The Research Center of Chinese Frontier Archaeology was established in 1999 in order to further utilize the advantages of the department in frontier archaeological research and facilitate the design and implementation of relevant comprehensive research topics. Approved by the China Ministry of Education in 2000, the center was selected as one of the 100 Key Research Bases of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education.

     The archaeology and museology disciplines supported by the Frontier Archaeology Research Center were the first batch of doctoral degree authorization points issued by the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council in 1981, and later became the key disciplines of Jilin Province. After the establishment of the center, the archaeology and museology majors of Jilin University has entered a new stage of development. In 2000, the center was awarded a post-doctoral research station in history. In the same year, the Northeast Frontier Archaeology research project undertaken by the center was included in the national "211 Project" key discipline construction project during the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period. In 2005, the China Frontier History and Geography Innovation Base declared by the Frontier Archaeology Research Center as a supporting institution was selected as the "985 Project" National Philosophy and Social Science Innovation Base. Archaeology and Museology were added as national key disciplines in 2007.

     The Frontier Archaeology Research Center takes ancient humans, culture and environment in China's frontier and adjacent areas as its main research objects. The academic committee is responsible for the planning and supervision of related topics. The center has four sub-institutions: Prehistoric Archaeology Research Laboratory, Historical Archaeology Research Laboratory, Physical Anthropology Laboratory, and Archaeological DNA Laboratory.

     Since 2000, the center has undertaken a number of major projects and achieved a series of innovative results. It has become the most influential research center in the field of frontier archaeology in China. By having graduate students to participate in the implementation of major projects, it has fostered large number of specialists with research capabilities, making the center a training base for high-level archaeologists in China. The center actively cooperates with the United States, Russia, Mongolia, Israel and other countries to carry out archaeological investigations and excavations, and builds an open international academic exchange platform in the field of frontier archaeology. Through continuous enrichment of books and research specimens, the center has become an important information database for border archaeology. The center also uses its research advantages to actively provide the country with decision-making consultation and technical support in terms of world cultural heritage declaration and cultural relic protection.