Archaeology-Palaeoecology and Geography BSc

This course offers a Joint Honours degree programme examining the human past and the diverse environments human societies inhabit, from a scientific perspective, including the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in working with archaeological material and undertaking fieldwork. Archaeology explores a wide range of evidence that documents the human past - from artefacts, monuments and settlements to entire landscapes - and from these interprets how societies have adapted and developed. Modules focus on different periods of World, European and Irish/British archaeology, from human origins to modern times and heritage.

Queen's University Belfast is one of the best places to study Archaeology in the UK, scoring third place for student experience in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022 and second place for student satisfaction in the Complete University Guide 2025. Palaeoecology studies environmental evidence to assess the impact of natural events and human activities on landscapes, climate and changing environments. Modules examine themes such as ancient environments, evolution, economic and climate change.

Geography embraces the study of human societies and their environment in the present and in the more recent past and, like Archaeology and Palaeoecology, is one of the few subjects in which human and physical aspects of the environment are integrated. Geography is ranked 6th in the UK in the 2025 National Student Survey. The combined disciplines progressively develop general and specific knowledge and skills, through excavation, fieldwork, overseas fieldtrips, laboratory and practical work.

A wide range of career options are available to our graduates including careers in commercial archaeology, survey, heritage management and many more, both within and beyond the heritage sector. As well as the Joint Honours BSc in Archaeology-Palaeoecology and Geography, Queen's offers Single Honours degrees in Archaeology (BA) and Archaeology-Palaeoecology (BSc) along with other degree programmes which combine Archaeology (the study of past human activities) with other subjects (Languages, Anthropology and History). All of those Single Honours and Joint Honours degrees offer a module pathway that is fully accredited by the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA) and University Archaeology UK (UAUK).