Archaeology and History (BA)

Contemporary archaeology operates within a broad remit: its traditional focus on understanding a deep past is now supplemented by studies of more recent material cultures, and issues of heritage, representation and the politics of the past. All of these d...

Fieldwork is an integral part of the archaeological process and we want all our students to experience directly the generation of primary data by means of field and related practical activities. At the core of this module, therefore, is participation in a...

From the legendary tales of the Trojan War up to the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great, warfare played a central role in ancient Greek history and society. This module allows you to examine ancient Greek warfare from a range of different sources a...

This module focusses on the city of Rome and its development from its early foundation through to the third century AD. It explores the evidence for one of the most important cities of the ancient world, which at its height was home to approximately a mil...

The disparate body of literature collected together under the title 1001 Nights, more popularly known as the Arabian Nights, is set primarily in the cities of the medieval Middle East, including Baghdad and Basra in Iraq, Cairo in Egypt and Damascus in Sy...

The Second World War ended more than seventy years ago, but the echoes and memories of the war still permeate modern British society, culture and politics. This course will explore the history of the Second World War in Britain, from appeasement to the el...

This module examines the variation within the mammalian skeleton from an evolutionary and functional perspective. Additionally, it gives an overview of the main methodological and theoretical issues in the retrieval, treatment and interpretation of bone f...

Today, chivalry is readily associated with gentle(manly) behaviour, and more specifically with sportsmanship, gallantry and courtesy. While indisputably there has always been a ‘civilising’ component to chivalry, it is fascinating to see how our modern so...

The development of absolute dating methods has had the most profound effect on our understanding of the past. All self-respecting archaeologists should have a basic grounding in radiocarbon dating, but many other dating techniques exist and are appropriat...

Archaeology is an immensely data-rich activity that records the characteristics of sites, landscapes and artefacts, sometimes in great detail. Making sense of that data often relies on quantitative or statistical methods to identify patterns, associations...

This module presents a history of post-war multicultural Britain through the lens of British film and television, considering how our attitudes to 'race', sexuality and British identity more generally have been defined, challenged and changed by film and...

This module explores human evolution in the context of expanding and contracting populations. We shall review the evolutionary landscape and the big questions that face archaeologists. We shall cover the hominin fossil record, learning about the major spe...

This module gives students a practical understanding of the importance of the questions of immigration, race and ethnicity in France.

This module will discuss Chinese history from its mythical beginnings to the 19th century (the time when China encountered the West). We will encounter famous figures like the philosopher Confucius, discuss the origins of the Silk Road and the Great Wall,...

How did less than two thousand British officials rule an Indian population of three hundred million? Why did the words gymkhana, bungalow and shampoo enter the English language? What was the significance of the British constructing clock towers in numerou...

The 10,000 years from the end of the last glacial to the emergence of Roman as a major European power were marked by dramatic changes in subsistence, social organisation, material worlds and cosmology. This module provides an introduction to the major the...

Since the end of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1980s, the modern world has witnessed the emergence of Islamist states and powerful Islamist political movements including in West Asia and the Near and Middle East: the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Is...

This course aims to give students a sound introduction to the way archaeology is carried out underwater.

What are myths and what do they do? In “Myth and the Ancient World” you will explore how the Ancient Greeks used myths to make sense of the world and their position in it. The module covers a time span of some 900 years, from the time of Homer and Hesiod ...

In 1948, Daniel Malan’s National Party took power in South Africa. Malan’s election victory over the Jan Smuts-led United Party and Labour Party alliance was only a slender one, and few of the National Party’s opponents could have envisaged that it would ...

Early modern England is a period associated with Elizabeth I and the Tudor court, the plays of Shakespeare, blood and violence on the Jacobean stage, the discovery of new worlds, and the persecution of witches and heretics. The diversity and vitality of t...

For the United States, the turn of the twentieth century was a turbulent, transformative time: an age of embattled political parties and insurgent Populists, mass immigration and overseas war, millionaire capitalists and impoverished farmers, all set to t...

The first century CE saw the rise of a new world religion that was to have an ever changing and at times turbulent history up to today. This module will explore the historical origins of Christianity and the contexts from which it emerged. In particular, ...

We are all, in one way or another, participants in the consumer society. Whether we buy for necessity - life essentials such as food - or view it as an enjoyable leisure activity, our purchase of goods is part of a wider cultural movement pushing us to ‘s...

For most people even today Nero was one of the ‘bad’ emperors (he killed his mother), and Caligula was mad and depraved (he wanted to appoint his favourite horse as consul, and committed incest with his sisters); but the categorisation of emperors along m...

The 1960s were a time of rapid social, political and cultural change in Britain. The decade saw Britain – and especially London – finally steal the crown of cool from the United States. British pop culture exploded and was exported around the world. With ...

This module begins with an assessment of the legacy of Lenin and goes on to investigate Stalin's rise to power and his methods in modernising economy and society. We will engage with historical debates concerning his role in the purges of the 1930s and th...

