Our Mission

The Research Laboratories of Archaeology (RLA) supports the critical exploration and preservation of our collective human past through research, teaching, and curation. We engage in research that creatively and critically examines the material past of societies across the world. Utilizing a hands-on approach in the classroom, laboratory, and field, we teach students how to trace relationships between people and things in order to construct understandings about life in the past and present. We also teach our students techniques of professional practice that are necessary for a successful career. The RLA stewards a vast archaeological collection whose objects and associated records contribute to the histories of countless communities that have inhabited North Carolina and the broader Southeast over the last 15,000 years, and whose descendants continue to live here today. By caring for and providing access to these collections for research, exhibits, and educational programs, we help communities connect with their past.

Our Valued Communities

We strive to listen to, learn from, and work with communities in understanding and preserving our collective material past. The communities we seek to engage are complex and diverse —

The University of North Carolina: The interdisciplinary nature of archaeology at Carolina bridges many departments and areas of the world. We foster intellectual community among our faculty researchers, students, and the global communities in which their research takes place.

The Citizens of North Carolina: We connect the lives of past and current residents of the land now called North Carolina by utilizing the North Carolina Archaeological Collection to create diverse and interactive educational experiences. Our research outside North Carolina enriches the lives of state residents through education about the diversity of the human past outside our state’s borders.

Local, Indigenous, and Descendant Communities: We respect the distinct perspectives of local, Indigenous, and descendant communities, honor Tribal sovereignty, and value the trust they place in us as partners in heritage stewardship.

The Professional Archaeology Community: We produce graduates with a deep understanding of current archaeological theory, method, and principles of ethical practice who contribute significantly to both academic and applied areas of the field.