Our widely-respected practical degrees deliver the training, skills and knowledge to help you make your mark within the heritage sector, plus the employability skills to carve out your career in related sectors.
Curious about the human experience, across millennia and cultures, we are seeking to better understand our past to illuminate our present and improve our future. We are an inquisitive academic community, passionate about the study of the past and beliefs from prehistoric times to contemporary societies.
After graduation
87% of our postgraduate taught graduates were in employment and/or further study, due to start a new job or course, or doing other activities such as travelling, 15 months after the end of their course. (Graduate Outcomes survey 2020/21.
The test of time
Fresh from celebrating 100 years of archaeology at Cardiff in 2020, our experts bring new discoveries and latest thinking into their teaching.
Our research
Placed 9th in the UK for research in Archaeology and 5th for research impact (REF 2021).
This hands-on conversion programme is dedicated to teaching the next generation of conservators through problem-based learning on real heritage objects.
We offer a full range of expertise across conservation.
Our videos
Archaeology and conservation at Cardiff University
Hear from academics and students about what it is like to study archaeology and conservation with us.
Our approach
As a School, we’re committed to preserving what is precious to the world from across the ages, recognising its value and importance in understanding our and telling the story of human experience.
Our programmes encompass a broad range of periods and subjects. Modules and teaching reflect our research specialisms in Archaeological Science, Prehistoric Britain and Europe, Early Medieval Society and Culture, and Classical archaeology. We’ll help you develop the academic and practical archaeological skills to pursue a career within the archaeology field, heritage sector or a range of associated professions.
Conservation at Cardiff offers you a hands-on, practical approach under the careful supervision of leading experts in the field. Practical work in our fully equipped suite of laboratories will not only fully develop your range of skills, but also make a lasting difference to the future of precious objects from a range of historic collections. You’ll be immersed in the theory and practice of conservation and heritage sciences and equipped with the skills and confidence to make your mark in the field.
Cardiff Archaeology and Conservation facilities are first-rate, with recent investment in new suites and equipment.
Student conservators remove dirt built up over decades from a 25th/26th dynasty Egyptian coffin.
A student carefully micro-excavates an archaeological ceramic vessel that has been lifted in a plaster jacket from an excavation.
Phil Parkes, reader in conservation, demonstrates the use of the scanning electron microscope.
Conservation involves a considerable amount of very fine motor skills such as using magnification to assist in removing corrosion from this coin.
A conservation student uses a heated micro-spatula (on loan from RH Engineering) to re-lay damaged flakes of paint.
Senior Lecturer in Archaeological Science, Dr Richard Madgwick regularly focuses his research on reconstructing human-animal relations.
A student studying a skeleton excavated by a Cardiff University team from the eroding Glamorgan coastline.
We are proudly rooted within our local community, with strong links across the heritage sector, including collaborations with institutions in Wales and beyond. Our engagement work mirrors this involvement.
Make an original contribution to the conservation of precious objects and new archaeological study, benefitting from specialist equipment in our purpose-built labs and our nurturing and research-active community. Our master’s degrees and PhD/MPhil pathway have a proud history of training the next generation of researchers and practitioners.
Alongside dedicated lecture theatres and bespoke teaching laboratories centrally located over two floors of our home building, our archaeology and conservation spaces are equipped for both teaching and world-class research.
An innovative and internationally recognised centre of excellence
Our bespoke laboratories and lecture theatres are all on our leafy city-centre campus and within the John Percival Building.
Just next door is the Arts and Social Sciences Library, home to our prestigious Special Collections plus extensive collections and archives in Archaeology, Ancient History and History.
Satisfy your curiosity about history and deepen your knowledge of the key concepts, all with the potential to explore heritage, community action and placement opportunities.
Join our inquisitive academic community, passionate about the study of religion and theology in past, present and future contexts.
Source: Contains HESA Data: Copyright Jisc 2023. Jisc cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived by third parties from its data.