The Age of Discovery explores the maritime expansion of Europe from c.1350-c.1650 through the experiences of four European states: Portugal; Spain; England and the Netherlands. It therefore covers the transition of these states from medieval polities to R...

This module focuses on the period between about 1600 and 1800, allowing you to explore the development of the British Empire in the Americas from the founding of Jamestown in 1607 up until the American Revolution and its aftermath. The module takes a broa...

The course seeks to provide an overview of the evolution of the European Union (EU) from its early stages to the present. In so doing, it examines the ideas and history of the EU, the institutions of the EU, examples of specific issue areas and the presen...

By the middle of the eleventh century, the various nations of the British Isles were characterised by quite distinct cultures and political and economic systems and elites. Yet the relationships between the various nations were entirely redrawn between ab...

Blood, violence, terror, raids, pirates, rape and pillage are just some of the words associated with the Vikings in both the medieval and modern imagination. Their fearsome reputation is underlined by nicknames such as ‘Blood Axe' and ‘Skull-splitter', bu...

This module examines changing notions of British (and, more specifically, English) national identity in relation to issues of race, ethnicity and immigration from the 1840s to the present day.

The Roman empire has held the imagination of successive generations. Conquest by Rome brought social, cultural and economic change to large swathes of what is now Europe, the Middle East and north Africa. Never before or after did these parts of the world...

“On 13 December 1838, on a cold and rainy night, a man of athletic build, dressed in a shabby jacket, crossed the Pont au Change and penetrated into the Cité […]. That night the wind was blowing violently through the alleyways of this dismal neighbourhood...

This module will introduce you to German metropolitan culture and politics in the 20th century with particular reference to Vienna and Berlin, using a wide range of sources which will include literature, film and architecture.

The twentieth century witnessed a seismic transformation in Britain’s relationship with the rest of the world. In 1914, Britain controlled the largest empire the world had ever seen. By 1960, the majority of Britain’s colonies were independent, or on the ...

This module offers you the opportunity to study the history of witchcraft in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (the period during which the great majority of prosecutions and executions for that supposed crime took place). On the modu...

The dissertation is a key component of your degree, and the culmination of your programme of study. It provides an opportunity to demonstrate the skills of planning, research, data collation, analysis, and communication that you have learned during your p...

The dissertation is a key component of your degree; in it you have a chance to show the skills of analysis and research you have learned during the three years of your course.

Wars have been fought throughout the history of mankind. Ethical concerns that they raised, or, in other words, the rights and wrongs of waging war, have been discussed from time immemorial. War has often been seen as an evil, a necessary evil, to be avoi...

The resurgence of the far right is one of the most striking and challenging features of the 21st century political landscape. Attitudes and practices that were marginal and unrespectable just decades ago have gained considerable traction, whether measured...

As the world responds to the global financial crisis, populist leaders have come to dominate political debate in countries across the world - from India to the United Kingdom to the United States. In engaging with this phenomena, we are faced with a conun...

The history of the post-war world has been powerfully shaped by the decisions and actions of American political and military leaders, and by the deployment of American defense technologies. This module considers the significance of humanitarian concerns w...

This module continues the exploration of the impact of defense technologies and humanitarian concerns upon US foreign policy from end of the Cold War and the post-Cold War period, into the War on Terror. This includes the introduction of so-called ‘precis...

This unit introduces you to some key definitions and concepts before providing an overview of the main phases of immigration in France from the 1880s to the late 1940s.

Seafaring lies at the heart of human activity across the world and has taken place from the earliest times to the present day. Reflecting this, in recent years the study of seafaring has become an increasingly important area in our understanding of the hu...

This course will span the period c.1688-c.1840, beginning with the reforms of the criminal code introduced following the Glorious Revolution, known as the ‘Bloody Code’, and concluding in the mid-nineteenth century with the introduction of the police forc...

This course will span the period c.1688-c.1840, beginning with the reforms of the criminal code introduced following the Glorious Revolution, known as the ‘Bloody Code’, and concluding in the mid-nineteenth century with the introduction of the police forc...

Ancient History goes beyond Greece and Rome. The ancient world was incredibly diverse, inhabited by different cultures, religions, and societies which were closely connected and left their mark on each other, through interaction, conflict, and exchange. I...

This module explores the Roman Empire, but from the perspective of those who resisted it, fought it, and rebelled against it. The study of the ancient world, throughout its different periods, is greatly influenced by Rome. Starting from its expansion duri...

This module explores human evolution in terms of physiological, social and cultural adaptations. It explores human ecology in the broad sense, combining not just cultural and social variability, but also physiological adaptations in past and present-day h...

This module explores the entangled histories of France and Germany between WW1 and the end of WW2. Resentment over the Treaty of Versailles was central to the emergence of radical nationalism in Germany after 1918; conversely, solving the ‘German problem’...

This module explores Franco-German history between the Fall of France (1940) and the end of the 1950s. The first half focusses on the German occupation of France, exploring aspects of everyday life, collaboration and resistance, violence and the Holocaus...

What are the origins of Britain’s long relationship with Asia? How did a trading company become a territorial power, with its own army and navy? What did people in Britain make of this phenomenon, and how did it influence their views of Britain’s global e...

