Archaeometry
Funding competition for archaeometry projects to develop techniques for archaeological analysis and support relevant service laboratories.
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Due Dates: December 1, 2026 (Full proposal target date / current closing date)
Funding Amounts: $700,000 estimated total program funding
Summary: Supports development of anthropologically relevant archaeometric techniques, service laboratories, and data archives that strengthen archaeological research infrastructure.
Key Information: PIs and co-PIs need a Ph.D. or equivalent education and experience; unaffiliated individuals cannot apply.
Description
The U.S. National Science Foundation’s Archaeology Program administers Archaeometry, an annual competition supporting methods and infrastructure for basic archaeological research. It funds the development or refinement of anthropologically relevant archaeometric techniques, such as methods for identifying organic residues on ceramics and analytical techniques usable in the field. It also supports service laboratories providing dating, trace-element, isotopic, and dendrochronological analyses, as well as data archives that strengthen archaeological infrastructure.
The program sits within the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences in NSF’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. It encourages integrated broader-impact activities, including training, outreach, and broadening participation in STEM. Projects applying standard archaeometric techniques to answer specific archaeological questions belong instead in the Archaeology Senior Research Awards competition.
