UCL Institute of Archaeology

UCL's Institute of Archaeology is an academic department of the Social & Historical Sciences Faculty of University College London (UCL) which it joined in 1986 having previously been a school of the University of London. It is currently one of the largest centres for the study of archaeology, cultural heritage and museum studies in the world, with over 100 members of staff and 600 students housed in a 1950s building on the north side of Gordon Square in the Bloomsbury area of Central London.

The Institute of Archaeology had its origins in Mortimer Wheeler's vision of a centre for archaeological training in the United Kingdom, which he conceived in the 1920s. Wheeler and Tessa Verney Wheeler, his wife and an archaeologist in her own right, lobbied colleagues and gathered funds to open the institute. The Wheeler's ambitions were realised when the institute was officially opened in 1937, with Mortimer Wheeler as its first director. Among its early members of staff were some of the founding ancestors of archaeology in Britain. Foremost among these, apart from Wheeler himself, was V. Gordon Childe, director from 1946 to 1957, but there were many others, including Kathleen Kenyon, excavator of Jericho, initially secretary then the institute's acting director during World War II; F. E. Zeuner, one of the founders of quaternary studies and of zooarchaeology; Joan du Plat Taylor, the institute's librarian for many years, who was a pioneer of underwater archaeology; Max Mallowan, Professor of Western Asiatic Archaeology (and second husband of Agatha Christie) and Vera Conlon, archaeological photographer and publisher of the textbook Camera Techniques in Archaeology.

Mortimer Wheeler formally resigned as honorary director in 1944 when he became director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India and, at the end of the Second World War, the directorship was awarded to V. Gordon Childe. Following Childe's retirement, this role passed to W. F. Grimes, like Wheeler a former director of the London Museum, and best known today for his 1954 excavation of the London Mithraeum. Following Grimes, the directorship has been held by the Mediterranean prehistorian John Davies Evans; the geographer David R. Harris; Peter Ucko, founder of the World Archaeological Congress; the prehistorian and evolutionary theorist Stephen Shennan and the prehistorian Sue Hamilton. It is currently held by Professor of African Archaeology, Kevin MacDonald. Until 1958, the institute was based at St John's Lodge, Regent's Park, London subsequently moving to purpose-built premises on Gordon Square designed by Booth, Ledeboer, and Pinckheard. The institute taught a diploma until the first BA degree was offered in 1968, followed shortly thereafter by a BSc. The year 2012 marked the institute's 75th anniversary, and a number of events and activities were held to mark this occasion.

Research at the Institute covers fieldwork, laboratory analysis and conservation, artefact studies, and theoretical, synthetic, and analytical work. Staff projects are currently undertaken on five continents and in the Pacific. A research directory outlining research projects, centres and networks at the Institute of Archaeology is available on the institute's website. Current research projects include:

In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), the Institute of Archaeology received the top score of 100% 4* for the excellence of its research environment. Two-thirds (66%) of its research outputs were rated in the 4* or 3* categories (world leading and internationally excellent) while nearly 50% of its research impact was deemed to be of 4* quality.

The institute offers a diverse range of Undergraduate Degrees, Master's degrees and Research Degrees. The Institute of Archaeology was rated number one for Archaeology and Forensics in the Guardian University Guide for 2015 for the fourth year in a row. It has also been ranked in the top two for student satisfaction in the Complete University Guide's 2015 League Table of UK archaeology departments.

In the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2016 UCL is ranked 3rd in the world (and 3rd in Europe) for Archaeology.

Part of the Institute of Archaeology since its early home at St John's Lodge in Regents Park. Moved to Gordon Square in 1958, initially on the first floor and subsequently relocated to the fifth floor. The institute's facilities include the Wolfson Archaeological Science Laboratories and other laboratories for conservation teaching and research, GIS, photography, lithic analysis and for environmental teaching and research activities.