Anthropology

Study human societies across the world, from global cities to nomadic camps.

Choose the University of Reading

• Top 50 in the world for Archaeology (QS World Rankings by Subject, 2025, Archaeology. The University of Reading is ranked 49th in the world)
• 7th for teaching quality in Archaeology and Forensic Science (The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026)
• 100% of our students said teaching staff are good at explaining things (National Student Survey 2025, Department of Archaeology).

Anthropology offers a global, cross-cultural perspective that engages with the big questions that concern us all: what it means to be human and to live in society. 

Examine humanity from our evolutionary origins to the crowded twenty-first century:

• learn how societies respond to – and affect – environmental change
• explore the impact of culture, politics and economics on our lives
• discover how social issues develop in the contemporary world.

At Reading, you'll study anthropology with archaeology. Together they unravel the complexities of the past and present, how we evolved, and why we developed such differences and commonalities. Equipped with this knowledge, anthropologists can help to understand how humanity will affect the future – and adapt to it.