Research degrees

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Programmes

Graduate School Office

We encourage all our students to get involved and take an active role in our academic community and there will be many opportunities for our students to become personally involved with the research being conducted in the Department.

Professor Alan Outram, Head of Archaeology

Postgraduate research

Archaeology at Exeter is currently involved in exciting research in Britain and around the world. We have active fieldwork and research projects in Britain, Europe, South America, North America, Central Asia and South Asia.

Get to know a few of our PhD students;

Emily Johnson

Thesis title: Bone fat processing and butchery practices in the Linearbandkeramik culture
Supervisors: Prof. Alan Outram, Dr. Linda Hurcombe
Funding: ERC Advanced Grant, NeoMilk Project

My supervisor is one of the main reasons that I continued my studies at Exeter. He has always supported my research and given me great opportunities, as well as being world renowned in my field of study. He really believed I was PhD-ready when I really wasn’t sure myself, and was instrumental in introducing me to the ERC NeoMilk project who fund my PhD. I can count on him to make time to see me whenever I need.

David Stone

Thesis title: Mutually Assured Construction? A study of West Saxon and Mercian political, economic and military co-operation in the ninth and tenth centuries
Supervisors: Prof. Oliver Creighton, Dr. Levi Roach

Exeter has provided a fantastic research atmosphere to do my PhD. Not only do I get a great level of support from staff in both the Archaeology Department and Centre for Medieval Studies, but both also run a full calendar of events, seminars, lectures and visits. The level of organisation in the post-grad community is also brilliant, with regular opportunities for us to share research, practice presenting and deliver papers.

Daiana Travassos Alves

Thesis title: Plant management in Pre-Columbian Amazonia from an archaeobotanical approach of Tapajó culture
Supervisors: Prof Jose Iriarte, Dr Marisa Lazzari
Funding: CAPES (Brazilian Coordination for Research Funding), ERC Advanced Grant- PAST (Pre-Columbian Amazon Scale-Transformations) Project

My interest in working with my supervisor first motivated me to choose Exeter for my PhD. He is a lead researcher on archaeobotanical studies in Amazonia and developed exciting projects over there. His support and PAST project funding have been crucial for my study development. Additionally, the archaeobotany laboratory has a large reference collection of phytoliths and starch grains from lowland South America and the facilities to carry out these micro botanical remains. Exeter has an instigating research culture, especially the interaction among PhD students through researcher development programme and post-grad meetings, which inspires me to improve my research skills.

Matt Knight

Thesis title: The Intentional Destruction and Deposition of Bronze Age Metalwork in South West England
Supervisors: Dr. Linda Hurcombe (Exeter); Dr. Joanna Brück (Bristol)
Funding: AHRC South West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership

Having already studied my BSc and MA here, I already knew Exeter offered a brilliant and supportive research department, making it a clear choice to undertake my PhD. The stunning campus is a relaxed place to work, and the resources available are excellent. It was easy to integrate into the research community here.

Mandy Kingdom

Thesis title: The Past People of Exeter: Health, Social Standing and Well-being in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period
Supervisors: Dr. Catriona McKenzie, Prof. Oliver Creighton
Funding: AHRC

Exeter is at the centre of my project, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. As I was one of Exeter’s first MSc. students in Bioarchaeology, to continue to be part of the growth and development of this discipline in the department is exciting. There is support from all members of staff and lots of opportunities to get involved from post grad presentations to departmental seminars and the annual excavations; enabling you to share your ideas, learn from others and pass on your own experience.

Research in the Archaeology Department covers human origins through to the recent past, and is characterised by theoretically informed field-based approaches and a strong commitment to methodological innovation.

Our staff and research students work in Britain, mainland Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America, and in the last research Assessment Exercise (2008) we were ranked second in the UK for World Leading and Internationally Excellent Research in Archaeology (based on the amount of 3* and 4* research).

Our research covers a wide range of areas, these broad headings give an indication of our special interests:

Archaeology of the Americas
Bioarchaeology
Experimental archaeology
Landscape archaeology
Material culture
Wetlands, coastal and maritime landscapes

Explore our research centres and research projects to find out more about our current research topics.

Visit our Archaeology staff profiles for details on individual staff research interests and publications.

