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Archaeology and Palaeoecology

School of Natural and Built Environment
Archaeology and Palaeoecology
1st in UK

for Student Experience for Archaeology

Time and Sunday TImes Good University Guide 2020
1st in UK

in Student Satisfaction for Archaeology

The Complete University Guide 2020
10th in UK

Overall for Archaeology

Time and Sunday TImes Good University Guide 2020

A unique combination of cutting-edge archaeological approaches underpinned by state-of-the-art palaeoecological and chronological research.

Archaeology was established as a department at Queen’s University Belfast in 1948. In 1968, pioneering work in Palaeoecology began at the Nuffield Research Unit, which in 1985 became the Palaeoecology Centre. Today Queen’s Archaeology & Palaeoecology is recognised as an international leader in these fields.

Our discipline encompasses both the Sciences and Humanities. We undertake cutting-edge research on societal and environmental change in the past and explore their impacts on life today. Our expertise in heritage management, scientific, community and digital archaeology is complemented by ground-breaking palaeoenvironmental and chronological research, and supported by the Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, the Centre for Community Archaeology and the 14CHRONO Centre.

A scientifically informed understanding of the past significantly informs the present and guides us towards a more sustainable future. Archaeology & Palaeoecology is where you will find a future in the past!

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ARCHAEOLOGY AND PALAEOECOLOGY RESEARCH

Archaeology studies the development of humanity by examining surviving material remains (e.g. tombs, temples, settlements, skeletons, artefacts and the landscape context from which they were recovered). Through the information gained it is possible to trace our economic, cultural, social and spiritual developments through time. At Queen’s, Palaeoecology complements Archaeology by studying the nature and timing of environmental changes in the past, including climate change. This brings a highly integrated approach to assessing how human activities have been shaped by and, in turn, have impacted upon the natural environment and a means to disentangle human impact from natural variability.

Although, by their very nature, Archaeology and Palaeoecology are concerned with the past, both disciplines have a role in the present, as well as the future. The threats to our environment and landscape through urban, industrial and agricultural development have never been greater. Globally, archaeological and environmental heritage is at threat from conflict and climate change. Archaeologists and palaeoecologists are at the forefront of the preservation and management of cultural evidence from the past – monuments, artefacts and landscapes, while increasingly work in this field also incorporates attention to ecological conservation. The past is also relevant to how people construct identities in the present and many of the careers available for archaeologists and palaeoecologists stem from the need to evaluate and manage the different dimensions of this heritage.

While Archaeology & Palaeoecology has a long tradition of researching Irish archaeology, our staff are also involved in projects across the globe, in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe. Our work stretches from the time of early hominins, hundreds of thousands of years ago, right up to the twenty-first century. Staff have a diverse range of research interests, including prehistoric stone technology and metalworking; medieval buildings; human and animal bones; tree-ring dating; pollen analysis; tephrochronology; childhood in the past; trading networks and migration, heritage management, and computational approaches to Archaeology and Palaeoecology including survey, mapping and remote sensing. Our graduates are equipped with a diverse subject-specific and generic skill-set that will enable them to successfully pursue careers in Archaeology & Palaeoecology in addition to many other fields, such as teaching, forensics or environmental work.

KEY RESEARCH PROJECTS

FRAGSUS
Fragility and Sustainability in Restricted Island Environments

An ERC-funded Advanced FP7 project that studies fragility and sustainability in island environments. The FRAGSUS project explores the life of the Neolithic Temple population, who settled in Malta between 5500BC and 2400BC, and focuses on how the prehistoric people responded to and exploited the limited resources of a remote island environment.

http://www.qub.ac.uk/Research/Our-research/erc-10-years-celebration/european-research-council-projects/ProfessorCarolineMaloneCasestudy.html

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SUNDASIA / PALAEOKARST
Human Adaptation; Prehistoric Tropical Communities; Biodiversity; Climate Change

SUNDASIA is exploring how prehistoric tropical communities adapted to cycles of coastal inundation in northern Vietnam, and how these data can help inform models and responses to modern climate-induced rising seas in Southeast Asia. This multi-disciplinary research is funded by the GCRF (AHRC) and Xuan Truong Enterprise. A follow-on project (PALAEOKARST) is examining and modelling the effects of long-term human impact on tropical limestone karst forest.

 https://sundasia.com/

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Ranelagh Osteoarchaeology Project
Excavation of a Medieval settlement cemetery

The Transport Infrastructure Ireland project involves a bioarchaeological study of 600 human skeletons recovered during the excavation of a Medieval settlement cemetery at Ranelagh, Co. Roscommon. In addition to osteoarchaeological analysis, the project involves the use of cutting-edge chronological, statistical, isotope and ancient DNA approaches, all of which will advance understanding of this population and the people of Medieval Ireland more broadly.


FIND OUT MORE

Archaeology-Palaeoecology Research Projects
Research Impact

Research Expertise of Archaeology and Palaeocology Staff:

  • Palaeoecology
  • Later Prehistory
  • Artefact Studies 
  • Medieval Archaeology
  • Remote Sensing 
  • Historic Archaeology
  • Archaeological Theory 
  • Neolithic Archaeology
  • Physical Anthropology
  • Copper Age to Iron Age in Eurasia 
  • Archaeology of Cult and Religion
  • Early Medieval Settlements
  • Archaeozoology 
  • Landscape Archaeology
  • Human Osteoarchaeology
  • Tephrochronology 
  • Radiocarbon Dating
  • Stable Isotope Analysis 

STUDY

Students on an archaeological dig
UNDERGRADUATE AND POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMMES

If you are intrigued by past societies and past environments, then our degree programmes are for you. From the 2020/21 academic year we will be offering a CIfA/UAUK-accredited module pathway through all of our undergraduate programmes.

