| UCAS code | 1234 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 1 year full time 2 years part time |
| Entry year | September 2025 |
| Campus | Streatham Campus |
| Discipline | Archaeology |
| Contact | Programme Director Catriona McKenzie |
| Typical offer | 2:2 Honours degree |
|---|---|
Overview
- Learn how to identify the bones of the human skeleton and undertake analysis of human skeleton remains
- To aid your studies, we have a laboratory dedicated to the study of anatomical variation and palaeopathological conditions in human and animal bones
- This fast-advancing field combines archaeology with branches of natural sciences
Fast Track (current Exeter students)
Discover MSc Bioarchaeology: Human Osteology, Zooarchaeology or Forensic Anthropology at Exeter.
Top 50 in world subject rankings for Archaeology
QS World University Subject Rankings 2024
Top 5 in the UK for Archaeology and Forensic Science
5th in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025
Top 10 in the Complete University Guide 2025
Ranked 9th for Archaeology in the UK
4th in the UK for internationally excellent Archaeology research
Research Excellence Framework 2021
Top 50 in world subject rankings for Archaeology
QS World University Subject Rankings 2024
Top 5 in the UK for Archaeology and Forensic Science
5th in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025
Top 10 in the Complete University Guide 2025
Ranked 9th for Archaeology in the UK
4th in the UK for internationally excellent Archaeology research
Research Excellence Framework 2021
Entry requirements
We will consider applicants with a 2:2 Honours degree with 53% or above in their first degree in archaeology, history, ancient history, anthropology, biology, geography, geology, chemistry, heritage, or similar. While we normally only consider applicants who meet these criteria, if you are coming from a different academic background which is equivalent to degree level, or have relevant work experience, we would welcome your application.
For applicants from different academic backgrounds or with relevant work experience, please use your Personal Statement to provide additional information. This might include:
- Why you want to study this course at the University of Exeter and what personal qualities make you suitable for postgraduate study.
- Relevant background (work/degree experience).
- Lecturers/modules you are particularly interested in and why.
- Career/future ambitions and how the course will help you achieve them.
Feel free to informally contact the Programme Director (see above) for advice before submitting your formal application.
Entry requirements for international students
Please visit our entry requirements section for equivalencies from your country and further information on English language requirements.
Entry requirements for international students
English language requirements
International students need to show they have the required level of English language to study this course. The required test scores for this course fall under Profile B2. Please visit our English language requirements page to view the required test scores and equivalencies from your country.
Course content
The programme is divided into units of study called modules which are assigned 'credits'. The credit rating of a module is proportional to the total workload, with 1 credit being nominally equivalent to 10 hours of work.
The modules we outline here provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.
105 credits of compulsory modules, 75 credits of optional modules
Compulsory modules
| Code | Module | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ARCM012 | Skeletal Anatomy | 15 |
| ARCM110 | Research Design in Archaeology | 15 |
| ARCM405 | Advanced Human Osteology | 15 |
| ARCM600 | Bioarchaeology Dissertation | 60 |
Optional modules
| Code | Module | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MSc Bioarchaeology (Human Ost) optional modules 2024-5 | ||
| ARCM005 | Professional Skills in Archaeology | 15 |
| ARCM007 | Advanced Project | 15 |
| ARCM011 | Musculature Anatomy | 15 |
| ARCM106 | Plants and Animals as Craft Resources | 15 |
| ARCM107 | Digital Pasts | 15 |
| ARCM108 | Experimental Archaeology: Research and Public Engagement | 15 |
| ARCM109 | Practical Pasts | 15 |
| ARCM111 | Approaches to Pottery: Archaeology, Archaeometry, and Experimental Archaeology | 15 |
| ARCM120 | Themes in Archaeological Theory and Practice | 15 |
| ARCM130 | Discovering the Past with Molecular Science | 15 |
| ARCM200 | Field Study | 15 |
| ARCM225 | Landscape Archaeology: Understanding the Historic Environment | 15 |
| ARCM300 | Material Culture | 15 |
| ARCM403 | Advanced Zooarchaeology | 15 |
| ARCM407 | Zooarchaeology | 15 |
| ARCM412 | Funerary Osteoarchaeology | 15 |
| ARCM415 | The Archaeology of Humans and Other Animals | 15 |
| ARCM501 | Researching the Historic Environment Online | 15 |
| ARCM602 | Forensic Anthropology: Principles and Practice | 15 |
| CLAM262 | Pandemics and disease in the ancient Mediterranean | 15 |
Fees
2025/26 entry
UK fees per year:
£12,500 full-time; £6,250 part-time
International fees per year:
£25,300 full-time; £12,650 part-time
Scholarships
We invest heavily in scholarships for talented prospective Masters students. This includes over £5 million in scholarships for international students, such as our Global Excellence Scholarships*.
For more information on scholarships, please visit our scholarships and bursaries page.
*Selected programmes only. Please see the Terms and Conditions for each scheme for further details.
My research has two main strands. The first focuses on the analysis of archaeological human remains, identifying diseases present in the skeletal remains and exploring the broader social, cultural and environmental context of those diseases.
