Archaeologists in the department are committed to the belief that the material remains of ancient societies provide significant insights into the dynamic of sociocultural evolution. The department has developed an archaeology program that focuses on key transformations in cultural evolution; the origins of art and symbolism; archeology and gender; the emergence of food production; and the development and collapse of chieftaincies and early states. A diversity of theoretical perspectives is represented, from cultural ecology to symbolic archaeology, and encouraged. The geographic scope of faculty research includes the Near East, Egypt, South Asia, and Europe.

The department maintains excellent laboratory facilities for teaching and research in protohistoric and prehistoric archaeology. An array of computer hardware and software, including image analysis and storage capabilities, is available for graduate research projects. In addition, there is a state-of-the-art photographic laboratory, a thin-section laboratory for seasonality studies, and excellent microscopic equipment, including access to scanning electron microscopes. A zooarcheological reference collection is available for teaching and research purposes.

Students benefit from the close ties that exist between the department and other programs and institutions. These include the Smithsonian Institution, the American Museum of Natural History, the Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of the City of New York, the New Jersey State Museum, the Center for American Archaeology, and many museums, laboratories, and agencies in France, Britain, Israel, Pakistan, and the former Soviet Union. The department is the home of the Society of Harappan Studies Newsletter, Professor Rita Wright, editor.