interest in archaeology is desirable. Applicants who do not have the required academic qualifications may also be entitled to apply under the university’s Recognition of Prior Learning Policy .