This work has resulted in a co-authored book, 'Life and Death in Medieval Gaelic Ireland: The Skeletons from Ballyhanna, Co. Donegal', and an edited book, 'The Science of a Lost Medieval Gaelic Graveyard: The Ballyhanna Research Project'. I have a particular interest in the archaeology of medieval and post-medieval Ireland.
The second strand of research focuses on using information from human skeletal remains in new interdisciplinary collaborations.
Read more from Dr Catriona McKenzie
Dr Catriona McKenzie
Senior Lecturer in Human Osteoarchaeology
Teaching and research
Learning and teaching
We seek to educate students in stimulating ways so as to develop intellectual skills for life and employment in the contemporary world, and provide a sound appreciation of archaeology.
Classes
Most of the formal classes that you attend will be based on a mixture of lectures, seminars, and workshops. The precise mix will vary between modules. These aim to outline the principal issues of the module, to explore some detailed issues, and, where relevant, to give you experience of working with a particular technique or data set.
Engagement
All members of staff are actively engaged in research, both in Britain and abroad, and regularly attend conferences, symposia and workshops. It is through this active engagement in the discipline that we are able to supply top quality teaching by experts in their field and as a result we have a 24/24 grading for our teaching from the Quality Assurance Agency.
Labs
In addition to our established palaeobotany, experimental archaeology, and microscopy laboratories, we have a new bioarchaeology lab dedicated to the study of anatomical variation, palaeopathological conditions, and the funerary context of human and animal remains. The laboratory, accompanied by a designated store for the Department's collection of human remains, provides facilities for use by researchers and students for examining skeletal remains recovered from archaeological sites. Equipment includes anatomical casts and demographic reference standards used to determine the sex, age-at-death, stature and body proportions from human remains. We also have established palaeobotany, experimental archaeology, and microscopy laboratories.
Assessment
The assessment for the MSc Bioarchaeology is through a combination of class tests, essays, other written reports and projects, oral or electronic presentations, visual presentations, and a dissertation. The dissertation of up to 15,000 words is an original piece of research on a topic of your choice, subject to the approval of your supervisor.
Research areas
Bioarchaeological research at Exeter combines the study of archaeology with branches of the natural and physical sciences to address questions of health and well-being, diet, ecology, subsistence strategies and natural and human-induced environmental impacts in the past.
Bioarchaeology
Our approach is holistic and inter-disciplinary, drawing its inspiration from both definitions of ‘bioarchaeology’: as a study applied to human remains (human osteoarchaeology) and, as originally defined by Grahame Clark, as related to the integration of environmental archaeology, floral and faunal evidence – archaeobotany and zooarchaeology – in archaeological research.
Field research
Active field research programmes in North and South America and Eurasia link with extensive laboratory research to address questions of social structure and social organisation, the process of animal and plant domestication, the development of social inequality and power relations, violence and warfare, the rise of élites and craft specialists, and division of labour.
Our current research covers a range of themes:
- use of digital technologies for the interpretation of archaeological and forensic data
- development, adaptation and application of scientific methods for use in archaeological and forensic investigations
- changing patterns of resource exploitation of plants and animals
- human – environment relations, in particular the early domestication of plants and animals, and the legacy of past human impact on modern environments
- how social relationships in the past contribute to funerary patterning in the archaeological record and how these relate to social processes amongst the living.
Facilities
As a member of the Archaeology Department and key part of our Postgraduate community you will have full access to our exceptional, modern facilities.
We have dedicated Experimental Archaeology laboratories and workshop spaces.
We have a clean lab with fume cupboards for chemical work.
We have a kiln room, a landscape archaeology project office with a giant scanner for maps and plans, and a microscope room equipped with high specification microscopes and image processing facilities.
We have wet labs for sample processing and we have state of the art surveying equipment which includes resistivity equipment, magnetometers, differential and hand-held GPS, and a total station theodolite.
Collections
On top of all that we also have extensive reference collections of artefacts, animal bones and plant remains. So whatever your specific interests within archaeology we have the kit for it.
And of course you will have access to the wider resources of the University too, including the Library, Special Collections and our new Digital Humanities Lab, a £1.2 million lab and research space for the examination and preservation of important historical, literary and visual artefacts. The lab will allow you to use high-tech equipment to find out more about our cultural heritage and examine objects in greater detail. For more information visit our Digital Humanities Lab page.
Careers
Many of our Archaeology students go on to study at PhD level, and the MSc in Bioarchaeology serves as excellent preparation. Your tutors and the Archaeology academic staff will help you put together applications for funding and develop a research proposal if you should choose to take this path.
Of course, doctoral study is not the only option available to you, you will graduate with a full range of skills that will make you competitive in the job market. You will be encouraged to become a productive, useful and questioning member of society.
You will be well placed to go onto work in either commercial archaeology or the wider heritage sector.
Recent careers
Some of our recent graduates have gone on to work directly in Archaeology or the wider Heritage Sector, with careers such as:
- Archaeological Assistant
- Experimental Archaeologist
- Field Archaeologist
- Museum Curator
- Time Team Archaeologist/Community Archaeologist
Employment support
While studying at Exeter you can also access a range of activities, advice and practical help to give you the best chance of following your chosen career path. For more information visit our Careers pages.