Supervisors - all students have a primary and a secondary supervisor who provide regular, high quality advice, support and direction in their academic endeavours. You will work closely with your supervisors over three to four years (full time PhD) or six to seven (part-time PhD) to develop, investigate and write-up a project at the cutting edge of theological research.

Visit our staff profiles for more information about individual research interests or use the search box on the right of this page to find a supervisor.

Mentor - each student will also be assigned a mentor who will take on a pastoral role and mediate on any problems that arise during the period of study. Your mentor will keep in regular contact and will provide background stability and support.

Graduate School Office - the College of Humanities has a dedicated Graduate School Office that supports our postgraduate research students during their study with us. The Office promotes intellectual and social contact between research students in all our disciplines to foster a vibrant research community within the College.

Our current PhD students

We're proud of the research carried out by our PhD students. There are currently around 50 PhD students in the Department, many of whom maintain an online personal profile detailing their research activities. Follow the links below to find out more about them and their research projects.

Student	Research title	First supervisor	Second supervisor
Daiana Alves	'Plant management in Pre-Columbian Amazonia from an archaeobotanical approach of Tapajó culture'	Professor José Iriarte	Dr Marisa Lazzari
Kathryn Bonnet	The Kandyan blacksmith: an assessment of repertoire and skills using archaeological fieldwork, ethnometallurgy, microstructural analysis and experimental re-enactment	Dr Gillian Juleff	Professor Sharada Srinivasan
Cynthia Bradley	Remaking the Mazeway: a study of the mortuary and skeletal evidence from the Ancestral Pueblo site of Wallace Ruin.	Professor José Iriarte	Professor Alan Outram
Gabrielle Collins	Communicating Climate Change: An Investigation into the Public Presentation of Climate Change at Museums and Archaeological Sites.	Dr Linda Hurcombe	Robert Van De Noort
Gillian Cuthbert	Enriching the Neolithic: The Forgotten People of the Barrows.	Dr Catriona McKenzie	Dr Linda Hurcombe
Jonas De Souza	Pathways to Power in the Southern Brazilian Highlands: Architectonic Diversity, Function, and Change in Taquara/Itararé Ceremonial Centres	Professor José Iriarte	Dr Marisa Lazzari
Hayley Foster	A Zooarchaeological study of changing butchery practices and species exploitation: social and fashionable changes in dining habits in Medieval castles in England.	Professor Alan Outram	Professor Oliver Creighton
James Glover	Chipped-stone technology and social identities in Mesolithic Cornwall: how social practices and agency of the lithic chaîne opératoire reflect identity in the micro and macro scale.	Dr Linda Hurcombe	Dr Marisa Lazzari
Regina Gonda	Pre-Columbian Amazon-Scale Transformations.	Professor José Iriarte	Dunia H. Urrego
David Gould	Rabbit Warrens of South West England: landscape context, socio-economic significance and symbolism	Professor Oliver Creighton	Stuart Prior
Ethan Greenwood	Wealdon Iron Research Group Collaborative Doctoral Studentship	Dr Gillian Juleff	Dr Robert Morkot
Kaushalya Gunasena	Cultural, Technological and Ideological Exchange: Sri Lanka – South India Interaction from a Personal Adornment Perspective during the Proto-historic to Early Historic Periods	Dr Gillian Juleff	Professor Sharada Srinivasan
Lautaro Hilbert	past human impact on Amazonian forests	Professor José Iriarte	Dr Marisa Lazzari
Emmet Jackson	The Irish contribution to the study of Egyptology in the nineteenth century: with specific reference to Lady Harriet Kavanagh.	Dr Robert Morkot	Dr Marisa Lazzari
Emily Johnson	Domesticated animals in the LBK: butchery practices and the nature of meat and fat exploitation	Professor Alan Outram	Dr Linda Hurcombe
