The Johns Hopkins Undergraduate Program in Archaeology is an interdepartmental program that introduces students to archaeological theory, the analysis of archaeological materials, and the results of archaeological research in prehistoric and early historic periods in the Old and New Worlds.
Archaeology studies human societies through examination of their material culture (physical remains), considering such issues as human subsistence, interaction with climate and physical environment, patterns of settlement, political and economic organization, and religious activity and thought. The field allows for the study of the entirety of human experience from its beginnings to the present day, in every region of the world and across all social strata.
Students in the major will have the opportunity to study and conduct research on materials stored in the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Collection, which consists of a diverse and extensive assemblage of artifacts from ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Mesoamerica. Opportunities may also be available to study materials in the Classical, Egyptian, and Near Eastern collections in the Walters Art Museum, as well as to conduct fieldwork at faculty-sponsored archaeological digs in Egypt.