Archaeology

Apply | Curriculum | FAQs

The story of our ancestors—how they lived, formed societies, and interacted with each other and their environment—is one of the greatest mysteries of our existence. By uncovering, documenting, and analyzing their remains, archaeologists help fill in the earliest pages of our history, not only to better understand our past and who we are today, but to help us understand the long-term consequences of our actions for future generations.

Arizona State University’s archaeology graduate program has consistently been considered one of the top in the nation—if not the world. Besides attracting some of the most highly sought-after faculty, the School of Human Evolution and Social Change has been the top choice of students who we believe will be the future leaders in the field. Our students are extremely successful in publishing peer-reviewed articles, obtaining external research funding, and developing strong teaching records. ASU students have presented papers at the annual Society for American Archaeology (SAA) meetings every year for the past 15 years, and SAA has selected ASU students for the prestigious Best Dissertation award five times—more than twice the number of any other university.

Today, archaeology at ASU is vibrantly diverse, with more than twenty archaeology and bioarchaeology faculty, and an impressive number of funded research projects and areas of specialization. Known worldwide for its preeminence in Mesoamerican and American Southwest archaeology, the program continues to expand in these regions while offering new and exciting research opportunities throughout the world, from Teotihuacan to Alaska, from the Eastern Woodlands to the Andes, the Mediterranean, and Africa. Through large-scale funded projects, the school is establishing itself as a leader in integrated interdisciplinary research and the use of 3D and agent-based modeling, powerful integrative databases, GIS, and simulation technologies that allow for unprecedented levels of transdisciplinary conceptualization and analysis of problems involving change and transformation. There has never been a better time to study archaeology at Arizona State University.

Courses

ASU is ranked as one of the world’s best archaeology programs >>read more

Primary Archaeology Specializations:
Topics: Complex Societies/Urbanism, Small Scale Societies, Hunter-Gatherer Societies/ Paleoanthropology, Ideational and Social Realms, Ecology/Landscape, Bioarchaeology
Methods: Ceramics, Lithics, Fauna & Flora, Spatial and Settlement Analysis, Quantitative Analysis and Modeling, Archaeological Science/Materials Analysis, Human Osteology/Dental Anthropology
Current Regional Strengths: North America, Southwest US, Circum-Mediterranean and Western Europe, Mesoamerica, Eastern US, Africa, South America

Home

Archaeology