Mandy Kingdom	The Past People of Exeter: Health, Social Standing and Well-being in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period.	Dr Catriona McKenzie	Professor Oliver Creighton
Madeleine Knibb	The Significance of field-names in a diverse historic rural landscape.	Professor Stephen Rippon	Professor Oliver Creighton
Matthew Knight	The intentional destruction and deposition of Bronze Age metalwork in South-West England – an assessment of prehistoric personhood and the relationship between people and objects.	Dr Linda Hurcombe	Joanna Brück
Alice Oriana La Porta	Stone Projectile Point Technology: does it exist in the Western European Middle Palaeolithic? Techno-functional analysis of Middle Palaeolithic convergent tools.	Dr Linda Hurcombe	Robert Hosfield
Malene Lauritsen	Exeter from fort to city: a faunal perspective	Professor Alan Outram	Professor Stephen Rippon
Xuelei Li	Fox Trails through time	Professor Alan Outram	Dr Linda Hurcombe
Yu Li	The Formation, Development and Transmission of Southwest China's Iron Smelting Technology	Dr Gillian Juleff	Dr Marisa Lazzari
Carole Lomas	Early Medieval Churches in Somerset	Professor Stephen Rippon	Professor Oliver Creighton
David Marshall	Lines on a landscape – the divisions of space on the human landscape of the Isle of Wight	Professor Stephen Rippon	Professor Oliver Creighton
Sabine Martin	Functional study of Middle Paleolithic vein-quartz industries from the European sites of Payre (France) and from Atapuerca's Grand Dolina (Spain): Elaboration of a repository for diagnostic stigmata.	Dr Linda Hurcombe	Professor Bruce Bradley
Debanjan Mitra	Study of Cognitive Implications on Stone-tool Technology of the Belan, Son and Middle Ganga Valleys, India from circa 60kyr – 10kyr	Professor Bruce Bradley	Professor Anindya Sinha
Richard Nevell	Castle slighting in England and Wales from the 11th to 15th centuries.	Professor Oliver Creighton	Professor Stephen Rippon
Claire Nicholas	Enabling an indigenous population to regain access to their lost heritage and knowledge	Dr Robert Morkot	Dr Marisa Lazzari
Eddie Procter	Topographical legacies of monasticism: evolving perceptions and realities of monastic estate landscapes in the south eastern Welsh Marches	Professor Stephen Rippon	Professor Oliver Creighton
Joanne Pye	Place names in the Cornish landscape.	Professor Stephen Rippon	Professor Oliver Creighton
Bruce Rusch	Cultural settlement pattern behaviour reconstruction of the Potter Paleoindian site and its relationship to the Israel River Complex sites using lithic analysis.	Professor Bruce Bradley	Professor José Iriarte
Leonard Sidebottom	Heritage of city walls.	Professor Oliver Creighton	Professor Stephen Rippon
Jemma Singleton	Connecting the Dots with Rock Art; A regional study of rock art sites in South India to identify the cultural interaction between humans and the landscape.	Dr Linda Hurcombe	Professor Sharada Srinivasan
Sarah Stainer	From Tinners to Antiquarians: An archaeological analysis of the evidence for medieval and later attitudes toward prehistoric features on southern Dartmoor.	Professor Stephen Rippon	Dr Hajnalka Herold
David Stone	Mutually Assured Construction? A study of West Saxon and Mercian political, economic and military co-operation in the ninth and tenth centuries	Professor Oliver Creighton	Dr Levi Roach
Belinda Tibbetts	Foetal and infant skeletal palaeopathology as an indicator of maternal health and population stress.	Dr Catriona McKenzie	Professor Alan Outram
Philip Treveil	Local and regional variation in landscape character: the significance of the Tamar Valley.	Professor Stephen Rippon	Professor Oliver Creighton
Robert Waterhouse	The Landscape Archaeology of Islands in physically and culturally remote zones	Professor Stephen Rippon	Dr Hajnalka Herold

Funding opportunities available to students on our research degree programmes in Archaeology:*

