The Center for Archaeology operates within the Department of Anthropology at Tulane University, providing workspace, funding and equipment for processing and studying archaeological materials, and storage space for archaeological collections and archives. Our facilities include comparative collections of prehistoric and historic North American artifacts and a text and map library. The Center for Archaeology houses laboratory space and the equipment and reference material necessary for processing and analysis of archaeological materials. We help to provide equipment and facilities to students and faculty for archaeological fieldwork and laboratory work, including drafting, photography and computer applications such as computer-aided drafting and data storage and retrieval. Our computer-cataloging program was re-written in 1996 to allow enhanced data storage and retrieval, and complex file manipulation. Our laboratory also houses the Anthropology Department’s video production computer workstation, which is used by our students to produce and edit graphics for original anthropological fieldwork.

The mission of the Center for Archaeology is to promote archaeological research at Tulane University, and to enhance public and professional understanding of that work. The Center has an operating budget that is used to support archaeological field research, to maintain archaeological teaching collections, and to sponsor a Distinguished Lecture Series. The Center for Archaeology also publishes an Archaeological Reports series. One of the major functions of the Center is the logistical support of graduate student research projects, providing equipment, facilities and funding for field and laboratory work. Ongoing sponsorship of graduate student research will help to insure that the Center continues to be one of the preeminent centers for Southeastern archaeology.

The Center for Archaeology is a valuable research asset to the archaeological community, both professional and avocational, and it continues to fulfill its charter goals of enhancing archaeological research at Tulane and promoting public understanding of the value and importance of archaeology as a discipline. Our staff members actively participate in public outreach projects, such as the annual Louisiana Archaeology Week, celebrated September 29 to October 5, 1996. Recently one of our associates participated in a celebration in honor of the 1682 de la Salle expedition down the Mississippi River, an event sponsored by the Louisiana Council for Music and Performing Arts, the Council on the Development of French in Louisiana, the Louisiana State Superintendent’s Office and Louisiana Public Television. Other staff members present lectures to amateur archaeologists at Louisiana Archaeological Society meetings in the New Orleans area, and also at the University of New Orleans, and local elementary schools. In the professional arena, our Director, staff members and associates routinely present papers at professional conferences, including annual meetings of the Louisiana Archaeological Society, the Southeastern Archaeological Conference and the Society for American Archaeology.