Anthropology and Archaeology Study Guide 2025/26
What you can study
We are one of the few departments in the UK to combine Archaeology and Anthropology under one roof, and it makes for an exciting, interdisciplinary perspective on what it means to be human. An ability to understand the diversity of human culture, behaviour, and experience across space and time is critical to tackling the key challenges of our contemporary world.
You will find units on:
- archaeology and social, biological, and linguistic anthropology
- migration
- sustainable development
- heritage
- cultural and technological change
Pre-requisites
At UK universities, students specialise from their first year and rarely take units outside their degree subject. This means that:
- Year 1 units are suitable for all students.
- Year 2 units require some university study in the discipline.
- Year 3 units require a strong background in the discipline.
Subject Pathway students
If you have been nominated to Bristol on the Study Abroad (Anthropology and Archaeology pathway), you must take the majority of your credits from this study guide.
Year 1
Pre-requisites: suitable for all students
Teaching Block 1
- Becoming an Anthropologist - ARCH10021
- Discovering the Past - ARCH10015
- Kin, Friends, Lovers and Others - ARCH10019
- People, Culture and Language - ARCH10017
Teaching Block 2
Year 2
Pre-requisites: some university study in the discipline.
Teaching Block 1
- Anthropology and Contemporary Capitalism - ARCH20065
- Early Human Origins - ARCH20005
- Evolution and Human Behaviour - ARCH20058
- Social Theories - ARCH20057
Teaching Block 2
Year 3
Pre-requisites: strong background of study in the discipline.
Teaching Block 1
- Cultural Heritage of the Built Environment - ARCH30051
- Introduction to Forensic Anthropology - ARCH30039
Teaching Block 2
- Anthropology of Disability and Difference - ARCH30049
- Migrations and transitions - ARCH30059
- The Anthropology of Myth - ARCH3NEW. This is a new unit for 2025/26. The Unit Catalogue entry will be published soon.
Application queries
Contact the Centre for Study Abroad inbound team if you have any queries about the application process for the study abroad programmes:
Phone: +44 117 39 40207
Email: cfsa-inbound@bristol.ac.uk
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Study Guides
Study Guides are updated every April for the following academic year.