Explore UCD

UCD Home >

Graduate Diploma in Experimental Archaeology & Material Culture

GradDip (NFQ Level 9)
Scholarships Available

This course is available through the following application route(s)

Duration:
1 Year
Attendance:
Full Time
Delivery:
On Campus
NFQ Level:
9 (60 credits)
Level:
Graduate Taught
Award:
Graduate Diploma
Next Intake:
September
Country Specific Entry Requirements:
Visit the UCD Global Undergraduate Entry Requirements webpage.
Other School Leaving Requirements:
See www.ucd.ie/admissions
Curricular information is subject to change.

Duration:
2 Years
Attendance:
Part-Time
Delivery:
On Campus
NFQ Level:
9 (60 credits)
Level:
Graduate Taught
Award:
Graduate Diploma
Next Intake:
September
Country Specific Entry Requirements:
Visit the UCD Global Undergraduate Entry Requirements webpage.
Other School Leaving Requirements:
See www.ucd.ie/admissions
Curricular information is subject to change.

Apply Now

The Graduate Diploma in Experimental Archaeology and Material Culture will allow students to develop critical thinking, practical expertise and key transferrable skills while working in the world-leading UCD Centre for Experimental Archaeology and Material Culture (CEAMAC)

  • Experimental archaeology can be defined as the reconstruction of past buildings, technologies, things and environmental contexts so as to enable a better understanding of the character and role of materiality and material culture in peoples lives.
  • It may also involve innovative, experiential interrogations of past lifeways and material culture, so as to explore and understand how people interact with each other and the world. 
  • UCD School of Archaeology has a growing momentum and international reputation in experimental archaeology and material culture studies. Students of the GDip in Experimental Archaeology and Material Culture will be integrated into UCD School of Archaeology’s European and global experimental archaeological and museum networks, particularly through Prof Aidan O’Sullivan’s Board Membership of EXARC, the ICOMOS-affiliated worldwide network of AOAMs and experimental archaeologists.
  • UCD School of Archaeology is ranked in the top 100 QS subject rankings worldwide in 2024
 

About This Course

  • Study in an exciting, new multidisciplinary programme, with lectures by UCD staff and international experts, with practical training in laboratories and the Centre for Experimental Archaeology, and fieldtrips.

  • Explore and investigate though lectures, seminars, and practical project learning how people in the past understood and worked with stone, flint, clay, pottery, wood, leather, woolen and vegetal textiles, and other materials, and how they constructed and inhabited buildings developed different technologies, and made and used things.

  • Gain key professional skills in object and materials analyses, including the use of artefact photography, 3D laser scanning, photogrammetric modeling and visualization technologies, and GIS, and the use of optical microscopes and Scanning Electron Microscopes. Through the MSc programme you will have access to training in Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) and X-ray Diffraction, thus gaining insights into how we investigate past material culture through detailed elemental analysis.

    •  

Graduates may progress to careers in further research (e.g. PhD), in academia, state or commercial archaeology, in cultural heritage studies, in education and public outreach, in traditional and archaeological open-air museums, in cultural tourism and heritage
management, amongst many other options.


  •  Further research, whether academic or professional

  • Professional archaeological practice

  • Museums, Living History and re-enactment 

  • Communicating heritage

  • Heritage and education policy and practice

Below is a list of all modules offered for this degree in the current academic year. Click on the module to discover what you will learn in the module, how you will learn and assessment feedback profile amongst other information.

Incoming Stage 1 undergraduates can usually select an Elective in the Spring Trimester. Most continuing undergraduate students can select up to two Elective modules (10 Credits) per stage. There is also the possibility to take up to 10 extra Elective credits.

