Registered Archaeologists must submit evidence of supervised work. This work may include artifact processing (cleaning, sorting, analysis, etc.), internships, or intro-level experience doing fieldwork (site identification surveys, site eligibility assessment testing, and data recovery excavations). This supervised work cannot be credits/hours spent in an actual Field School program. At least two years of experience within archaeology is required.

Please upload a resume or CV that lists your experience, along with date(s), project(s), and any additional information about this experience.

The applicant must also have designed and executed an archaeological study and have reported on that research in the form of a bachelor's thesis, honor's thesis, or first- or coauthored reports equivalent in scope and quality to a thesis.

A purely descriptive report, however long, is not considered equivalent; this includes standard “survey” reports describing results of survey type fieldwork.

The thesis or report must show a substantive data analysis by the applicant directed toward an explicit archaeological research problem.

Please list the relevant thesis or report below with complete bibliographic information, including title, institution, and date (in cases where exact dates are unknown, an estimate will suffice).

The applicant must also have designed and executed an archaeological study and have reported on that research in the form of a master's thesis, Ph.D. dissertation or report (or several smaller reports that together are) equivalent in scope and quality to a master's thesis or Ph.D. dissertation.

A purely descriptive report, however long, is not considered equivalent; this includes standard “survey” reports describing results of survey type fieldwork.

The thesis, dissertation, or report must show a substantive data analysis by the applicant directed toward an explicit archaeological research problem.

Please list the relevant thesis or dissertation below with complete bibliographic information, including title, institution, and date (in cases where exact dates are unknown, an estimate will suffice).

Please note that, while a full copy is preferred, the document may be trimmed to include only:

• Title Page
• Abstract
• Table of Contents
• Chapter 1/Introduction
• All chapters containing or summarizing data and data analysis

Attempting to upload your full document may prevent the successful submission of your application, as this application form will not accept files that are too large. *IMPORTANT*Upload only your thesis, report, dissertation, or other single-authored, data-driven report on your investigation of a problem of archaeological interest. Do not upload multi-authored works or descriptive, compliance-driven “CRM” reports without providing a full explanation of the problem orientation and your specific roles in the design, data collection, data-analysis, and writing of the report.

If your thesis/dissertation does not meet Research-Oriented qualifications above, continue here by presenting information on an equivalent research-oriented report(s) below with complete bibliographic information, including date (in cases where exact dates are unknown, an estimate will suffice) and either place of publication or institution/agency where submitted.

For additional report(s) submitted, please include the title page, table of contents, and an abstract for each.

The applicant must document 16 weeks of supervised laboratory experience. The experience must have been done under the supervision of an RPA or an archaeologist who meets the requirements to be a Registered Professional Archaeologist.

Laboratory experience is defined as:

• processing, cataloging, analyzing
• curating archaeological collections
• analyzing archaeological field records (e.g., of architecture, features, stratigraphy, settlement patterns)
• or archival research on primary historical documents related to an archaeological project (which is not equivalent to ordinary library research).

Please include in your list the type of lab work, name of supervisor, dates, and duration (in weeks).

Registered Archaeologist applicants are required to upload an RA Sponsorship Form with their application. The RA Sponsorship Form must be completed by an active RPA who sponsors the applicant and endorses their application.

We ask that all RPA’s abide by our Code of Conduct and ethics policies when filling out the Sponsorship form for applicants.

Please check your application carefully for accuracy and full completion. When you submit this form, you'll be directed immediately to our payment portal to make your payment.  Your application will NOT be reviewed until payment is received.

Note that your fees may be deductible as an ordinary and necessary business expense, and are not deductible as a charitable contribution.

The application fee is non-refundable. If your application is not accepted for any reason, the first year's fees will be refunded on the same credit card initially used for payment.

Questions may be directed to our Business Office by phone (317-352-2262) or via email (info@rpanet.org).