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Archaeology, with its wide range of skills and knowledge offers many opportunities for well-qualified graduates to find interesting and useful careers

Whether or not you intend to use your Archaeology Palaeoecology degree for a vocational career in the field, the discipline forms an enriching, worthwhile subject for study, providing you with a lifetime of interest and knowledge. It is a genuinely exciting first degree, it opens doors to many different avenues of career, each one unique and tailored to your own interests and talents. Our graduates comment especially on their experiences of wonderful fieldtrips in Ireland, Britain and abroad, the practical work of survey, excavation and laboratory study, and the opportunities that they have found to engage with new subjects, places and people. Our students find employment in:

  • The Commercial sector (Archaeological Units) since all new development needs evaluation by a qualified Archaeologist within the planning process. Positions are often available across Britain, Europe and Ireland.
  • Government and other agencies, such as the Northern Ireland Environment Agency which regulates and protects the heritage of Northern Ireland, CADW in Wales, Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission for Ancient and Historic Monuments in Scotland, English Heritage, the National Trust and National Parks. Local government planning offices all engage archaeologists, whilst international organizations such as UNESCO also offer opportunities for archaeologists and heritage conservators around the world.
  • Heritage management, conservation organizations, museums, tourism and media include opportunities for archaeologists as curators, scientists, managers, guides, scholars, editors, writers and educationalists.
  • Teaching and education where the multidisciplinary approaches and skills of archaeology are usefully applied to the classroom, lab and field-class. Normally a PGCE qualification is the next stage for those who wish to pursue a career in teaching.
  • Professional work (such as management, commerce, law, social work, security, research etc) where employers demand the range of skills archaeology graduates can bring to the workplace
  • Archaeological and Scientific Research in laboratories, conservation, museums, forensic work, and advanced academic research. Queen’s University Belfast offers a range of single and joint honours degrees which will prepare you for a career in Archaeology. We have close links with other Schools in the university, allowing students to select a single or joint degree path, in particular with Geography, Social Anthropology, History-Ancient History, which allow flexibility for you to find the degree of choice: