School of Archaeology News

Open Day - Honour School of Archaeology and Anthropology

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:00:00 +0100

The Honour School of Archaeology and Anthropology Open Day will take place on Friday 2nd March 2012. Register for a place and find out more here.

Wolfson Graduate Studentship in Archaeology

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:28:00 +0100

Wolfson College, in conjunction with the School of Archaeology, offers a scholarship for students who will be studying for a DPhil in Archaeology at the University of Oxford in the academic year 2012 – 2013.

Graduate Scholarship in Archaeology at St Cross College

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0100

The School of Archaeology, jointly with St Cross College, offers a scholarship for students who will be studying for a DPhil in Archaeology at Oxford University in the academic year 2012-13. The Studentship is open to all students taking the DPhil in Archaeology (beginning in Michaelmas 2012) at St Cross.

Exhibition remembers wartime refugees

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:07:00 +0100

An exhibition hosted by the Institute of Archaeology is to remember the experiences of refugees who sought shelter in Oxford during World War II.

DPhil Studentships Available

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:44:00 +0100

The School of Archaeology invites applications for three DPhil studentships funded by a research project grant from the European Research Council. The project title is Landscapes and Identities: the case of the English Landscape 1500 BC – AD 1086.

Institute of Archaeology - 50th Anniversary Celebrations

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 18:51:00 +0100

Catch-up with the celebrations during the Institute's golden anniversary year by visiting our 50th anniversary page. Please fill out the form on the page if you would like to keep in touch with the department. We would like to hear from both alumni and friends alike and we plan to produce an anniversary booklet in early 2012.

Sealinks Project Recognised

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 10:00:00 +0100

On 8th December, Dr. Nicky Boivin attended a reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh. The event was in recognition of the role of adventurers and explorers and coincided with an exhibition at the Palace showing items related to exploration and adventure from the royal archives. Nicky was invited in recognition of her project on ancient Indian Ocean connections and trade, the ERC-funded Sealinks Project. Other guests included Ranulph Fiennes, Ellen MacArthur, David Attenborough, and Chris Bonington.

Holocene Hunter-Gatherers of Northeast Asia

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:15:00 +0100

Two members of the School of Archaeology (Professor Chris Bronk Ramsey and Dr Rick Schulting) are part of a major new research project titled ‘Holocene Hunter-Gatherers of Northeast Asia’.

Doctoral Studentships - Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 14:30:00 +0200

The School of Archaeology invites applications for two studentships funded by a research project grant from the Leverhulme Trust. The project title is China and Inner Asia (c.1000-200BC): Interactions that changed China.

The English Landscapes and Identities Project

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:42:00 +0200

A new five-year project is announced today looking at the history of the English landscape from the middle Bronze Age to the Norman period. ‘The English Landscapes and Identities project’ will use a mass of mapped data for the period from the middle Bronze Age to the Domesday Book (AD1086) to explore continuities and changes in the use of the land in different parts of England

Modern polar bears descended from extinct bears from Ireland

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 16:06:00 +0200

Scientists have discovered that modern polar bears are descended from now extinct brown bears that roamed the region we know today as Britain and Ireland. It is thought that polar bears moved into this area just before, or during the last Ice Age, where they mated with female brown bears.

Of Muck and Men

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:01:00 +0200

A new approach using stable nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios in ancient crop remains suggests that early farmers practised manuring with dung from herded livestock. These results have radical implications for understanding the ecology of early farming and its social consequences.

Planet of the Apemen: Battle for Earth

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 15:10:00 +0200

Dr Mike Petraglia, from the School of Archaeology at Oxford University, is one of the experts interviewed in the first of a two-part documentary about the arrival of modern humans in Asia 74,000 years ago. The programme explores how the bigger-brained Homo sapiens managed to survive upon coming into contact with Homo erectus.

Sacks of human waste reveal secrets of ancient Rome

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 15:00:00 +0200

Sacks of ancient excrement from Herculaneum are helping archaeologists learn more about Roman life. The waste was excavated and put through a series of graded sieves by a team led by Mark Robinson of the University of Oxford which revealed bits of bone, pottery as well as nuts and seeds made it into Roman cesspits.

Teeth of hominids suggests early cavemen had ‘foreign brides’

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 13:42:00 +0200

By testing the tooth enamel of 19 hominids found in cave sites in South Africa, a new study involving researchers at the University of Oxford provides surprising evidence of how individuals dating back more than 2 million years once lived.

