Archaeology at the Palace Museum
The Palace Museum leverages its advantages to perform dedicated archaeological research on cultural heritage related to royal courts including macro topics of the formation, development and characteristics of ancient Chinese civilization.
In light of the actual conditions of China's cultural heritage protection, the Palace Museum has practiced the concepts, approaches, and research methods for palace architectural archaeology and actively undertaken and participated in major archaeological excavation projects.
Such efforts focused on archaeological excavations and research in the Forbidden City while undertaking and participating in excavations of archaeological sites in various places such as the Ming-dynasty imperial city ruins in Fengyang County, Chuzhou City of east China's Anhui Province, the Sanxingdui site in Guanghan, Chengdu City, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, and the imperial kiln ruins in Jingdezhen City, Jiangxi Province, east China.
Since 2019, the Palace Museum has participated in a number of Belt and Road archaeological survey and excavation projects in Central Asia, carrying out exchange between Silk Road civilizations and comparative research on Chinese and Western cultures. It has also cooperated with the Department of Archaeology at Durham University in Britain to conduct archaeological excavation and research on Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, thus expanding international exchange and cooperation.
The Palace Museum employs various forms of media to interpret and disseminate the results of its archaeological investigations, excavations, and studies, accelerating the construction of an "academic museum", and optimizing the role of archaeology in promoting the development of the Palace Museum.
故宫考古
故宫考古是在研究中国古代文明形成、发展与特点的宏观课题下，依托故宫自身优势，致力于与宫廷相关遗存的考古调查及研究。故宫考古结合中国文化遗产保护实际，践行宫廷建筑考古的理念、方法与研究手段，并积极承担和参与重大考古调查发掘项目。
故宫考古以重点推进紫禁城内考古发掘与研究为基础，兼顾各地考古遗址发掘与研究外延，承担和参与凤阳明中都遗址、广汉三星堆遗址、景德镇御窑厂遗址等地的考古发掘工作。
自2019年以来，故宫博物院参加了中亚地区“一带一路”考古调查和发掘项目，开展丝绸之路文明交流和中西方文化比较研究；联合英国杜伦大学考古系开展阿联酋拉斯海马考古发掘与研究等工作，拓展国际交流与合作。
故宫考古利用各种形式阐释、传播考古调查发掘和研究成果，推动“学术故宫”建设，发挥考古对故宫事业发展的促进作用。