What are the origins of Britain's long relationship with Asia? How did a trading company become a territorial power, with its own army and navy? What did people in Britain make of this phenomenon, and how did it influence their views of Britain's global e...

This module provides an introduction to early Stuart England and explores the troubled reign of King Charles I before the English Civil War.

This module investigates the events of the English Civil War of 1642-46 and explores the effects which that conflict had on the ordinary people of England and Wales.

This module aims to acquaint you with Geographic Information Systems including their use for mapping and analysing archaeological sites and landscapes, and to explain the broader context of their application to a range of archaeological research and manag...

Iron Age Europe witnessed the divergence of a ‘classical' Mediterranean world, whose culture included such features as states, towns, coinage and literacy, from a ‘barbarian' world to the north, where these features developed only much later, if at all. T...

One of the socially and culturally most significant consequences of transnational mobility is that urban populations in particular are increasingly multilingual: in global cities such as London, New York and Berlin there are speakers of hundreds of differ...

This module examines the major social, economic and cultural developments that took place in England during the period between c. 800 and c. 1100 AD. It makes use of evidence from diverse disciplines, including the study of documentary, archaeological, ar...

The towns in which the Romans lived are some of the most familiar features of the Roman world. Although they seem to look and feel like modern towns, they actually worked in quite different ways, a reflection of the fact that ancient Roman society was dis...

Germany has had a long tradition of immigration and is one of the most multi-cultural countries in Europe today. We will examine the impact of diverse immigration movements on recent German history and notions of German identity. This includes examining b...

The extraction and characterization of ancient molecules and the measurement of stable and radioactive isotopes has revolutionized archaeology over the past two decades and remains at the cutting edge of archaeological science. From the the identification...

The module provides an introduction to the history and archaeology of ancient Egypt. The module provides a broad sweep of Egyptian history from the Predynastic through to later periods. It introduces aspects of death, burial and commemoration, compares an...

By the end of this module you will be familiar with digital photogrammetry in archaeology and the visualisation of photogrammetric datasets. You will also have a basic grounding in key methods in photogrammetry and be able to create accurate and detailed ...

This module is a study of political culture in both imperial Russia and the Soviet Union, considering the media, surveillance and coercion. It will start with a question: what is propaganda, and how does it work? Chronologically, part one of this year-lon...

This module is a study of political culture in the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. The second part will start with the ‘great break’ of the late 1920s that saw the emergence of the Stalinist state. Areas for consideration will include Stalin’s Cu...

In this module we will examine how knowledge about the past is presented in museum exhibition and display. We will look at current practices in exhibition design and discuss the contemporary literature on communicating heritage to a range of audiences. Yo...

Between the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries a powerful new idea emerged in the West: race. According to this ideology, human beings could be divided into biological groups - ‘races’ - determining both moral character and intellectual ability...

Between the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries a powerful new idea emerged in the West: race. According to this ideology, human beings could be divided into biological groups - ‘races’ - determining both moral character and intellectual ability...

The seventeenth century was a time of extreme change and political instability in England. In 1649, after years of civil war, Charles I, the King of England, was beheaded on Whitehall in front of a crowd of thousands. England, overnight, became a republic...

The culmination of your history degree at Southampton will be the completion of your final year independent research dissertation (HIST3021 for History programmes or HIST3210 for Ancient History programmes). In this module you will learn how to apply the ...

In this module we will examine the principal themes of the political and social history of Britain during the Victorian era (c.1830-1900). We will investigate the development of new forms of political participation and examine the ways that men and women...

Whereas in part 1 of the module you focused on metropolitan Britain, in part 2 we turn our attention to Britain's role in the wider world, placing a particular emphasis on British foreign policy and Britain’s relationship with empire. The module will exp...

The Neolithic period heralds some of the most momentous changes in human history; it is the period when prehistoric people began to live in permanent settlements and adopted agriculture. In Britain, this period is dominated by rich evidence for large monu...

In this module you will study how and why domestic crises struck the Habsburg Monarchy (Austria-Hungary) in the two decades before the First World War, and what the potential consequences were for the Empire’s long-term sustainability. The module particul...

Building on Part I, which focused on perceived dynastic/national/social loyalties at home before the First World War, Part 2 imposes on that framework firstly a study of Habsburg foreign policy from c.1895 to 1914 and secondly a study of the empire in the...

The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations was an international exhibition which took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1st May to 11th October 1851. It was arguably the greatest of a series of international ‘expositions’ run throughout ...

The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations was an international exhibition which took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1st May to 11th October 1851. It was arguably the greatest of a series of international ‘expositions’ run throughout ...

The conflict that raged between the Plantagenet and the Valois kings from 1337 to 1453, and spread over the whole of Occidental Europe, turned out to be the longest military struggle in history. In this module, you will explore how the Hundred Years War s...

The conflict that raged between the Plantagenet and the Valois kings from 1337 to 1453, and spread over the whole of Occidental Europe, turned out to be the longest military struggle in history. In this module, you will explore how the Hundred Years War s...