The IGERT Program in Archaeological Sciences
Evidence of silver extraction at La Isabela, Dominican Republic (1493-1497). Length of frame 1 mm.
In 2002 the IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship) Program of the National Science
Foundation awarded the University of Arizona a five-year grant (award DGE-0221594) to support interdisciplinary
graduate education in the archaeological sciences. The aim of our program has been to train a cadre of students who are
familiar with archaeological method and theory, who will have some understanding of the broad range of scientific
techniques applicable to archaeology, and who will acquire specialist expertise in one or more of the subfields of
archaeological science. The Principal Investigator is John Olsen (Head, Department of Anthropology); co-PI's are
Jeffrey Dean (Laboratory of Tree Ring Research) and Joaquin Ruiz (Geosciences and Dean, College of Science).
Participating faculty and research professionals are in four academic departments (Anthropology, Chemistry,
Geosciences, and Materials Science and Engineering), in the Arizona State Museum, the Laboratory for Tree Ring
Research (LTRR), the Center for Applied Spatial Analysis (CASA), the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) Laboratory
and two private companies - Desert Archaeology Inc. and Statistical Research Inc.
Our program has three major foci. The first is absolute dating (chronometry) by such techniques
as radiocarbon and dendrochronology. The second focus is on the reconstruction of past climates, environments
and subsistence practices, by specialists in limnology, botany, zoology, palynology, geomorphology,
dendroclimatology, remote sensing, geographic information systems, and isotopic techniques. The third is on
materials and technologies; subfields include conservation science, past technologies (metals,
ceramics, glass, lithic materials) and provenance studies by geological, chemical and isotopic methods.
The IGERT award, supplemented by additional funds from the University of Arizona, has allowed us to provide
support (stipend plus tuition) for up to 14 graduate students per year. Over the past five years, we have funded 43
students in many academic departments including Anthropology, Geosciences, Chemistry, Geography, and Materials Science
and Engineering all of whom intend to pursue a career in archaeological science. We are currently in the last year of
this NSF award (ending in August 2008) and cannot accept new applications for IGERT funding. However, all of the
collaborations established under IGERT will continue, and we invite potential students to explore this website to look
for graduate and research opportunities through the interdepartmental connections that have been established with the
help of this NSF IGERT funding.
Any further inquiries should be directed to the IGERT coordinator,
Dr. David Killick
Email: (killick@u.arizona.edu)
Phone No.: (520) 621-8685
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