Organisation profile

The Department of Archaeology at York is among the world’s most highly regarded departments for the subject of archaeology. We are ranked 5th in the UK and 12th in the world (QS World University Rankings 2021). An important focus for us is the social and economic value of our research, where we are ranked in the Top 5 for the quality of our research outputs by the Times Higher Education (REF 2021).

Our core strengths in human evolution and prehistory, Roman, medieval, historical and field archaeology are complemented by our specialisms in bioarchaeology, digital archaeology, African archaeology, buildings conservation and heritage, and experimental archaeology and artefact studies.


Interdisciplinary research is one of our key drivers. We collaborate across the University's research themes – areas of research excellence that cross departmental boundaries. We have particularly strong partnerships within three themes: Culture & Communication, Creativity and Technologies for the Future.