Cambridge Archaeology and Anthropology Students and Applicants

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Hey guys. Just finished my second year doing a Geography degree and managed a high 2:1 so I'm having a look at Masters. As Geography is just most arts/humanities/social sciences subjects in disguise, Ive taken an interest in Anthropology and was wondering if anyone knows of the Anthropology department/ has experienced it. Thanks

Reply 121

User188463

I've just finished my first year of the undergrad arch and anth course at Cambridge, and have found it amazing. I'm specializing in soc anth for my part two, mainly because I find it really interesting, but also because the department here is world class - with some great teaching and big names in the discipline.

I think postgrad study here would be great, given the (presumably) good funding, great resources, generally friendly and helpful atmosphere, and a good turnover of fresh research. Social anthropology in particular would be awesome for postgrad study because its all about extended periods of research.

The website can give you a much better idea, and if you contact the department you could also get some email addresses of supervisors and current Mphil students. http://www.socanth.cam.ac.uk/admissions/mphil/

Have you read anything about theory? It might be good to do some research or a related module in order to get an idea of the direction you want to research in - its a huge discipline and while it might sound great to you now, a bit deeper digging could put you off the idea, particularly since the papers in each postgrad course vary quite significantly. For a basis in theory, I recommend Kuper’s ‘Anthropology and anthropologists’, and Eriksen’s ‘Small places, Large issues’ (my bible for first year paper 3). If you’re really desperate, PM me and I could find some postgrad people.

Reply 122

**CC**

So, I'm hoping to study Arch and Anth at Cambridge, and I have a few questions.

1. Are there any books that you would recommend reading?
2. Which college would you recommend for Arch and Anth?
3. Are there any particular extra-curriculars etc that would improve my chances?
4. What should I expect at the interview stage?

Thanks so much!

Reply 123

iammichealjackson

I can recomend some books, i am a PPS offer holder and thinking about doing the same bio anth module from arch and anth. Weve been given a recomended reading list for social anth and bio anth, so i can give you those!

Bio anth

** Boyd, R. & Silk, J. (2006) How Humans Evolved (4th Edition). W. W. Norton & Co.
Dawkins, R. (1989) The Selfish Gene (New Edition). Oxford University Press.
de Waal, F. (2001) Tree of Origin. What Primate Behavior Can Tell Us about Human Social**
Evolution. Harvard University Press.
Harrison, G.A. et al. (1988) Human Biology (3rd Edition). Oxford University Press.
Jones, S. et al. (1992) The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Human Evolution. Cambridge University
Press.
Lewin, R. & Foley, R. (2003) Principles of Human Evolution (2nd Edition). Blackwell Scientific
Press.
Ridley, M. (2003) Nature via Nurture. Genes, Experience and What Makes Us Human. Fourth
Estate.
Ridley, M. (2000) Genome. Fourth Estate

The ones in red are books, the other textbooks. Genome is good if your not doing biology, its an easy read and rather enjoyable.

The selfish gene is worth reading even if you think you understand evolution.

"Tree of life" is about ape evolution, its really interesting, but its not so much a page turner :P

Social anth
Background reading
Barnard, A. & Spencer, J. (eds) (1996) Encyclopaedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology.
Routledge.
** Eriksen, T.H. (1996) Small Places, Large Issues: an introduction to social and cultural
anthropology. Pluto Press.
Ingold, T. (ed.) (1994) Companion Encyclopedia of Anthropology: Humanity, Culture and Social
Life. London: Routledge
Kuper, A. (1983) Anthropology and Anthropologists. Routledge.
Layton, R. (1977) An introduction to Theory in Anthropology. Cambridge.
Monaghan J. and P. Just (2000) Social & Cultural Anthropology: a very short introduction. Oxford
University Press
Core Ethnographies:
Evans‐Pritchard, E. E. (1940) The Nuer: a description of the modes of livelihood and political
institutions of a Nilotic people. Oxford: The Clarendon Press.
Abu‐Lughod, Lila (1986) Veiled sentiments: honor and poetry in a Bedouin society. Berkeley and
London: University of California Press

Reply 124

Bjark

I just got my undergraduate degree in archaeology and bio anth in Germany.

The most useful textbooks respectively introductions to paleoanthropology and archaeology are probably:

- Klein, R., The human career (Third Edition, 2009), ~800 pages

- Renfrew, C., Bahn, P., Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice (Fifth Edition 2008), ~ 600 pages

Especially the former is a perfect introduction with a wealth of additional literature for each aspect discussed in the book.

Reply 125

**CC**

Original post by iammichealjackson

Thanks so much!! This'll be really helpful...or so I hope :P I have no idea what a PPS offer holder is, but good luck, or whatever the appropriate sentiment would be...:P Thanks again!

Reply 126

Intriguing Alias

Original post by **CC**

Thanks so much!! This'll be really helpful...or so I hope :P I have no idea what a PPS offer holder is, but good luck, or whatever the appropriate sentiment would be...:P Thanks again!

Means that he was offered a place at Cambridge to study Politics, Psychology and Sociology (and is awaiting thursday to see if he got in).

Reply 127

iammichealjackson

Original post by **CC**

Thanks so much!! This'll be really helpful...or so I hope :P I have no idea what a PPS offer holder is, but good luck, or whatever the appropriate sentiment would be...:P Thanks again!

