Archaeology
Examining and preserving the material remains of our human past
Our discipline offers teaching and research in archaeology, the study of the material remains of the past.
Our academics and researchers have a broad range of expertise in archaeological method and theory including key areas of archaeometry, digital technology, archaeozoology, lithics and ceramics analysis.Â
They conduct fieldwork in regions around the world, including Australia and the Pacific, East and Southeast Asia (Angkor in Cambodia), China, Central Asia (Uzbekistan), the Middle East (Iran, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia Türkiya), India, Sri Lanka, Africa and the Mediterranean (Cyprus, Greece, Italy). Our teaching program reflects these regional interests. Â
Learn how to reconstruct ancient cultures from the material residues of their activities and how to interpret archaeological evidence to influence the present. Gain an understanding of the methods and thinking with which archaeologists interpret past lives. Answer the most crucial questions about prehistoric and historic societies, and experience a far-reaching focus on Australia, the broader Near East and classical Mediterranean societies.
*Available to all students studying the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Visual Arts, as well as all combined Bachelor of Advanced Studies degrees.  
Museum and Heritage Studies will equip you with a contextual understanding of core historical and theoretical developments in museum and heritage studies. You will learn the frameworks for managing collections and sites and develop a practical understanding of the modes of interpretation used in the museum and heritage sector.
The research programs involve independent research work and the preparation of a thesis under the supervision of the director of the program, and other academic staff in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
The research conducted within the discipline of Archaeology is internationally recognised, encompassing the breadth and diversity of the human past, from early members of our species in Africa to historical Sydney. We strive to understand people and their behaviours through their social lives, technology, and settlements, as well as tracking human responses to climate and environmental changes.
Our research falls within five main themes, highlighting transformations over the course of human history, and the relevance of our research to contemporary issues.
Of immediate relevance to issues playing out around the world now, our research strives to understand the connections between people and their environments. As such, our research addresses issues of bio-cultural interactions and transitions, the shift from foraging to farming, resilience, fragility and environmental degradation, and palaeoecology.
We undertake projects in Australia, the Pacific, China, Sri Lanka, Africa, South and Southeast Asia, East and West Asia, and Greece.
Key Researchers:
Alison Betts, Lesley Beaumont, Ioana Dumitru, Patrick Faulkner, Roland Fletcher, James Flexner, Melissa Kennedy, Joseph Lehner, Jane McMahon, Hugh Thomas, Amy Way
Academic Contacts:
Patrick Faulkner | Alison Betts
Our research encompasses a wide range of elements of the social lives of people in the past and present, including Community Archaeology, art, iconography and symbolism, religious systems, and the social history of childhood.
Although operating at a global scale, we have specific projects in Australia, Greece, and Western Asia.
Key Researchers:
Alison Betts, Lesley Beaumont, James FlexnerÂ
Academic Contact:Â
Lesley Beaumont
Bridging archaeology, museums and heritage, and public archaeology, within this research theme our staff undertake research focused on issues of colonialism and cross-cultural engagement, heritage and communities, and Museums and collections.
This work is collaborative, involving First Nations people and a range of cultural institutions across Australia, the Pacific and Greece.
Key Researchers:
Annie Clarke, Lesley Beaumont, Patrick Faulkner, Charlotte Feakins, James Flexner, Tristen Jones, Amy Way
Academic Contacts: James Flexner | Annie Clarke
Incorporating elements of technology, material culture and materials science, research projects undertaken by our staff focus on human evolution and the transformation of technological systems, form and variation in material culture, and materials analysis (e.g., residues).
Geographically, this theme covers areas of Australia, the Pacific, eastern Africa, Oman and West Asia, Southeast Asia, and Italy.
Key Researchers:
Patrick Faulkner, Roland Fletcher, James Flexner, Joseph Lehner, Amy Way
Academic Contacts: Joseph Lehner | Roland Fletcher
Within this theme we explore the roots and development of urban societies, the trajectories of settlement growth, and exploring the connections between emerging, economic, and social complexity across diverse environmental and cultural contexts.
Our current research focuses on Central Asia, Greece, Southeast Asia, Saudi Arabia, and Eurasia.
Key Researchers:
Alison Betts, Lesley Beaumont, Patrick Faulkner, Roland Fletcher, James Flexner, Melissa Kennedy, Joseph Lehner, Jane McMahon, Hugh Thomas, Joseph Lehner
Academic Contacts:
Roland Fletcher | James Flexner
The research conducted within the discipline of Archaeology is internationally recognised, encompassing the breadth and diversity of the human past, from early members of our species in Africa to historical Sydney. We strive to understand people and their behaviours through their social lives, technology, and settlements, as well as tracking human responses to climate and environmental changes.
Our research falls within five main themes, highlighting transformations over the course of human history, and the relevance of our research to contemporary issues.
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Note: Undergraduate students who enrol in ARCO3404: Archaeology in the Field will be able to gain 6 credit points towards their degree. ARCO3404 is open to current students at the University of Sydney, as well as students interested in cross-institutional study.
To register your attendance at the Information Session: Email Associate Professor Lesley Beaumont at  lesley.beaumont@sydney.edu.au
10-31 January 2026
Open to Australian University undergraduates and postgraduates for degree credit, and to high school teachers.
Archaeology at Sydney and the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens invite your application to join the eighth Classical Archaeology Intensive Summer Program in Athens.
The Summer Program is a unique opportunity to study the archaeology and history of ancient Athens at first hand. With a particular focus on the Archaic and Classical periods (ca. 630-323 BCE) and under expert tuition, you will enjoy formal lectures integrated with daily visits to archaeological sites and museums in Athens and Attica. You will also travel further afield to the panhellenic sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi.
This course is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students of Australian universities and to Australian high school teachers. Interested members of the general public are also welcome to apply.
Archaeology is home to a lively seminar series. Details of our seminars can be found on the School of Humanities link on the University's What's On calendar.
How to register for our seminars
Please complete the event registration form to receive details of our upcoming seminars, lectures, and events.Â
This annual lecture is made possible through the generosity of University of Sydney graduate Tom Austen Brown (LLB ’46 BA ’74).
In his early professional life, Tom was a lawyer but had the heart of an archaeologist, often searching for Aboriginal artefacts in the sand dunes and desert flats around Broken Hill, where he lived. Without realising it, he put together one of the most significant – yet unofficial – collections of Aboriginal stone artefacts in Australia. He completed archaeology studies at the University in 1973.
During his life, Tom gave $1.6 million to the University, and on his passing in 2009, left a $6.9 million bequest to the Department of Archaeology. Tom’s bequest has already created the Chair of Australian Archaeology, the first endowed chair of archaeology in the country to include Australia in its brief. There is also the Tom Austen Brown Grants Program for Prehistory.
Tom has helped create a future for Australia’s past.
This scholarship provides support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students undertaking studies in First Nations archaeology at the University of Sydney.
Click here for more information
This scholarship supports Honours and Postgraduate students in Archaeology to undertake a research project.
A $6,500 scholarship to support a master's by research or PhD student undertaking research in archaeology.
A $2,500 scholarship to support students carrying out archaeological fieldwork in the Mediterranean.
Banner image: Aboriginal rock art at Yankee Hat in Namadgi National Park, ACT. Photo by James Flexner.
Room 607, Brennan MacCallum Building A18,
The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006
Phone: 1800 SYD UNI (1800 793 864) (in Australia)Â
+61 2 9351 2862 (outside Australia)Â
Email:Â soh.enquiries@sydney.edu.au
