Awards


Patty Jo Watson Distinguished Lecture

Gordon R. Willey Prize

Alfred Vincent Kidder Award

Student Diversity Travel Grant

Student Membership Award

AD Sponsorship of SAA Symposium

AD Sponsorship of AAA Symposia

AD Grant Program for Archiving Digital Data

Poster Award


PATTY JO WATSON DISTINGUISHED LECTURE

Past Distinguished Lecturers
2023Sonya AtalayBraiding New Research Worlds: Archaeology, Storywork, and Indigenous Wellbeing
2021William DoellePreservation Archaeology from Bear’s Lodge to Bear’s Ears: Tracing an Evolving Ethic
2020No conference due to COVID
2019Lynn MeskellImperialism, Internationalism and Archaeology in the Un/Making of the Middle East
2018Charles CobbThe Topology of Erasure-An Archaeology of Remembering Through Forgetting.
2017Ann StahlAssembling ‘Effective Archaeologies’ for Equitable Futures
2016Randall McGuireThe Talking Dog’s Tale: Archaeology is Anthropology.
2015Susan PollockThe Subject of Suffering.
2014Joe WatkinsPast Matters.
2013Robert L. KellyThe Abyss: An Archaeologist Looks to the Future.
2012Susan D. GillespieThe Entanglement of Jade and the Rise of Meseomerica.
2011Barbara J. MillsFrom Communities of Practice to Social Networks: Thinking Relationally in Archaeology.
2010Michael Brian SchifferAnthropological Archaeology: Where Did We Go Wrong?
2009Barbara J. LittleReintegrating Archaeology in the Service of Sustainable Culture
2008Alison WylieLegacies of Collaboration: Transformative Criticism in Archaeology
2007Philip L. KohlShared Social Fields: Evolutionary Convergence in Prehistory and Contemporary Practice
2006David Hurst ThomasWay Past Reburial and Repatriation: American Archaeology in the Active Voice
2005Colin RenfrewBeyond the Sapient Paradox: Genetic and Cultural Trajectories
2003Rosemary A. JoyceDoing Things: Anthropology as Archaeology
2002Timothy EarleWho Makes Culture: Alternative Media for Social Expression and Control
2001William LongacreArchaeology as Anthropology Revisited
2000Wendy AshmoreDecisions and Dispositions:  Socializing Spatial Archaeology
1999Theresa SingletonOther Voices, Other Times: Historical Archaeology and Perceptions of the Past
1998Gil SteinDiasporas, Colonies and World Systems: Rethinking the Archaeology of Interregional Interaction
1997Margaret ConkeyPaleolithic Pathways: Archaeological Theory and Practice of the Deep Past
1996Jeremy SabloffThe Past and Future of American Archaeology
1995 Patrick V. Kirch Microcosmic Histories: Island Perspectives on Global Change
1994 Carol Kramer The Quick and the Dead
1993 Mark Leone Historical Archaeology Of and Against the State
1992 George L. Cowgill Beyond Criticizing New Archaeology
1991 Elizabeth Brumfiel Breaking and Entering the Ecosystem: Gender, Class, and Faction Steal the Show
1990 Bruce Trigger Constraint and Freedom: A New Synthesis of Archaeological Interpretation
1989Charles RedmanIn Defense of the Seventies: The Adolescence of New Archaeology and Its Progeny in the Nineties


GORDON R. WILLEY PRIZE

This prize recognizes the best archaeology paper published in the American Anthropologist over a period of three years. Named after Professor Gordon R. Willey, the award recognizes a distinguished archaeologist who served as President of the AAA, in 1961. It encourages archaeologists to pursue Willey’s well-known maxim (even if he did not first pen it!) that archaeology is anthropology or it is nothing.

In 2005 the Gordon R. Willey Endowment Fund was established as a permanent endowment to provide a stable income for the awarding of this prize.

The award winner is selected from those papers published in the American Anthropologist in the three calendar years previous to the year of the award (excluding the distinguished lectures). Since the inauguration of the award in 1997, the following papers have been selected for recognition:

2023 Tsim Schneider “Dancing on the Brink of the World”: Seeing Indigenous Dance and Resilience in the Archaeology of Colonial California
2022
Jodi A. BarnesBehind the Scenes of Hollywood: An Archaeology of Reproductive Oppression at the Intersections
2021
Ryan Morini“What Are We Doing to Those Shoshone People?”: The Ontological Politics of a Shoshone Grinding Stone
2020Dana Lepofsky, Chelsey Geralda Armstrong, Spencer Greening, Julia Jackley, Jennifer Carpenter, Brenda Guernsey, Darcy Matthews, and Nancy J. TurnerHistorical Ecology of Cultural Keystone Places of the Northwest Coast
2019Gabriella SotoObject Afterlives and the Burden of History: Between ‘Trash’ and ‘Heritage’ in the Steps of Migrants
2018Dante AngeloHistories of a Burnt House: An Archaeology of Negative Spaces and Dispossession
2017Amanda L. Logan“Why Can’t People Feed Themselves?”: Archaeology as Alternative Archive of Food Security in Banda, Ghana
2016Cathy CameronHow People Moved among Ancient Societies: Broadening the View
2015Eleanor Harrison-BuckArchitecture as Animate Landscape: Circular Shrines in the Ancient Maya Lowlands
2014Christopher T. MorehartWhat if the Aztec Empire Never Existed? The Prerequisites of Empire and the Polities of Plausible Alternative Histories
2013Charles R. Cobb and Chester B. DePratterMultisited Research on Colonowares and the Paradox of Globalization
2012Kathryn J.W. ArthurFeminine Knowledge and Skill Reconsidered: Women and Flaked Stone Tools
2011April M. BeisawMemory, Identity, and NAGPRA in the Northeastern United States
2010Thomas H.McGovern,
Orri Vésteinsson,
Adolph Fridriksson,
Mike Church,
Ian Lawson,
Ian A Simpson,
Arni Einarsson,
Andy Dugmore,
Gordon Cook,
Sophia Perdikaris,
Kevin J. Edwards,
Amanda M. Thomson,
W. Paul Adderley,
Anthony Newton,
Gavin Lucas,
Ragnar Edvardsson,
Oscar Aldred, and
Elaine Dunbar
Landscapes of Settlement in Northern Iceland: Historical Ecology of Human Impact and Climate Fluctuation on the Millennial Scale
2009Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh and T. J. FergusonMemory Pieces and Footprints: Multivocality and the Meanings of Ancient Times and Ancestral Places among the Zuni and Hopi
2008Barbara VossFrom Casta to Californio: Social Identity and the Archaeology of Culture Contact
2007Christopher FisherDemographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden
2006Barbara J. MillsThe Establishment and Defeat of Hierarchy: Inalienable Possessions and the History of Collective Prestige Structures in the Pueblo Southwest
2005Katherine A. SpielmannFeasting, Craft Specialization, and the Ritual Mode of Production in Small Scale Societies
2004Brian S. Bauer and
R. Alan Covey
Processes of State Formation in the Inca Heartland (Cuzco, Peru)
2003Lisa J. LeCountLike Water for Chocolate: Feasting and Political Ritual among the Late Classic Maya at Xunantunich, Belize
2002Susan D. GillespieRethinking Ancient Maya Social Organization: Replacing “Lineage” with “House”
2001James E. SneadScience, Commerce, and Control:  Patronage and the Development of Anthropological Archaeology in the Americas
2000Glenn Davis Stone
and Christian  E. Downum
Non-Boserupian Ecology and Agricultural Risk: Ethnic Politics and Land Control in the Arid Southwest
1998Patricia Crown and
Suzanne Fish
Gender and Status in the Hohokam Pre-Classic to Classic Transition
1997Melinda ZederAfter the Revolution: Post-Neolithic Subsistence in Northern Mesopotamia


ALFRED VINCENT KIDDER AWARD

Established in 1950, the Alfred Vincent Kidder Award for Eminence in the Field of American Archaeology was initially given every three years to an outstanding archaeologist specializing in the archaeology of the Americas. The award has been given alternately to specialists in Mesoamerican archaeology (Mexico and Central America) and the archaeology of the Southwestern region — areas that were both central to the pioneering and exemplary work of A. V. Kidder.

You may submit a “Kidder Award nomination” by e-mail to the AD President. Please submit all documentation, preferably in a PDF format.

The deadline for nominations is March 15, 2024. The award will be presented at the AAA business meeting at the annual meetings.

Past Kidder Award Winners:

2022Rosemary A. Joyce and Patricia A. McAnany
2018Patricia Crown
2016Jeremy Sabloff
2014Timothy Kohler
2012Wendy Ashmore
2010William D. Lipe
2008David C. Grove
2006Jeffrey S. Dean
2004George L. Cowgill and René Millon
2001Linda S. Cordell
1998Jeffrey R. Parsons
1995Jesse D. Jennings
1992Kent V. Flannery
1989Richard B. Woodbury
1986Ignacio Bernal
1983Watson Smith
1980William T. Sanders
1977Emil W. Haury
1974Gordon R. Willey
1971Richard S. MacNeish
1968Paul S. Martin
1965Neil Judd
1962Tatiana Proskouriakoff
1959Charles C. DiPeso
1956Samuel K. Lothrop
1953Earl H. Morris
1950Alfred Marston Tozzer

STUDENT DIVERSITY TRAVEL GRANT

Established in 2004, these grants are intended to increase participation in AAA sessions and in archaeology more widely by students from historically under-represented populations. African American, Alaskan Native, American Indian or Native American, Asian American, Latino and Latina, Chicano, Chicana, and Pacific Islander students in archaeology are encouraged to apply for these travel grants to help defray costs associated with attending the AAA meeting. Archaeology students with disabilities are also eligible for this grant. Up to four grants of up to $600 each will be awarded. Students may apply for and receive this award more than once, although priority is given to first-time applicants using the following criteria:

  • First priority is given to students presenting a paper or poster.
  • Within that group, priority is given to students presenting a paper or poster for the first time at the AAA.
  • Within that group, priority is given based on the distance a student must travel to the meeting.

All students who apply for a grant are also invited to arrange a meeting with any member of the AD Executive Committee during the annual meeting for professional advice and mentoring. Recipients will be acknowledged and receive their award at the AD Business Meeting during the AAA meeting.

Applications are due via e-mail by September 30 to the AD Secretary and should include the following:

  • Completed cover sheet (download Word Document or download interactive PDF document)
  • CV of not more than 2 pages (number as pages 2 and 3 in the same file after the cover sheet)
  • Letter of reference from a scholar or advisor who knows your work. Please ask that the recommender submit the letter independently by the deadline.

Past Diversity Travel Grant Winners:

2023Tony Chamoun Syracuse University
Cheng LiuEmory University
2022Nicole Smith University of California, Los Angeles
2021No award given
2020No conference due to COVID
2019Robert BenitezUniversity of Arizona
James W. CampbellHarvard University
Cindy Hsin-yee HuangArizona State University
Koji Lau-OzawaUniversity of Arizona
2018Aja LansSyracuse University
Nicole SmithUniversity of Michigan
2017Cristina CarterFlorida State University
Timothy WilcoxStanford University
2016Luisa AbersoldUniversity of Texas Austin
Joseph AguilarUniversity of Pennsylvania
Tiyas BhattacharyyaUniversity of Illinois
Jose Miguel Kanxoc KumulUniversidad de Oriente
Aja LansSyracuse University
2015Tiffany CainUniversity of Pennsylvania
Amanda GuzmanUniversity of California Berkeley
2014Juan R. Argueta Jr.Wichita State University
2013Tiffany CainUniversity of Pennsylvania
Lynn KimUniversity of Texas, San Antonio
David Rafael McCormickUniversity of South Florida
Davina Two BearsIndiana University
2012Annelise MorrisUniversity of California Berkeley
Paulette F. SteevesBinghamton University
2011No award given
2010Moshe AdamuUniversity of Florida
Adela AmaralUniversity of Chicago
Jessica Cerezo-RománUniversity of Arizona
Sebastian Salgado-FloresUniversity of Texas San Antonio
Ana TejedaNorthwestern University
Shankari PatelUniversity of California Riverside
Rhianna RogersFlorida Atlantic University
Tsim SchneiderUniversity of California Berkeley
2008Edward JolieUniversity of New Mexico
Karen PereiraUniversity of Florida
Dana ShewUniversity of Denver
2007Deanna Dartt-NewtonUniversity of Oregon
Kelly PetersonMcMaster University
Kerry ThompsonUniversity of Arizona
2006Jason J. GonzálezSouthern Illinois University
Olaf Jaime-RiveronUniversity of Kentucky
Ora V. MarekUniversity of California, Berkeley
Sean NäleimaleUniversity of Hawai’i, Manoa
Gina Quistiano ZavalaIndiana University
2005Sara L. GonzalezUniversity of California, Berkeley
Desireé Reneé MartinezHarvard University
Uzma Zehra RizviUniversity of Pennsylvania
Grace S. R. TurnerCollege of William and Mary
2004Jason Patrick De LeonPennsylvania State University
Olivia Clementina Navarro-FarrSouthern Methodist University
Janet SixUniversity of Pennsylvania
Nawa SugiyamaArizona State University
Radhika Sundararjan-BauerUniversity of Pennsylvania

STUDENT MEMBERSHIP AWARD

The Archaeology Division (AD) seeks to support student membership in the AAA and in the AD to maintain and strengthen the representation of archaeology within the AAA. The AD will award the next year’s membership in both AAA and AD to up to 20 students who present archaeological papers or posters at the annual meeting. This award has a value of between $75 and $135, depending on a student’s AAA membership status.

All students who present an archaeological paper or poster at the annual meeting are eligible to apply for this award. Up to three awards will be allocated specifically for undergraduates. If more than 20 eligible individuals apply, the awardees will be chosen by random methods. Students may apply for and receive this award more than once, although priority is given to first-time applicants.

Applications are due by September 30 to the Student Member at Large (click on Officers for contact information) via e-mail (as a Word document or PDF attachment-please include your last name in the name of the attachment) or snail mail. They should include the following:

  • Your name, address, and email (or other contact information)
  • Your AAA membership number
  • Your institution
  • The degree you are working on
  • Expected date of this degree
  • The title of your accepted paper/poster
  • Is this your first AAA paper (yes or no)

Past Student Membership Winners:

2023 Diane SlocumUniversity of North Carolina Chapel Hill
2021 Nathan KlembaraBinghamton University
Sophie ReillyNorthwestern University
2020 No conference due to COVID
2019 Anna Demsey AlvesUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln
Robert BenitezUniversity of Arizona
James W. CampbellHarvard University
Cindy Hsin-yee HuangArizona State University
Koji Lau-OzawaStanford University
John MurrayArizona State University
2018 Annalisa BolinStanford University
 Kasey Diserens MorganUniversity of Pennsylvania
 Chandler FitzsimonsThe College of William & Mary
 Laura Heath-StoutBoston University
 Jade RobisonUniversity of Nebraska, Lincoln
 Anne SherfieldUniversity of Michigan
 Liam WadsworthUniversity of Alberta
2017Cristina CarterFlorida State University
 David CranfordUniversity of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
 Krista EschbachArizona State University
 Rémi HadadUniversity of Paris-Nanterre
 Marc LorencUniversity of Massachusetts-Amherst
 Matt MagnaniHarvard University
 Justin ReamerUniversity of Pennsylvania
 Elena SesmaUniversity of Massachusetts-Amherst
 Craig StevensAmerican University
 Sarah StrikerArizona State University
 Evan TaylorUniversity of Massachusetts-Amherst
 Andrea TorvinenArizona State University
 Andrew UptonMichigan State University
2016Tiyas BhattacharyyaUniversity of Illinois
 Lisa BrightMichigan State University
 Shaheen M. ChristieUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
 Maia DedrickUniversity of North Carolina Chapel Hill
 Jose Miguel Kanxoc KumulUniversidad de Oriente
 Michael SpearsUniversity of Arizona
 Adam SutherlandUniversity of Illinois
 Andrea TorvinenArizona State University
2015Leslie AragonUniversity of Arizona
 Lewis BorckUniversity of Arizona
 Tiffany CainUniversity of Pennsylvania
 Hannah ChazinUniversity of Chicago
 Rachel HorowitzTulane University
 Elizabeth KonwestIndiana University
 Morgan KrauseDePaul University
 Matthew MagnaniHarvard University
 Nadya ProciukUniversity of Texas
 Anna SchneiderUniversity of Colorado
2014Maia DedrickUniversity of North Carolina Chapel Hill
 David MixterWashington University
 Jon SpenardUniversity of California, Riverside
2013Rebecca FriedelUniversity of Texas, San Antonio
 Lynn KimUniversity of Texas, San Antonio
 Katy M. MeyersMichigan State University
 Emily ShepardPortland State University
 Christopher ShephardCollege of William and Mary
2012Manuel PeralesUniversidad Nacional del Centro del Perú
 Dana BardolphUniversity of California Santa Barbara
2011Francois Buindon
Dru McGill
Anastasiya Travina
University of Aberdeen
Indiana University
University of Texas, San Marcos
2010No award given 
2009Kathryn Lafrenz SamuelsStanford University
 Rhianna C. RogersFlorida Atlantic University
 Maria RavieleMichigan State University
 Tobin HartnellUniversity of Chicago
 Diana T. Dyste AnzuresUniversity of California Santa Barbara
 Kathy KoziolUniversity of Arkansas
 Ana S. TejedaNorthwestern University
 Christine N. ReiserBrown University
 Emily PoeppelIndiana University of Pennsylvania

AAA ARCHAEOLOGY DIVISION SPONSORSHIP AT THE SAAs

In the interests of promoting discussion of topics, research, and theory of broad significance to anthropology and of strategic concern to archaeologists, the Board of the Archaeology Division sponsors a session at the annual SAA meeting that is focused on discussion. Specifically invited are proposals for a forum or an electronic symposium in which papers are distributed before the meeting so that the meeting time can be devoted to very short presentations followed by a generous amount of discussion. To encourage the free flow of ideas, the AD will support this session by providing a cash bar if the session is scheduled in the afternoon or evening.

APPLICATIONS ARE DUE BY August 10 to the President-Elect (click on Officers for contact information) via e-mail (as a Word document or PDF attachment). Please include your last name in the file name of the attachment. The application should include the following:

  • Title and abstract of the forum or digital symposium
  • Complete list of participants
  • Complete list of discussion topics (if a forum) or titles and abstracts of all individual papers in a digital symposium

The major criterion for the selection of AD sponsorship is how well the proposed symposium exemplifies a holistic anthropological approach to a topic in archaeology.

A decision will be made by August 31. The designation of AD sponsorship must be included with the submission to the SAA Program Committee by their deadline in early September.

AD SPONSORSHIP OF AAA SYMPOSIA

New! Open Call for Papers sessions: The Archaeology Division of the AAA uses an open Call for Papers (CFP) format to encourage people to submit session ideas and utilize our extensive membership network to attract participants from within archaeology and across sub-disciplines. We see the AAA annual meeting as a unique opportunity for archaeologists to engage in intellectual conversations with other anthropologists who may not typically attend more sub-discipline-specific meetings. The CFP format is not intended to replace the more traditional pre-organized session format but instead offers a complementary way of facilitating a dialogue with scholars from our vibrant organization.

APPLICATIONS ARE DUE BY April 15. Please submit your abstract to the Program Editor for Archaeology (click on Officers for contact information), via e-mail (as a Word document or PDF attachment). Those interested in joining a session should indicate which session they want to join.

Pre-organized sponsored sessions: The AD annually sponsors one or more innovative, synthesizing sessions intended to reflect the state-of-the-art and thematic concerns in archaeology. These sessions appear on the program as ‘invited’. Sessions should be submitted using the AAA submissions portal and designated for AD review to be considered eligible for AD sponsorship. Members should work closely with the Program Editor when planning invited sessions. The AD may solicit an Invited Session that addresses a particular theme, but all submissions will be welcome and considered. The major criterion for the selection of AD sponsorship is how well the proposed symposium exemplifies a holistic anthropological approach to a topic in archaeology.

APPLICATIONS ARE DUE BY April 15 and a decision will be made by May 15.

Executive Session:
AD members are also invited to organize a session to be designated as an “Executive” session. The papers in this session should exemplify the annual meeting theme.

APPLICATIONS ARE DUE BY February 16 (5 pm EDT) via the AAA Annual Conference submission system. A step-by-step guide for submitting an application for an Executive Session is available.