About the SAA Awards
The Society for American Archaeology Awards recognize and honor knowledge and professional achievements at all career levels--from student and early career archaeologists to those who have made lasting contributions to the Society and the profession. The Call for Nominations opens in the fall of each year.
The 2025 Call for Award Nominations is open.
Deadlines and nomination information vary by award
The Deborah L. Nichols Meeting Access Grants is open for applications.
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:
(a) I am not and have not ever been the subject of a discrimination or harassment lawsuit or related administrative complaint that resulted in an adverse finding; and(b) I do not have and have not had a current or pending disciplinary action such as suspension or termination of registration, resulting from a Register of Professional Archaeologists’ grievance investigation.
Professional Awards
Book Award (Scholarly and Popular)
Nomination/Submission Deadline: 15 Nov 2024
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 2022 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:
(a) I am not and have not ever been the subject of a discrimination or harassment lawsuit or related administrative complaint that resulted in an adverse finding; and(b) I do not have and have not had a current or pending disciplinary action such as suspension or termination of registration, resulting from a Register of Professional Archaeologists’ grievance investigation.
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
Committee Members and Ends of Terms
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
| 2024 | Scholarly | Kristian Kristiansen, Guus Kroonen, and Eske Willersleve (editors) | The Indo-European Puzzle Revisited: Integrating Archaeology, Genetics, and Linguistics |
| Popular | Yonatan Adler | The Origins of Judaism: An Archaeological-Historical Reappraisal | |
| 2023 | Scholarly | Frances M. Hayashida, Andrés , Diego Salazar (editors) | Rethinking the Inka: Community, Landscape, and Empire in the Southern Andes |
| Popular | Nan A. Rothschild, Amanda Sutphin, H. Arthur Bankoff, Jessica Striebel Maclean | Buried Beneath the City: An Archaeological History of New York | |
| 2022 | Scholarly | Wesley Bernardini, Stewart B. Koyiyumptewa, Gregson Schachner, and Leigh J. Kuwanwisiwma | Becoming Hopi: A History |
| Popular | Ruth M. Van Dyke & Carrie Heitman | The Greater Chaco Landscape: Ancestors, Scholarship, and Advocacy | |
| 2021 | Scholarly | D. Rae Gould, | Historical Archaeology and Indigenous Collaboration: Discovering Histories that Have Futures |
| Popular | Mark D. McCoy | Maps for Time Travelers: How Archaeologists Use Technology to Bring Us Closer | |
| 2020 | Scholarly | Christine A. Hastorf | The Social Archaeology of Food: Thinking about Eating from Prehistory to the Present |
| Popular | Carl M. Davis | Six Hundred Generations: An Archaeological History of Montana | |
| 2019 | Scholarly | Krish Seetah | Connecting Continents: Archaeology and History in the Indian Ocean World |
| Popular | Lynn Meskell | A Future in Ruins: UNESCO, World Heritage, and the Dream of Peace | |
| 2018 | Scholarly | Tom Dillehay | Where the Land Meets the Sea |
| Popular | Peter Bogucki | The Barbarians: Lost Civilizations | |
| 2017 | Scholarly | Carolyn E. Boyd | The White Shaman Mural: An Enduring Creation Narrative in Rock Art of the Lower Pecos |
| Scholarly (Honorable Mention) | Enrique Rodriguez-Alegría | The Archaeology and History of Colonial Mexico: Mixing Epistemologies | |
| Popular | Michael E. Smith | At Home with the Aztecs: An Archaeologist Uncovers Their Daily Life | |
| 2016 | Scholarly | Robert L. Bettinger | Orderly Anarchy: Sociopolitical Evolution in Aboriginal California |
| Popular | Miranda Aldhouse-Green | Bog Bodies Uncovered: Solving Europe's Ancient Mystery | |
| 2015 | Scholarly | Steven A. Wernke | Negotiated Settlements: Andean Communities and Landscapes under Inka and Spanish Colonialism |
| Popular | Dimitra Papagianni and Michael A. Morse | The Neanderthals Rediscovered: How Modern Science is Rewriting their Story | |
| 2014 | Scholarly | Michael L. Galaty, Ols Lafe, Wayne E. Lee, and Zamir Tafilica | Light and Shadow: Isolation and Interaction in the Shala Valley of Northern Albania |
| Popular | Jerry D. Moore | The Prehistory of Home | |
| 2013 | Scholarly | Elizabeth Arkush | Hillforts of the Ancient Andes: Colla Warfare, Society and Landscape |
| Popular | Patrick Kirch | A Shark Going Inland is My Chief. The Island Civilization of Ancient Hawai’i | |
| 2012 | Scholarly | Matthew R. Des Lauriers | sland of Fogs: Archaeological and Ethnohistorical investigations of Isla Cedros, Baja California |
| Popular | Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo | Statues that Walked | |
| 2011 | Vernon James Knight, Jr. | Mound Excavations at Moundville: Architecture, Elites, and Social Order | |
| Steven R. Simms | Traces of Fremont: Society and Rock Art in Ancient Utah | ||
| 2010 | David W. Anthony | The Horse, the Wheel and Language | |
| Rebecca Yamin | Digging in the City of Brotherly Love | ||
| 2009 | Lothar von Falkenhausen | Chinese Society in the Age of Confucius (1000-250 BC): The Archaeological Evidence | |
