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SPECIAL REGULATIONS FOR THE HONOUR SCHOOL OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

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A

  1. 1. The examination in the Honour School of Archaeology and Anthropology shall consist of such subjects in Archaeology and Anthropology as the Social Sciences Board shall prescribe by regulation from time to time.
  2. 2. No candidate shall be admitted to the examination in this school unless he or she has either passed or been exempted from the First Public Examination.
  3. 3. The examination shall be under the supervision of the Social Sciences Board. Under the overall direction of the board, the examination shall be administered by the School of Archaeology and the School of Anthropology, which shall jointly appoint a standing committee to advise the board as necessary in respect of this examination, and of Honour Moderations and the Preliminary Examination in Archaeology and Anthropology.
  4. 4. Candidates will be required to take part in approved fieldwork as an integral part of their course. The fieldwork requirement will normally have been discharged before the Long Vacation of the second year of the course.

B

Candidates are required to offer the following subjects:

1. Social analysis and interpretation.

2. Cultural representations, beliefs, and practices.

3. Landscape and Ecology.

4. Urbanisation and change in complex societies: comparative approaches.

5., 6. and 7. An approved combination of three optional subjects, from Schedule A (Anthropology) and Schedule B (Archaeology) [see below] or any other optional subject approved by the Committee for the School of Archaeology or the Committee for the School of Anthropology. To encourage a wide-ranging understanding of archaeology and anthropology, options shall be chosen in such a way that they constitute three independent, non-overlapping subjects.

8. A thesis, of not more than 15,000 words, which may be based on research in either archaeology or anthropology or on an interdisciplinary topic.

Candidates may be examined viva voce.

Schedule A (Anthropology)

  1. (a) Culture and Society of West Africa
  2. (b) South Asia
  3. (c) Lowland South America
  4. (d) Gender theories and realities cross cultural perspectives
  5. (e) Material culture studies
  6. (f) Japanese society
  7. (g) China and the overseas Chinese
  8. (h) The anthropology of medicine
  9. (i) Tibet and the Himalayas
  10. (j) Anthropology of Europe

Schedule B (Archaeology)

  1. (a) The Later Prehistory of Europe
  2. (b) Archaeology of Southern African Hunter-Gatherers
  3. (c) Farming and early states in Sub-Saharan Africa
  4. (d) Mesopotamia and Egypt from the emergence of complex society to c.2000 bc
  5. (e) Mesopotamia and Egypt 1000-500 bc
  6. (f) The Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Aegean
  7. (g) The Greeks and the Mediterranean World c.950-500 bc
  8. (h) Greek archaeology and art c.500-323 bc
  9. (i) Roman Archaeology: Cities and settlement under the Empire
  10. (j) Art under the Roman Empire, ad 14-336
  11. (k) The emergence of Medieval Europe ad 400-900
  12. (l) Byzantium: the transition from Antiquity to the Middle Ages, ad 500-1100
  13. (m) Science-based methods in Archaeology
  14. (n) Archaeology of Modern Human Origins
  15. (o) Anglo-Saxon Society and Economy in the Early Christian Period
  16. (p) Archaeology and Geographical Information Systems
  17. (q) Landscape Archaeology
  18. (r) Biological Techniques in Environmental Archaeology
  19. (s) From hunting and gathering to states and empires in South-west Asia
  20. (t) Physical Anthropolgy and Human Osteoarchaeology

Because of the potential overlap in subject matter, approval will not be given to candidates who wish to select from Schedule B (Archaeology) either two of papers (f), (g) or (j), or both papers (k) and (l).

Some options may not be available in every year. Candidates will be circulated a list of options offered for examination in the following two years of study by Friday of the eighth week of the Michaelmas Full Term.

Notice of the options to be offered by candidates must be submitted not later than the Friday in the fourth week of the Michaelmas Full Term immediately preceding the examination.

Thesis

  1. 1.
    1. (a) The subject of every thesis shall to the satisfaction of the regulating authority concerned fall within the field of Archaeology or Anthropology or both.
    2. (b) The subject of the thesis may, but need not, overlap a subject or period on which the candidate offers papers. Candidates are warned, however, that they must avoid repetition in the papers of material used in their thesis, and that they will not be given credit for material extensively repeated.
    3. (c) Candidates must submit through their college, to the Chairman of the Standing Committee for the Undergraduate Degree in Archaeology and Anthropology (c/o the Secretary of the Standing Committee, Institute of Archaeology, Beaumont Street), the title of the proposed thesis, together with (a) a synopsis of the subject in about 100 words; and (b) a letter of support from the tutor who will supervise the thesis, not later than Monday of the noughth week of the Trinity Full Term preceding that in which the examination is held.
    4. (d) The Standing Committee for the Undergraduate Degree in Archaeology and Anthropology will decide as soon as possible, and in every case by the end of the fifth week of the Michaelmas Full Term preceding the examination, whether or not to approve the title, and will advise candidates of its decision forthwith.
  2. 2. Every thesis must be the candidate's own work, although it is expected that tutors will discuss with candidates the proposed field of study, the sources available, and the method of presentation. Tutors may also read and comment on a first draft. Candidates must sign a certificate stating that the thesis is their own work, and their tutors shall countersign the certificate affirming that they have assisted the candidate no more than these regulations allow. This certificate must be presented at the same time that the thesis is submitted, but in a separate sealed envelope addressed to the Chairman of the Examiners.
  3. 3. Theses previously submitted for the Honour School of Archaeology and Anthropology may be resubmitted. No thesis will be accepted if it has already been submitted, wholly or substantially, for another final honour school or degree of this University or a degree of any other institution. The certificate must also contain confirmation that the thesis has not already been so submitted.
  4. 4. No thesis shall be ineligible because it has been submitted, in whole or in part, for any scholarship or prize of this University advertised in the Oxford University Gazette.
  5. 5. No thesis shall exceed 15,000 words in length, that limit to include all notes but not bibliographies, catalogues of material evidence, gazetteers or technical appendices. All theses must be typed in double-spacing on one side of A4 paper, and must be bound or held firmly in a stiff cover. Two copies must be submitted to the chairman of the examiners, and a third copy must be retained by the candidate. All copies must bear the candidate's examination number but not his or her name.
  6. 6. The thesis must be sent, not later than noon on Friday of the ninth week of Hilary Full Term preceding the examination, to the Chairman of the Examiners, Honour School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Examination Schools, High Street, Oxford.

Candidates may be examined viva voce.