Cotsen Institute of Archaeology

Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
Name	Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
Established	1973
Parent	University of California, Los Angeles
Location	Los Angeles, California
Director	(various)
Website	(official site)

Cotsen Institute of Archaeology is an academic research center affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles focused on archaeological research, fieldwork, conservation, and teaching. The institute collaborates with international partners and curates collections that support interdisciplinary study across regions including the Near East, Mediterranean Sea, Mesoamerica, and East Asia. It serves as a hub connecting faculty and students from departments such as Anthropology (UCLA), Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, and World Arts and Cultures/Dance.

History

Founded in the early 1970s during a period of expansion in American archaeological institutions, the institute grew from initiatives associated with the University of California system and scholars trained in traditions established at places like Harvard University, University of Cambridge, and University of Oxford. Early leadership drew on figures connected to excavations in regions including Israel, Turkey, Egypt, and Mexico. Over decades the institute developed ties with museums such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and the British Museum, and with research bodies including the National Science Foundation, the American Schools of Oriental Research, and the Getty Conservation Institute.

Research and Programs

The institute supports comparative research on topics ranging from archaeological science to cultural heritage management, partnering with projects involving institutions like Smithsonian Institution, Max Planck Society, and École normale supérieure. Programs emphasize multidisciplinary methods including archaeometry used at centers like Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and remote sensing techniques akin to work at NASA. Research collaborations extend to universities such as University of Cambridge, University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, Columbia University, and University of Chicago, and to national projects in countries including Peru, Jordan, China, and Greece.

Collections and Facilities

The institute maintains teaching and research collections that support comparative study of artifacts from regions represented in excavations linked to scholars from institutions such as Stanford University, Princeton University, and Cornell University. Facilities include laboratories for conservation and archaeometric analysis, comparable in purpose to those at the British Museum conservation labs and the Smithsonian Institution laboratories. The collections have been used in exhibitions with partners including the Getty Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and have supported loans to institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Education and Training

Graduate and undergraduate training is provided through affiliation with academic departments at University of California, Los Angeles and through joint programs with entities such as California State University, Long Beach and regional community colleges. Field schools and internships have been run in collaboration with projects in locations like Israel, Jordan, Greece, Turkey, and Mexico, and with organizations including the Archaeological Institute of America, Institute of Archaeology (UCL), and the American Antiquity community. Alumni have continued to positions at universities such as University of Michigan, University of California, Berkeley, and Arizona State University and at cultural agencies like the National Park Service and the Smithsonian Institution.

Publications and Outreach

The institute produces monographs, edited volumes, and reports disseminated through academic presses and outlets paralleling publishers like Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Routledge. Outreach initiatives have included lectures, public exhibitions, and collaborations with media organizations such as PBS and National Geographic. The institute has worked with policymakers and heritage organizations including UNESCO and national ministries of culture in countries where fieldwork takes place, and it contributes to professional networks like the Society for American Archaeology and the World Archaeological Congress.

Notable Projects and Excavations

Faculty and affiliated researchers have directed or participated in major projects across multiple regions: excavations in the Levant and Jordan Rift Valley with connections to work at Tell es-Safi/Gath; surveys in Anatolia related to research near Çatalhöyük; Mesoamerican fieldwork in regions linked to studies of Teotihuacan and Monte Albán; and East Asian archaeology in areas adjacent to Anyang and the Yangtze River. Projects have incorporated specialists from institutions such as the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Brown University, and Duke University and have employed techniques associated with labs at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Category:University of California, Los Angeles Category:Archaeological research institutes