Established in 1939, the Research Laboratories of Archaeology provide resources for a number of departments on campus with archaeology faculties, including the Department of Classics. Equipped with digital image processing and archaeological data base systems, dark room, drafting room, computer room, library; and human resources including three staff archaeologists and numerous part time staff, the RLA provides teaching, training, and support systems for a variety of archaeological projects. While the main research focus of the Labs is North American Prehistory and history (and Native American North Carolina) -- curating over 5,000,000 artifacts -- special areas include archaeological survey, ceramics and ceramic systems, Old World prehistory, paleo-ethnobotany, and human osteology.
The formation of a working group on Early Mediterranean Societies has developed from the recognition of the interconnectedness of early civilizations in various areas of the world, and of the need to study their development and interaction in a holistic fashion, using a combination of techniques drawn from various fields such as archaeology, anthropology, and linguistics. The status of the Mediterranean basin as both a crossroads and a center of cultural diffusion since prehistoric times is beyond dispute. Nevertheless, the particular ways in which various disciplines have developed and academic compartmentalization continue to impede a coherent approach to the study of the early societies in this crucial area. Members of this group—made up of UNC and Duke faculty and students representing areas of Classics, Linguistics, Anthropology, and Religious studies—present relevant aspects of current research, discuss common readings of recent books and articles, and offer lectures and seminars by guest speakers from the area and outside the university.
Aegean Archaeology, published semi-annually by the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, is co-edited by Donald Haggis in the Department of Classics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The journal encourages contributions that concern the Aegean world – the cultures and societies that comprised the civilizations of the Aegean basin and its bordering regions, principally the Greek and Anatolian Aegean in the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Early Iron Age and Archaic periods
The Curriculum in Archaeology at UNC brings together archaeology faculty located in six units of the College of Arts and Sciences. These units are the Departments of Anthropology, Art, Classics, Religious Studies, the Curriculum in Women's Studies, and the Research Laboratories of Archaeology. The Curriculum offers an undergraduate major and a minor in archaeology. It also offers courses and research opportunities for students in many parts of the world, particularly in the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. Laboratories, computer facilities, and extensive research collections are maintained by the Research Laboratories of Archaeology. Additional archaeological collections are housed in the Department of Classics and Ackland Art Museum.
