The U.S. National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering in all 50 states and U.S. territories. NSF was established in 1950 by Congress to promote the progress of science, advance the national health, prosperity and welfare, and secure the national defense.
The Archaeology Program is designed to support anthropologically relevant archaeological research. It does not prioritize by geographic region, time period, theoretical orientation, or specific research questions. Its broad goal is to fund research that can be justified within an anthropological context and has the potential to contribute to anthropological knowledge. The program is open to funding innovative research across various categories, mainly focusing on field research or the analysis of archaeological material through multiple approaches. It also supports methodological projects aimed at developing analytic techniques of potential value to archaeology.