Overview

By mixing theory with practical exercises in the field and laboratory, you prepare for a career in a number of different disciplines and you can work both locally and globally with important societal issues such as sustainability, climate change and cultural environment work.

What you'll learn

Both Landscape Archaeology or Environmental Archaeology at Umea University offer the opportunity to develop your understanding of the ways in which humans have impacted on, and interacted with, the natural world. 

By studying the physical remains of past human activity and analysing the organic (ecofacts) and chemical remains or artefacts that represent the cultural fingerprints of this activity, using methods from the physical and natural sciences, you can build a picture of the role humans have played in different ecosystems. 

Within these fields we study long timescales of landscape change and human-landscape interactions from the end of the Ice Age until historical times, and from the earliest hunters to the first farmers and beyond. During the programme the teaching is linked in areas such as the History, Theory and Method course, but you will follow distinct pathways within these depending on your chosen specialism, i.e. Landscape or Environmental Archaeology.

Career opportunities

This degree prepares you for work in the heritage sector, field/commercial archaeology, environmental archaeology, as an administrator or investigator at a heritage board, administrative organisation or museum. Other employment possibilities include those within landscape management and conservation, creating exhibitions, as a nature/heritage guide or museum curator or for furthering your research career.