Postgraduate research in Archaeology
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.
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 35 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 | Provisional Research Title | First Supervisor | Second Supervisor |
| Stephen Armstrong | An exploration in the cultural diversity within southwest Britain during the late Roman/early medieval period and their responses to the collapse of the Roman Empire. | Professor Stephen Rippon | Dr Hajnalka Herold |
| Sergio Ayala | Toward a Model of Lithic Analysis of Prehistoric Bifacial Technologies | Dr Linda Hurcombe | Dr Alexander Pryor |
| Helene Benkert | Warhorse - The zooarchaeological view on the role of horses in European medieval warfare and beyond | Professor Oliver Creighton | Professor Alan Outram |
| Henry Bishop-Wright | Meroïtic connectivity: the nature and extent of material interactions across Meroë’s Northern frontier between 30 BCE and 298 CE | Dr Robert Morkot | Paul Nicholson |
| Wouter Bonhof | Migrations of the Massive: The Predictability and Perils of Woolly Mammoth Hunting in the Upper Palaeolithic of Northern Eurasia | Dr Alexander Pryor | Professor Alan Outram |
| Kathryn Bonnet | The Kandyan and Kerala blacksmiths: an assessment of repertoire and skills using archaeological fieldwork, ethnometallurgy, microstructural analysis and experimental re-enactment | Dr Gillian Juleff | Professor Sharada Srinivasan |
| Patricia Coletto | Your House is Your Temple: Assessing the Ritualisation of Domestic Space and Agency in Ancient Egyptian Religion | Dr Robert Morkot | Dr Marisa Lazzari |
| John Cranfield | The Medieval Iron Industry of the Weald | Dr Gillian Juleff | Professor Levi Roach |
| Jonathan Crockett | Human evolution, fire transportation and the earliest evidence of hominin pyrotechnology. | Dr Alexander Pryor | Dr Linda Hurcombe |
| Felipe Do Nascimento Rodrigues | Many Rocks, Many Functions? Investigating Stone Raw Material Selection, Use and its Socio-Economic Implications for Southern Jê prehistory in South Brazil. | Dr Linda Hurcombe | Professor José Iriarte |
| Tara Draper-Stumm | Statues of the goddess Sekhmet | Dr Robert Morkot | Dr Marisa Lazzari |
| Alan Endacott | The Prehistoric Ritual Landscapes of Northern Dartmoor | Professor Alan Outram | Dr Linda Hurcombe |
| Carlotta Farci | Technological change and innovation: Ausewell Wood, Dartmoor – an early industrial metallurgical ‘laboratory’. | Dr Gillian Juleff | Fiona Brock |
| Clara Freer | A study into the type, use and social function of pottery from late Bronze Age assemblages. | Dr Linda Hurcombe | Dr Hajnalka Herold |
| James Glover | Chipped-stone technology and social diversity within Mesolithic communities: building a methodology to establish how the lithic chaîne opératoire is a technical performance of identity. | Dr Marisa Lazzari | Dr Linda Hurcombe |
| Ethan Greenwood | Wealdon Iron Research Group Collaborative Doctoral Studentship | Dr Gillian Juleff | Dr Robert Morkot |
| Hayley Jayne Hayes | Critical examination of the taphonomic effects archaeological and forensic mass graves have on the subsoil and surrounding landscape | Dr Laura Evis | Dr Linda Hurcombe |
| Crystal Hollis | Interpreting Historic Graffiti in the Risbridge Hundred of Suffolk England | Professor Oliver Creighton | Professor Sarah Hamilton |
| 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 |
| Philip Kiberd | Investigating Middle Stone Age behaviour and environment in the Karoo, South Africa. | Professor Alan Outram | Dr Alexander Pryor |
| Chun Ho Kim | The exploration of Japanese Ma (, horse) culture and the relationship between ancient Japan and Korea, from the 2nd century BC to 6th century AD, from the zooarchaeological perspectives of the Northeast Asia | Professor Alan Outram | Professor Naomi Sykes |
| Barbara Klessig |
The Role of Textiles in Island Material Culture: Migration and Vendel Period Textile Tools, Production and Structures in Gotland, Sweden and Its Regions |
Dr Linda Hurcombe | Dr Hajnalka Herold |
| Rosalind Le Quesne | Digital Dental Imaging in Human Sex Determination | Dr Catriona McKenzie | Professor Alan Outram |
| Carole Lomas | Reconstructing the development of the early medieval Church, with Somerset as a case study | Professor Oliver Creighton | Professor Sarah Hamilton |
| Sabine Martin | Investigating the function of vein quartz in the Middle Paleolithic stone tool assemblages of Western Europe: Case studies from the sites of Payre (France) and Gran Dolina at Atapuerca (Spain) | Dr Linda Hurcombe | Dr Alexander Pryor |
| Dragos Mitrofan | Hybridisation and inequality in Late Antiquity. A meta-analysis of the lime, gypsum and chalk deposits in Roman burial contexts. | Dr Ioana Oltean | Dr Catriona McKenzie |
| Peter Northover | Enclosure in the Bride Valley, Dorset, from the 12th to the 17th centuries | Professor Stephen Rippon | Professor Oliver Creighton |
| Francesco Orlandi Barbano | Heritage Cosmopolitics: Archaeology, Indigeneity and Rights in Bolivia and Argentina. | Dr Marisa Lazzari | Dr Linda Hurcombe |
| Adrián Mauricio | Prehispanic landscape of Camarones River Valley: The study of a long-term human occupation | Dr Marisa Lazzari | Dr Ioana Oltean |
| Dóra Szabó | Household Archaeology of 5th- to 6th-Century Settlements in Central Europe | Dr Hajnalka Herold | Ben Jervis |
| Philip Treveil | Local and regional variation in landscape character: the significance of the Tamar Valley. | Professor Stephen Rippon | Professor Oliver Creighton |
| Bastiaan Van Dalen | Sustainability across the Neotropics: an archaeological perspective from the pre-Columbian Maya lowlands to the Amazon basin | Professor José Iriarte | Professor Naomi Sykes |
| Charlotte Vendome-Gardner | Depictions of Fluteplayers in Rock Art: Placing the Image back into its Original Context | Professor Oliver Creighton | Professor Alan Outram |
| Nikola Vousden | Churches in the Landscape: the Cultural, Historical and Social impact of Early Christianity in south-west Britain | Professor Stephen Rippon | Gabor Thomas |
View list of funding opportunities available to students on our research degree programmes in Archaeology.
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.
Graduate destinations
Below are some examples of initial jobs undertaken by Archaeology postgraduates who studied with us in recent years.
Please note that, due to data protection, the job titles and organisations are listed independently and do not necessarily correspond.
| Job title | Organisation |
|---|---|
|
Conservation Assistant |
EXARC |