Statement of support for Archaeology at the University of Sheffield

Statement from the UCL Institute of Archaeology sent to the Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Executive Board of the University of Sheffield:

We are greatly dismayed by reports of the possible closure of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Sheffield. Your archaeology department has a long and illustrious history, and it continues to contribute substantially to world class research and teaching in archaeology. It has trained numerous professionals working in both research and commercial archaeology, including several of our own staff. The department's presence enables the university, and its wider academic community, to take part in debates of critical importance to the future including: the origins of the human species, the impact of long-term environmental and climate change on the planet and human societies, the role of the human past in shaping current perceptions of gender and race, and the public roles and responsibilities of museums and heritage organisations.

Without its Department of Archaeology, the University of Sheffield's capacity to contribute to these and many other key debates will inevitably be much weakened, to the detriment of the university and the sector as a whole. Archaeology provides key skills and current UK levelling-up infrastructure programmes that are undergoing a shortage in professional archaeologists. Archaeology is central to the development of the UK and international heritage and tourism industries, and is the only social science that offers a deep time perspective for isolating key issues of sustainability. UK Archaeology has an enviable global reputation, fostered by the network of teaching and research spread through a number of universities to which Sheffield has been a major contributor. The closure of Sheffield's Archaeology Department would be a terrible loss to the sector and we urge you, instead, to seize this opportunity to secure its future.

Professor Sue Hamilton FSA
Director, UCL Institute of Archaeology

Mike Parker Pearson, who was a member of the Department of Archaeology at Sheffield for many years before joining the Institute, was interviewed by The Guardian regarding its potential closure and indicated:

“Sheffield is one of the UK’s leading departments of archaeology, known and respected throughout the world. Colleagues at Sheffield are working right now on material from my project at Stonehenge and if they lose their jobs it jeopardises completion of this project which has grabbed the world media’s attention over the last 15 years."

A petition is underway in support of the Department of Archaeology. The Executive Board of the University of Sheffield is due to meet on 25 May 2021 to vote on the future of the department.

Read more

• BBC News
• The Guardian 
• The Sheffield Telegraph
• The Yorkshire Post