

CoronaVirus Update and Situation
During the lockdown ArcPal is still virtually open for business and can be contacted at arcpal@qub.ac.uk.
General information for QUB students are available here and for Offer-Holders and Applicants here.
Archaeology was established as a department at Queen’s University Belfast in 1949. In 1968, pioneering work in Palaeoecology began at the Nuffield Research Unit, which in 1985 became the Palaeoecology Centre. Today’s Archaeology and Palaeoecology retains the small friendly atmosphere of its past and continues to stand among the top ten UK leaders in these fields.
The Centre for Community Archaeology (CCA) was established in 2016 in response to the changing remit of the former Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork (CAF; 2002-2016), and is leading the way in community involvement in Archaeology. The 14CHRONO Centre for Climate, the Environment and Chronology, opened in 2004 through a major £6.2 million investment. The Department continues to attract substantial research funding for regional, national and international projects.
Full details of degrees offered in Archaeology and Palaeoecology through the School of Natural and Built Environment can be found here. Single and Joint honours degrees are available, including some unique combinations, such as Joint Honours with History, Geography or Irish, as well as an integrated undergraduate Masters degree (MSci), and Archaeology Single honours programmes that include an additional language qualification in French, Portuguese or Spanish.
This site offers prospective students further access to information about our facilities, the range of modules taught in-house, and the faculty members who are teaching them; as well as faculty research interests and expertise, and the broader career paths to which they can help students aspire.
Something to shout about!
• QUB Archaeology: 100% (2017, 2018 and 2020) and 95% (2019) Overall Student Satisfaction – National Student Survey
• QUB Archaeology: 1st for Student Experience in the UK for Archaeology – Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020
• QUB Archaeology: 1st for Student Satisfaction in the UK for Archaeology – The Complete University Guide 2020
• QUB Archaeology: 10th in the UK overall for Archaeology – Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020
• QUB Archaeology: 7th in the UK for Archaeology in The Guardian League Table 2019
• ArcPal at Queen’s is ranked among the World’s Top 150 Archaeology departments
(QS University Rankings 2020)
• The 28th annual conference of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) is coming to Belfast in 2022!
Upcoming QUB & ArcPal Open Days:
The current situation has obviously caused a lot of worry amongst both current and prospective students who have been working towards their exams. Following two very successful Open Days for prospective students in November and February, we were forced to cancel our main ArcPal taster event which was scheduled for the end of March. While disappointing, staff have been recording taster lectures for prospective students on subjects including insularity and isolation, the archaeology of religion, ArcPal’s history and Mediterranean archaeology. These are available on the ArcPal YouTube channel as a special playlist
ArcPal Archaeology Taster Day
- 2020 : to be announced
Regional Open Days
- 2021 : to be announced
Science @ QUB Open Evening
- 2021 : to be announced
Discover Uni
(Official student feedback data collected by HEFCE):
BA (Hons) Archaeology with French
BA (Hons) Archaeology with Spanish
BA (Hons) Archaeology with Portuguese
BA (Joint Hons) Archaeology and History
BA (Joint Hons) Archaeology and Irish
BSc (Hons) Archaeology and Palaeoecology
BSc (Joint Hons) Archaeology-Palaeoecology and Geography
(Image: Level 1 students logging sections at Killard Point, Co. Down – R. Rabett)