Gertrud Seidmann awarded a Certificate of Graduate Attainment

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:06:00 +0200

Miss Gertrud Seidmann, until recently a postgraduate in the School of Archaeology and believed to be the oldest student to have studied at Oxford University, has been awarded a Certificate of Graduate Attainment by the University in a special ceremony in the Divinity School.

Humans 'left Africa much earlier'

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 10:36:00 +0100

Modern humans may have emerged from Africa up to 50,000 years earlier than previously thought, a study suggests. Researchers have uncovered stone tools in the Arabian peninsula that they say were made by modern humans about 125,000 years ago.

Major archaeological project examines interactions that changed China

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:10:00 +0100

The Oxford Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture, based in Oxford University’s School of Archaeology, has received its first major research award since its launch in October last year. The Leverhulme Trust has awarded a grant of almost half a million pounds for the research project ‘China and Inner Asia (1,000-200 BC): Interactions that changed China’ to Professor Jessica Rawson.

Was North Africa the Launch Pad for Modern Human Migrations?

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 15:14:00 +0100

A growing number of researchers suspect that long-neglected North Africa was the original home of the modern humans who first trekked out of the continent.

Launch of Oxford Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 16:32:00 +0200

Oxford University is to launch a new centre to study the archaeological and cultural heritage of Asia. On 21 October, the Oxford Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture, based in the University’s School of Archaeology, will officially open to become the only Asia-specialist centre of archaeological research and teaching in Europe.

Wolfson College DPhil Studentships in Classical Archaeology

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0200

Wolfson College is offering two graduate scholarships in the field of Classical Archaeology, for new DPhil applicants who intend to commence reading for their doctorates in Michaelmas Term 2011. The scholarships are funded through the generosity of two donors, Baron Lorne Thyssen and the Mougins Museum of Classical Art. Further information and deadlines can be found on the Studentships page.

Stone tools 'change migration story'

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:47:00 +0200

A research team reports new findings of stone age tools that suggest humans came "out of Africa" by land earlier than has been thought.

Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture Lecture and Seminar Series

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:15:00 +0200

The new Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture has been established in the School of Archaeology and will be holding its opening lecture and reception on 21st October 2010 at the Ashmolean Museum. There will also be a following Seminar Series on "Creolisation, Culture and Hybridity: Intercultural contact with and within Ancient Asia".

Radiocarbon dating verifies ancient Egypt's history

Thu, 20 May 2010 16:00:00 +0200

Radiocarbon dating has shown that the chronology of Egypt's Old, Middle and New Kingdoms is indeed accurate. The researchers dated seeds found in pharaohs' tombs, including some from the tomb of the King Tutankhamun.

Archaeology Podcasts on iTunes

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 11:00:00 +0200

Interviews with Professor Barry Cunliffe, Professor Mark Pollard, Professor Chris Gosden and DPhil student Wendy Morrison are now available from the University of Oxford podcasts page or directly from iTunes.

Exodus on the exploding earth

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 10:39:00 +0200

An article in the New Scientist magazine features Oxford University research into the Toba super-eruption, a supervolcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra which erupted 74,000 years ago

2010 Wiseman Book Award Winner

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:28:00 +0100

2010 Wiseman Book Award Winner: Judith McKenzie for her book The Architecture of Alexandria and Egypt c. 300 B.C. to A.D. 700 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2007)

Bronze Age wreck yields its secrets

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:21:00 +0100

Analysis on the cargo of a 3,000 year old trading vessel has been found off the coast of Devon is being carried out by academics from Oxford University.

Newly Discovered Archaeological Sites In India Reveals Ancient Life

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:00:00 +0100

Newly discovered archaeological sites in southern and northern India have revealed how people lived before and after the colossal Toba volcanic eruption 74,000 years ago.

"People of the Eland" and "The Eland's People"

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:17:00 +0100

Two new books on the Rock Art of the Drakensberg Bushmen have been published by Wits University Press and the Rock Art Research Institute.

Shell beads point to dawn of modern human behaviour

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:56:00 +0200

'We are no longer looking at isolated or one off events.' says Professor Nick Barton, one of the authors of the study.

Human bones from Kents Cavern analysed

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:32:00 +0200

Human bones discovered in the Kents Cavern, Devon analysed by Dr Rick Schulting may show signs of cannibalism.

Royal Medal

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:49:00 +0200

Prof. Robert Hedges awarded Royal Medal of the Royal Society.

Brading Roman Villa

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 16:11:00 +0200

Sir Barry Cunliffe, Emeritus Professor of European Archaeology at Oxford University, is to explore the 1.6-hectare site around Brading Roman Villa.