Award	Value	Application deadline	Description
The archaeology of medieval horses, equestrianism and material culture, College of Humanities Studentship (Funded)	UK/EU tuition fees and an annual maintenance allowance at current Research Council rate of £14,777 per year	Thu 1st Nov 2018	This fully funded PhD complements and runs concurrently to the AHRC-funded project ‘Warhorse: the Archaeology of a Military Revolution?’ and will add value by examining a related archaeological aspect medieval horses, equestrianism and material culture.
Building a model of the HypothalamicPituitary-Gonadal (HPG) axis, BBSRC SWBio, PhD in Mathematics studentship (Funded)	Tuition fees and an annual stipend allowance at Research Council rates, currently £14,777 per year for 2018-19	Mon 3rd Dec 2018	BBSRC SWBio DTP funded studentship available for September 2019 entry. The studentship will provide funding of fees and a stipend which is currently £14,777 per annum for 2018-19, on a full time basis.
Molecular characterisation, modelling and prediction of organelle membrane dynamics in health and disease, BBSRC SWBio, PhD in Biosciences studentship (Funded)	Tuition fees and an annual stipend allowance at Research Council rates, currently £14,777 per year for 2018-19	Mon 3rd Dec 2018	BBSRC SWBio DTP funded studentship available for September 2019 entry. The studentship will provide funding of fees and a stipend which is currently £14,777 per annum for 2018-19, on a full time basis.
Quantifying the evolution of antimicrobial resistance in mixed species communities, BBSRC SWBio, PhD in Biosciences studentship (Funded)	Tuition fees and an annual stipend allowance at Research Council rates, currently £14,777 per year for 2018-19	Mon 3rd Dec 2018	BBSRC SWBio DTP funded studentship available for September 2019 entry. The studentship will provide funding of fees and a stipend which is currently £14,777 per annum for 2018-19, on a full time basis.
Role of the fungal cell wall in the interaction of plant pathogens with the host, BBSRC SWBio, PhD in Biosciences studentship (Funded)	Tuition fees and an annual stipend allowance at Research Council rates, currently £14,777 per year for 2018-19	Mon 3rd Dec 2018	BBSRC SWBio DTP funded studentship available for September 2019 entry. The studentship will provide funding of fees and a stipend which is currently £14,777 per annum for 2018-19, on a full time basis.
China Scholarship Council and University of Exeter PhD Scholarship	Full tuition fees and Living Allowance	Mon 7th Jan 2019	The University of Exeter alongside the China Scholarship Council is pleased to offer fully funded studentship available for September 2019 entry.
Forests, peat, and fires: understanding the drivers of past fire in Amazonian forests. Self funded PhD - Geography	This project is self-funded	Mon 7th Jan 2019	This self-funded Geography PhD is a 3-4 year project. The project will evaluate the timing and source of fire and pyrogenic carbon in old-growth forests through analysis of a combination of peat, vegetation, soil, and/or charcoal data from Amazonia
Alumni scholarships for Doctoral-level study	£1,000 or £3,000 dependent on fee status	There is no application for this award. You will be automatically considered.	A tuition fee discount is available to suitably qualified University of Exeter graduates starting a postgraduate research degree in the 2019/20 academic year.
University of Exeter Alumni Scholarship	£750 - £3000	There is no application for this award. You will be automatically considered.	A tuition fee discount for all University of Exeter alumni who start a postgraduate degree with us in September 2019.
US Department of Education - Federal Student Loan	Variable	Tue 30th Jun 2020	The federal government offers a number of financial aid programs, including these loans, to help pay for your education.
Marshall Scholarships for graduate study	Varies	Deadline passed (Mon 1st Oct 2018)	Marshall Scholarships finance young Americans of high ability to study for a graduate degree in the United Kingdom.
Fulbright Scholarships: Postgraduate Student Awards	Varies	Deadline passed (Tue 9th Oct 2018)	Fulbright US Student Postgraduate Student Awards can be applied to any master's or doctoral degree at any recognised UK university, as well as for independent research projects.

_{*Please note that if you have submitted an application to one of our MPhil/PhD programmes you will not automatically be considered for funding. You must submit a separate funding application, including all required supporting documents, via the link provided in each award to be considered for that award.}

The College of Humanities works closely with the University’s Career Zone to help you gain the skills, experience and expertise employers are looking for. There are a wide range of opportunities to enhance your employability, along with the support you need to make important career decisions.

We have our own Employability Officer who works to develop close links with employers and arranges careers events.

Employers

Fyssen Foundation
Heritage Lottery Fund
Isle of Wight Council
National Trust
Pendle Borough Council
UCL Institute of Neurology
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Occupations

Conservation Assistant
Development Officer
Director
DNA Technician
Fyssen Postdoctoral Fellow
Honorary Research Fellow
Research Officer
Researcher
Senior Archaeologist
Service Support Officer

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