The department, founded in 1916, was the first archaeological department within the Japanese university system. The field of study covered by the department is principally focused on Japan, Korea, and China. Lectures, seminars, laboratory work and field work are offered on theoretical subjects as well as on the staff’s specialized topics. The department maintains close contact with the University Museum, Center for Cultural Heritage Studies, and the Archaeological Section of the Institute for Research in Humanities of Kyoto University. It carries out surveys and excavations in sites and conducts a research symposium each autumn.

The department published 16 volumes of Kyoto Teikoku Daigaku Kokogaku Kenkyuu Hokoku (Report upon Archaeological Research in the Department of Literature, Kyoto Imperial University).

• http://www.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/arch/ (in Japanese)