Archaeological Sciences Initiative (2023-2026)

Head: Andrew Scherer

The Archaeological Sciences Initiative (ASI) draws together faculty, postdocs, and graduate students whose research focuses on the critical application of scientific methodologies to address humanistic research questions. These scholars have expertise in an area of specialized archaeological practice, such as archaeometallurgy, bioarchaeology, ceramic characterization, geophysical archaeology, paleoethnobotany, zooarchaeology, or the analysis of satellite remote sensing and lidar data. Scholars involved in the ASI demonstrate critical attention to both the epistemology and ethics of applying specialized forms of analysis to material remains and consideration of how specialized analyses complement other ways of knowing the past, such as archival and epigraphic research, ethnography, and oral history. 

Central to the mission of the ASI is the development of the Integrated Laboratory for Archaeological Sciences (ILAS) at Brown. The laboratory was established in 2023 and efforts will be made over the coming years to further populate the space with cutting edge scientific equipment.

The ASI supports various laboratories and working groups at Brown, including the Paleoethnobotanical Laboratory at Brown, the Digital Archaeology Laboratory at Brown, and the Bioarchaeology at Brown Working Group.