Undergraduate

  • Archaeology BA (3 yrs)
  • Archaeology with French BA (4 yrs)
  • Archaeology with Portuguese BA (4 yrs)
  • Archaeology with Spanish BA (4 yrs)
  • Archaeology and Irish BA (3 yrs)
  • Archaeology and History BA (3 yrs)
  • Archaeology MSci (4 yrs)
  • Archaeology-Palaeoecology BSc (3 yrs)
  • Archaeology-Palaeoecology and Geography BSc (3 yrs)
  • Archaeology on the MlibArts (4 yrs)

Postgraduate

  • Archaeology or Palaeoecology MRes (Arts and Humanities) (1 yr)
  • Archaeology & Palaeoecology MPhil (2 yrs)
  • Archaeology & Palaeoecology PhD (3 yrs)

Module Choices in Archaeology and Palaeoecology

Students enroled on any of the above programmes can choose from a wide range of modules in Archaeology and Palaeoecology. In addition to the core modules listed below, single honours students can normally take one module from another discipline each year, and joint honours students can avail of further module choices from their second subject. Below are some of the core modules on our programmes that students have been able to choose from in recent years:

Stage 1

     *  ARP1006: Ancient Humans and Landscapes
     *  ARP1008: Europe in Prehistory
     *  ARP1007: Environmental Change: Past, Present and Future
     *  ARP1010: Themes in Historical Archaeology
     *  ARP1013: Introduction to World Archaeology
     *  ARP1014: Archaeological Excavation

Stage 2

     *  ARP2041: Ireland in Prehistory
     *  ARP2043: Thinking Through Things: Theorising Global Archaeology
     *  ARP2045: From St Patrick to the Plantations: The Archaeology of Historic Ireland
     *  ARP2051: Palaeoenvironmental Techniques
     *  ARP2057: Archaeology in Practice
     *  ARP2058: Archaeology of Islands (Residential Fieldtrip Module)
     *  GGY2002: Landscapes and Geographical Information Science
     *  GGY2053: Maps & Mappings: From the Stone Age to the Digital Age

Stage 3

     *  ARP3053: Society, Death and Disease
     *  ARP3055: Dating the Past
     *  ARP3056: Archaeology/Palaeoecology Dissertation
     *  ARP3069: Archaeology/Palaeoecology Independent Project
     *  ARP3085: Early Medieval Europe: Archaeologies of Kinship, Religion and Society
     *  ARP3086: Human Environment Eco-Dynamics in the Holocene
     *  ARP3087: Human Evolution and Innovations through Prehistory
     *  ARP3088: Domestic, Symbolic and Funerary Monuments in Prehistoric Europe
     *  ARP3089: Critical Thinking in Archaeology and Palaeoecology
     *  GGY3049: Geoforensics
     *  GGY3060: Advanced Geographical Information Science

Stage 4

     *  ARP4041: Research Theory and Practice
     *  ARP4202: Irish Archaeology in a Global Context
     *  ARP4306: Workplace Internship
     *  ARP4507: Applied Project
     *  ARP4508: Geospatial Techniques in Archaeology
     *  ARP4509: Museums in Heritage and Archaeology
     *  ARP4510: Community Archaeology
     *  ARP4511: Current Debates in Prehistoric Archaeology
     *  ARP4520: Advanced Excavation
     *  ARP4521: Professional Practice

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RESEARCH CENTRES 

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Research Centres and Facilities

Archaeology & Palaeoecology houses a number of major research Centres, while its staff also collaborate and utilise cutting-edge facilities across the University. These include:

CHRONO Centre 

Centre for Community Archaeology 

Stable Isotope Facility 

Genomics Core Technology Unit

Mass Spectrometry Core Technology Unit 

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OUR STAFF

STAFF NAME RESEARCH INTERESTS E-MAIL
Dr Maarten Blaauw Palaeoecology, statistical interpretation of proxy archives  maarten.blaauw@qub.ac.uk
Dr Dirk Brandherm Later Prehistory, artefact studies  d.brandherm@qub.ac.uk
Dr Patrick Gleeson Medieval archaeology, remote sensing  p.gleeson@qub.ac.uk
Prof Audrey Horning Historic archaeology, archaeological theory  a.horning@qub.ac.uk
Dr Melie Le Roy Neolithic, physical anthropology melie.leroy@qub.ac.uk
Prof (Emeritus) James Mallory Archaeology and linguistics, Copper Age to Iron Age in Eurasia  j.mallory@qub.ac.uk
Prof Caroline Malone Neolithic, archaeology of cult and religion  c.malone@qub.ac.uk 
Dr Finbar McCormick Early medieval settlement and economy, archaeozoology  f.mccormick@qub.ac.uk
Dr William Megarry Landscape archaeology, heritage management  w.megarry@qub.ac.uk
Prof Eileen Murphy Human osteoarchaeology, archaeology of childhood  eileen.murphy@qub.ac.uk
Prof (Emeritus) Jonathan Pilcher Cryptotephra; Palynology; Mid- to Late Holocene environmental change

j.pilcher@qub.ac.uk 

Dr Gill Plunkett Palaeoecology, pollen and plant macrofossil analysis, tephrochronology  g.plunkett@qub.ac.uk
Dr Ryan Rabett Palaeolithic, Southeast Asian archaeology  r.rabett@qub.ac.uk
Prof Paula Reimer Radiocarbon dating, stable isotope analysis  p.j.reimer@qub.ac.uk

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