Within the anthropology program at VCU, there is a substantial focus on archaeology.  Anthropological archaeology (as distinguished from classical archaeology and more traditional history-based archaeologies) concerns itself, like its mother discipline, with culture.  It stands out within anthropology by its foci on material objects and on peoples no longer alive to serve as informants.  Thanks in large part to federal and state legislation enacted in the 1970s and 1980s, archaeology in the United States has seen strong growth in recent decades, a trend which continues today in the forms of contract and applied archaeologies.

Contract archaeology exists largely to meet the demands of private, state, and federal agencies involved in construction and land management.  Contract archaeologists develop and implement archaeological impact statements, outlining the effects of development activities on material resources within a development zone.  Applied archaeologies include forensic work, consultation on issues of material identification and conservation, and historical research.  Students focusing their studies in archaeology find jobs in other sectors as well: jobs which focus on historic objects (antique appraisals and sales, museums), the social analysis of objects (sales, journalism, advertising), and the relationships between people and their material world (architecture, engineering, community planning, environmental studies).

Archaeology at VCU is centered around the Rice Center, a 340-acre property owned by VCU and located about twenty miles east of Richmond.  The site has been occupied for the better part of 10,000 years.  Cultural groups at the site have included mobile hunter-gatherers, settled late prehistoric groups who engaged in rudimentary agriculture and extensive trade, European colonists, enslaved African Americans, invading Union troops, and twentieth-century teenage campers.  Each of these has represented distinct cultural traditions, and left behind correspondingly distinctive material goods and marks on the landscape.  Consequently, the methods and models used to research and interpret these disparate groups are varied and flexible, providing students an excellent opportunity to learn about a wide range of cultural traditions and archaeological approaches, while having the opportunity to focus their own research on a topic or time period of particular interest.

At VCU, archaeology courses expose students to the methods and theories of archaeology as commonly practiced.  In all archaeology courses, students are expected to participate actively in research activities.  Archaeology courses include:

• ANTH 105 Introduction to Archaeology, which introduces the methods and theories of archaeology as practiced across the globe.  Particular attention is paid to the ways in which material and technology are reflective of and influential in culture, as well as to the ways in which objects can be used to understand past societies.
• ANTH 302 Archaeological Theory, which discusses in detail the basic theoretical perspectives and tools of archaeology, including analysis and interpretation of archaeological materials.  Students review the intellectual history of archaeology by reading important scholarly works and discuss the application of theoretical approaches to archaeological data sets and sites.  (A Writing Intensive Course)
• ANTH 303 Archaeological Field Methods, in which students learn and practice the basic methods of archaeology, including planning, excavation, artifact analysis, documentary research, mapping, dating of sites and artifacts, and interpretation and presentation of findings.  (A Writing Intensive Course)
• ANTH 394 Historical Archaeology, which focuses on archaeology in the United States, Europe, and Africa as it informs scholars about the spread of European cultures across the globe beginning in the 15th century.  Special emphasis is placed on the study of documents and artifacts as they relate to the emergence and present state of the modern world. 
• ANTH 556 Cultural and Historical Landscapes, a graduate-level course in which students study historical and contemporary landscapes as the products of and the producers of human culture.  Focus is on the ways in which humans shape and respond to their ecosystems.  Particular attention is paid to the archaeological recovery and analysis of historical landscapes. 

In addition to these regularly taught courses, other relevant courses, including human and animal bone analysis, Biblical archaeology, and Mayan archaeology are occasionally offered.  Students may also earn credits and gain valuable experience by participation in field and laboratory practica.  Students anticipating a possible career in archaeology are strongly encouraged to participate in a credit-bearing archaeological field school, a summer course in which students spend four to six weeks excavating full-time under the supervision of a team of professional archaeologists.  Students are also encouraged to take advantage of opportunities to intern at local institutions, including the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Shirley Plantation, and contract archaeology firms.