Module Type Module   Trimester Credits
Stage 1 Core Modules
 ARCH41170 Material Culture Autumn  10
Stage 1 Core Modules
 ARCH41180 Experimental Archaeology: Making, Understanding, Storytelling Autumn  10
Stage 1 Core Modules
 ARCH40850 Practical Experimental Archaeology Spring  10
Stage 1 Core Modules
 ARCH41460 Dissertation (Taught) Spring  5
Stage 1 Options - A) Min 15CR:
Students are required to take 25 CR in Options modules - 10 CR in Autumn and 15 CR in Spring. You must choose a minimum of 15 credits from these Level 4 options (List A). You can choose the remaining 10 credits from the Level 3 options below, or from this Level 4 list.
 ARCH41250 Nature & Culture: A bridge Autumn  10
Stage 1 Options - A) Min 15CR:
Students are required to take 25 CR in Options modules - 10 CR in Autumn and 15 CR in Spring. You must choose a minimum of 15 credits from these Level 4 options (List A). You can choose the remaining 10 credits from the Level 3 options below, or from this Level 4 list.
 ARCH41310 Land / Landscape Autumn  10
Stage 1 Options - A) Min 15CR:
Students are required to take 25 CR in Options modules - 10 CR in Autumn and 15 CR in Spring. You must choose a minimum of 15 credits from these Level 4 options (List A). You can choose the remaining 10 credits from the Level 3 options below, or from this Level 4 list.
 ARCH41320 Hunter-Gatherers 1: Key Themes Autumn  10
Stage 1 Options - A) Min 15CR:
Students are required to take 25 CR in Options modules - 10 CR in Autumn and 15 CR in Spring. You must choose a minimum of 15 credits from these Level 4 options (List A). You can choose the remaining 10 credits from the Level 3 options below, or from this Level 4 list.
 ARCH41490 MedLifeways: Exploring the social world of ancient Med through material culture, scientific analyses Autumn  10
Stage 1 Options - A) Min 15CR:
Students are required to take 25 CR in Options modules - 10 CR in Autumn and 15 CR in Spring. You must choose a minimum of 15 credits from these Level 4 options (List A). You can choose the remaining 10 credits from the Level 3 options below, or from this Level 4 list.
 ARCH41270 Archaeological Field Methods Spring  10
Stage 1 Options - A) Min 15CR:
Students are required to take 25 CR in Options modules - 10 CR in Autumn and 15 CR in Spring. You must choose a minimum of 15 credits from these Level 4 options (List A). You can choose the remaining 10 credits from the Level 3 options below, or from this Level 4 list.
 ARCH41330 Hunter-Gatherers 2: producing knowledge Spring  10
Stage 1 Options - A) Min 15CR:
Students are required to take 25 CR in Options modules - 10 CR in Autumn and 15 CR in Spring. You must choose a minimum of 15 credits from these Level 4 options (List A). You can choose the remaining 10 credits from the Level 3 options below, or from this Level 4 list.
 ARCH41340 GIS, Cultural Heritage and Spatial Thinking Spring  10
Stage 1 Options - A) Min 15CR:
Students are required to take 25 CR in Options modules - 10 CR in Autumn and 15 CR in Spring. You must choose a minimum of 15 credits from these Level 4 options (List A). You can choose the remaining 10 credits from the Level 3 options below, or from this Level 4 list.
 ARCH41450 Current Debates in Archaeology Spring  5
Stage 1 Options - A) Min 15CR:
Students are required to take 25 CR in Options modules - 10 CR in Autumn and 15 CR in Spring. You must choose a minimum of 15 credits from these Level 4 options (List A). You can choose the remaining 10 credits from the Level 3 options below, or from this Level 4 list.
 IRFL40110 Aspects of Ethnology Spring  10
Stage 1 Options - B) Min 0CR:
Students MAY select a maximum of 10 credits from Level 3 modules in List B&C (if not previously taken)
 ARCH30500 Experiment Archaeology & Ancient Technologies Autumn  5
Stage 1 Options - B) Min 0CR:
Students MAY select a maximum of 10 credits from Level 3 modules in List B&C (if not previously taken)
 ARCH30910 Roman Imperial Art, Architecture and Political Propaganda; how to spot fake news in the Roman world Autumn  10
Stage 1 Options - B) Min 0CR:
Students MAY select a maximum of 10 credits from Level 3 modules in List B&C (if not previously taken)
 ARCH30920 Communicating Archaeology Autumn  5
Stage 1 Options - B) Min 0CR:
Students MAY select a maximum of 10 credits from Level 3 modules in List B&C (if not previously taken)
 ARCH30530 Early Medieval Ireland and Beyond: Social Identity and Belonging AD 400-1100 Spring  5
Stage 1 Options - B) Min 0CR:
Students MAY select a maximum of 10 credits from Level 3 modules in List B&C (if not previously taken)
 ARCH30720 Archaeology of Food Spring  10
Stage 1 Options - B) Min 0CR:
Students MAY select a maximum of 10 credits from Level 3 modules in List B&C (if not previously taken)
 ARCH31070 First People of Ireland Spring  5
Stage 1 Options - C)0 of:
Students MAY select a maximum of 10 credits from Level 3 modules in List B&C (if not previously taken). Due to capacity restrictions, registration for ARCH31010 is not available online - if you wish to take this module please contact the School of Archaeology using this Google Form.
 ARCH31010 Human Osteoarchaeology Autumn  10

