The Mediterranean, the world's largest inland sea and the interface of Europe, Africa and western Asia, is one of the major crucibles of cultural, economic and political change in world history, a focus of scholarship for all periods between the Palaeolithic and the present, and a place where the past plays a critical role in the present, as well as in the creation of a viable future. Students will develop an understanding of Mediterranean societies from earliest times through Classical antiquity until the early medieval period, and of major interpretative paradigms and principal investigative techniques - including fieldwork and archaeological science - applied to the Mediterranean. One or more specific regions will be analysed in depth from a comparative perspective, and Mediterranean societies will be studied holistically. This programme deploys the institute’s unparalleled research and teaching strengths in Mediterranean archaeology, which must constitute the largest single concentration of expertise anywhere in the UK. Graduates of this programme are expected to pursue further studies at PhD level or embark on a wide range of professional careers both within and beyond archaeology.