Yeh PPS is Politics, Psychology and Sociology is another course or tripos, but the name is being changed to Social Sciences Tripos since you can study alot more than those three subjects in the first year. Actually there is also the archeology paper aswell, which has this as the background reading:

Background reading
Renfrew, A.C. & Bahn, P. (2000) Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice (3rd Edition).
London: Thames & Hudson.
** Scarre, C., ed. (2005) The Human Past. London: Thames and Hudson
Wenke, R. (1999) Patterns in Prehistory (4th Edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

P.S i found this,, might be helpful. You can even do PPS modules in the first year:
http://www.archanth.cam.ac.uk/CurrentStudents/part_1_handbook_1011.pdf

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 128

Melie

Ah, how nice to see an arch anth thread for cambridge...seemed like there was no one else out there!
Erm I was just wondering....I did anthropology for IB, so I was wondering how essential the reading list it? Will read one book from each subtopic, but atm am in Tanzania so post would take around six months....

Reply 129

moonkatie

Original post by Melie

Some people read lots before starting, others read very little. It's worth reading something, especially if there's one discipline that you know less about.

That said, there are books on that list that I still haven't fully read, and I'm about to start my third year.

Reply 130

moonkatie

Original post by Bjark

To add to this a little, for those of you taking the first year Bio Anth paper, Boyd & Silk's 'How Humans Evolved', and Lewin & Foley's 'Principles of Human Evolution' are going to be very useful.

I'd strongly encourage you to request that your college library gets copies of these if they don't already hold it.

Reply 131

moonkatie

Original post by **CC**

So, I'm hoping to study Arch and Anth at Cambridge, and I have a few questions.

1. Are there any books that you would recommend reading?

Original post by **CC**

2. Which college would you recommend for Arch and Anth?

It makes no real difference. Your college will be the place in which you are living, eating, socialising etc, and so college choice should reflect those things.

For example, if there is a particular sport that you are interested in, pick a college that offers it.

I'd really advise coming to Cambridge to visit the colleges if at all possible.

The undergraduate Part I handbook contains a list (right at the back) of the Director of Studies for Arch & Anth at each college if you are at all interested, though having a DoS who is not from "your" discipline will not adversely affect your degree in any way.

Original post by **CC**

3. Are there any particular extra-curriculars etc that would improve my chances?

Anything that helps demonstrate an interest in, or passion for, the subject would not be a bad thing to have in your Personal Statement.

Original post by **CC**

4. What should I expect at the interview stage?

The Cambridge Prospective Undergraduate Arch & Anth page has a list that will give you some further information as to what to expect as it differs a little by college.

Some colleges will want you to send work in for them to see prior to interview, others give a test on the day of the interview etc. The "type" of interviews may also vary. I had a "subject" interview that was very academically based, and then a "general" interview that did not discuss my subject at all. Fellow students at different colleges have said that they had two interviews, though there was no such distinction.

Once you have settled on a college choice, check the Undergraduate page, and the subject page on the specific college website.

As a general point, the A&A interview is really no different to any other subject interview. The information held on TSR about Cambridge interviews is very useful, and will be worth reading.

Best of luck :smile:

Reply 132

**CC**

Original post by moonkatie

I'd recommend taking a look at one book from each discipline so that you have a good idea as to what the course is going to entail.

Personally I'd go for;

Archaeology: The Human Past - Chris Scarre,
Social Anthroplogy: Small Places, Large Issues - Eriksen
Biological Anthropology: How Humans Evolved - Boyd & Silk

Each would give you a fairly entry level overview of each subject. The other thing to familiarise yourself with is the Part I handbook which is put up online on the Arch & Anth website. It gives more information as to what is covered in each paper, and preliminary reading lists (though you are not expected to cover these yet).

It makes no real difference. Your college will be the place in which you are living, eating, socialising etc, and so college choice should reflect those things.

For example, if there is a particular sport that you are interested in, pick a college that offers it.

I'd really advise coming to Cambridge to visit the colleges if at all possible.

The undergraduate Part I handbook contains a list (right at the back) of the Director of Studies for Arch & Anth at each college if you are at all interested, though having a DoS who is not from "your" discipline will not adversely affect your degree in any way.

Anything that helps demonstrate an interest in, or passion for, the subject would not be a bad thing to have in your Personal Statement.

The Cambridge Prospective Undergraduate Arch & Anth page has a list that will give you some further information as to what to expect as it differs a little by college.

Some colleges will want you to send work in for them to see prior to interview, others give a test on the day of the interview etc. The "type" of interviews may also vary. I had a "subject" interview that was very academically based, and then a "general" interview that did not discuss my subject at all. Fellow students at different colleges have said that they had two interviews, though there was no such distinction.

Once you have settled on a college choice, check the Undergraduate page, and the subject page on the specific college website.

As a general point, the A&A interview is really no different to any other subject interview. The information held on TSR about Cambridge interviews is very useful, and will be worth reading.

Best of luck :smile:

Thank you so much for help :biggrin:

I got a conditional from Trinity on Thursday and I am SO SO PLEASED!!!!

Reply 133

moonkatie

Original post by **CC**

Thank you so much for help :biggrin:

I got a conditional from Trinity on Thursday and I am SO SO PLEASED!!!!

That's fantastic news - congratulations :biggrin:

Reply 134

Claire Urimkima

Hi everyone, I've applied for the MPhil in Assyriology (eek a second masters!) and was wondering if anyone new if the department/ degree committee stages are the same in the arch/anthro department for the postgraduate application. Also, do you know of any other students in this program? Thanks for any help.

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Reply 135

mreea

hey everybody...i am applying for M.Phil in Archaeology and i am planning to study after a 5 year break. any recommendations and anything i need to be prepared for???

would love a few inputs.

Thank u

Reply 136

laurebonner

This thread seems a bit out of date, so, FYI from autumn 2017 Archaeology has its own new tripos at Cambridge meaning it's no longer part of Human, Social and Political Sciences. The new course incorporates Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Assyriology and Egyptology and you can study any combination of these from Year 1. The Cambridge prospectus has more details as does the Archaeology website. Hope that helps! :smile: