Award Details

Award Description

Who Is Eligible to Submit Nominations or Apply for the Award

The Book Award committee solicits nominations for these prizes from publishers. Books or edited volumes published in 2021 or more recently are eligible. In the Scholarly Book Award category, the first author must be a member of the SAA, and all authors receive the award. It is the publisher's duty to confirm that the first author/editor is an active SAA member. In the Popular Book Award category, author(s) do not need to be active members of the SAA and all authors receive the award.

Nomination/Submission Materials Required

A book will be evaluated in the format for which it was designed.  For a print book, one hard copy and a PDF of the nominated book must be sent to each member of the committee. If the only format for the book is electronic, a link to the digital copy in the format or on the platform for which it was designed and a PDF must be sent to each member. Please contact the chair of the committee for an updated list of committee members. The chair’s email can be found below in the Committee Information section.

Other Special Requirements

Nominators must arrange to have one hard copy and a PDF of the nominated book to each member of the committee for those books that are printed. For electronic-only books, nominators must arrange to send a link to the digital copy and a PDF to each member. For the Scholarly Award, publishers must ensure that the first author/editor is an active SAA member before submitting the nominated book. Please check with your authors to verify their membership.

Prior to any award recommendation being finalized and publicly announced, anyone recommended for an award, scholarship, or grant will be required to certify the following:

Nature of Award (e.g. monetary, medal, symposium)

The awardee is recognized by the SAA through a plaque presented during the business meeting held at the Annual Meeting, a citation in The SAA Archaeological Record, and acknowledgment on the awards page of the SAA Website.

Current Committee Charge

The committee solicits nominations (popular, and scholarly) and selects recipients for the Book Award. The SAA may award two prizes to honor recently (within the past three years) published books. One prize is for a book that has had, or is expected to have, a major impact on the direction and character of archaeological research. The other prize is for a book that is written for the general public and presents the results of archaeological research to a broader audience.

Committee Composition

Committee composition is one chair and at least six members.

Term Length

Term length is three years. Individuals ending their terms cycle off the committee at the close of the Business Meeting held during the annual SAA Meeting, and new appointees begin their terms at this time.

Award Cycle

N/A

Committee Chair and End of Term

Karen Harry [2025]

Committee Chair Contact Information

karen.harry@unlv.edu

Committee Members and Ends of Terms

Names and term end dates for the chair and all members can be found on the committee page in the SAA Directory. 

Selection or Evaluation Criteria

The following are among the criteria to be used for evaluating books for the SAA book awards:

• adheres to principles of archaeological ethics upheld by the Society for American Archaeology 
• excellence in content, writing, organization, and presentation
• excellence in research
• originality, as representing a positive example for the discipline
• clarity of argument
• expected positive impact on archaeological research
• clear and engaging writing style
• presentation, especially visual

Committee Deliberation Process (e.g. dates, venue)

The Book Award Committee adheres to the following deadlines:

• September 15: Nomination announcement sent to publishers
• November 15: Deadline for receiving hard copies and PDFs of books. Each nominated book is read and evaluated by at least two committee members during the first round of evaluations
• December 15: Deadline for committee members to submit a short list of top five selections in each category. The four or five books in each category with the highest combined scores advance to the final round
• January 15: The top picks are reviewed in detail and the committee votes to select the winners
• January 27: Committee submits award winners to the SAA Board