Graduate Diploma in Experimental Archaeology & Material Culture (W373) Full Time
EU          fee per year - € 7325
nonEU    fee per year - € 15070

Graduate Diploma in Experimental Archaeology & Material Culture (W374) Part Time
EU          fee per year - € 4375
nonEU    fee per year - € 7540

***Fees are subject to change

Tuition fee information is available on the UCD Fees website. In terms of higher education, notwithstanding Brexit, UK students will still be eligible for the EU fee rate.

Please note that UCD offers a number of graduate scholarships for full-time, self-funding international students, holding an offer of a place on a UCD graduate degree programme. For further information please see International Scholarships.


 

A Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelors in Archaeology/Anthropology or a cognate area with a minimum 2.2 (NFQ Level 8) or international equivalent is required. Candidates from cognate disciplines (e.g. History, Classics, Art History, Geography, etc) will have demonstrated previous experience and/or awareness of Archaeological or Experimental Archaeological methods and thought, by attending during their primary degree a number of Archaeology modules and/or working for a period on an Archaeological Excavation and/or working in a Museum or Open-Air Museum. Previous academic education and/or experience in aspects of Crafts and/or Material Culture Studies will also be considered by the School. The School reserves the right to assess the extent and quality of such previous studies and experience.

Applicants whose first language is not English must also demonstrate English language proficiency of IELTS 6.5 (no band less than 6.0 in each element), or equivalent.

You may be eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), as UCD recognises formal, informal, and/or experiential learning. RPL may be awarded to gain Admission and/or credit exemptions on a programme. Please visit the UCD Registry RPL web page for further information. Any exceptions are also listed on this webpage.

Full Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes
International (Non EU) applicants: Yes

Part Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes
International (Non EEA) applicants: No


Print this page

General application route(s) for Irish/UK/EU applicants* for International (non-EU) applicants* to Graduate Diploma in Experimental Archaeology & Material Culture:

ROWCLASS Apply to
showAudience-audienceEU showAudience-audienceInt
W373
Graduate Diploma in Experimental Archaeology & Material Culture
Graduate Diploma

Full-Time
Commencing September 2026
Graduate Taught
Closed
showAudience-audienceEU showAudience-audienceInt
W374
Graduate Diploma in Experimental Archaeology & Material Culture
Graduate Diploma

Part-Time
Commencing September 2026
Graduate Taught
Not available to International applicantsClosed
showAudience-audienceEU showAudience-audienceInt
W373
Graduate Diploma in Experimental Archaeology & Material Culture
Graduate Diploma

Full-Time
Commencing September 2027
Graduate Taught
Opens 01 Oct 2026
showAudience-audienceEU showAudience-audienceInt
W374
Graduate Diploma in Experimental Archaeology & Material Culture
Graduate Diploma

Part-Time
Commencing September 2027
Graduate Taught
Not available to International applicantsOpens 01 Oct 2026
* you can change options at the top of the page
Contact UsEventsDownload Brochure
Fill in the following details:
Enter the body of your query here.

From time to time UCD would like to send you further information that we feel, based on your enquiry, would be of interest to you.