| Jack Brink | Imagining Head-Smashed-In | ||
| 2008 | Tom D. Dillehay | Monuments, Empires and Resistance | |
| James W. Bradley | Before Albany | ||
| 2007 | Kristian Kristiansen & Thomas B. Larsson | Transformations | |
| Bradley T. Lepper | Ohio Archaeology: An Illustrated Chronicle of Ohio's Ancient American Indian Cultures | ||
| 2006 | Peter Bellwood | First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies | |
| James E. Bruseth and Toni S. Turner | From a Watery Grave: The Discovery and Excavation of La Salle's Shipwreck, La Belle | ||
| 2005 | Kelley Hays-Gilpin | Ambiguous Images: Gender and Rock Art | |
| Susan Toby Evans | Ancient Mexico and Central America: Archaeology and Culture History | ||
| 2004 | Brian Fagan | Before California: An Archaeologist Looks at Our Earliest Inhabitant | |
| T.J. (Tony) Wilkinson | Archaeological Landscapes of the Near East | ||
| 2003 | Kathleen Deagan and José María Cruxent | Archaeology at La Isabela: America's First European Town and Columbus's Outpost among the Tainos | |
| Thomas F. King, Randall S. Jacobson, Karen Ramey Burns, and Kenton Spading | Amelia Earhart's Shoes: Is the Mystery Solved? | ||
| 2002 | Lewis R. Binford | Constructing Frames of Reference: An Analytical Method for Archaeological Theory Building Using Ethnographic and Environmental Data Sets | |
| Ann-Marie Cantwell and Diana Dizerega Wall | Unearthing Gotham: The Archaeology of New York City | ||
| 2001 | William W. Fitzhugh and Elisabeth I. Ward | Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga | |
| 2000 | Clive Gamble | The Paleolithic Societies of Europe | |
| 1999 | Jon Muller | Mississippian Political Economy | |
| Mark Lehner | The Complete Pyramids | ||
| 1998 | Tom D. Dillehay | Monte Verde, A Pleistocene Settlement in Chile | |
| Stephen Plog | Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest | ||
| 1997 | Bruce D. Smith | The Emergence of Agriculture | |
| Carmel Schrire | Digging Through Darkness: Chronicles of an Archaeologist | ||
| 1996 | Mary C. Stiner | Honor among Thieves: A Zooarchaeological Study of Neandertal Ecology |
Travel Awards
Book Award (Scholarly and Popular)
Nomination/Submission Deadline: 15 Nov 2024
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 2022 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:
(a) I am not and have not ever been the subject of a discrimination or harassment lawsuit or related administrative complaint that resulted in an adverse finding; and(b) I do not have and have not had a current or pending disciplinary action such as suspension or termination of registration, resulting from a Register of Professional Archaeologists’ grievance investigation.
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
Committee Members and Ends of Terms
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
| 2024 | Scholarly | Kristian Kristiansen, Guus Kroonen, and Eske Willersleve (editors) | The Indo-European Puzzle Revisited: Integrating Archaeology, Genetics, and Linguistics |
| Popular | Yonatan Adler | The Origins of Judaism: An Archaeological-Historical Reappraisal | |
| 2023 | Scholarly | Frances M. Hayashida, Andrés , Diego Salazar (editors) | Rethinking the Inka: Community, Landscape, and Empire in the Southern Andes |
| Popular | Nan A. Rothschild, Amanda Sutphin, H. Arthur Bankoff, Jessica Striebel Maclean | Buried Beneath the City: An Archaeological History of New York | |
| 2022 | Scholarly | Wesley Bernardini, Stewart B. Koyiyumptewa, Gregson Schachner, and Leigh J. Kuwanwisiwma | Becoming Hopi: A History |
| Popular | Ruth M. Van Dyke & Carrie Heitman | The Greater Chaco Landscape: Ancestors, Scholarship, and Advocacy | |
| 2021 | Scholarly | D. Rae Gould, | Historical Archaeology and Indigenous Collaboration: Discovering Histories that Have Futures |
| Popular | Mark D. McCoy | Maps for Time Travelers: How Archaeologists Use Technology to Bring Us Closer | |
| 2020 | Scholarly | Christine A. Hastorf | The Social Archaeology of Food: Thinking about Eating from Prehistory to the Present |
| Popular | Carl M. Davis | Six Hundred Generations: An Archaeological History of Montana | |
| 2019 | Scholarly | Krish Seetah | Connecting Continents: Archaeology and History in the Indian Ocean World |
| Popular | Lynn Meskell | A Future in Ruins: UNESCO, World Heritage, and the Dream of Peace | |
| 2018 | Scholarly | Tom Dillehay | Where the Land Meets the Sea |
| Popular | Peter Bogucki | The Barbarians: Lost Civilizations | |
| 2017 | Scholarly | Carolyn E. Boyd | The White Shaman Mural: An Enduring Creation Narrative in Rock Art of the Lower Pecos |
| Scholarly (Honorable Mention) | Enrique Rodriguez-Alegría | The Archaeology and History of Colonial Mexico: Mixing Epistemologies | |
| Popular | Michael E. Smith | At Home with the Aztecs: An Archaeologist Uncovers Their Daily Life | |
| 2016 | Scholarly | Robert L. Bettinger | Orderly Anarchy: Sociopolitical Evolution in Aboriginal California |
| Popular | Miranda Aldhouse-Green | Bog Bodies Uncovered: Solving Europe's Ancient Mystery | |
| 2015 | Scholarly | Steven A. Wernke | Negotiated Settlements: Andean Communities and Landscapes under Inka and Spanish Colonialism |
| Popular | Dimitra Papagianni and Michael A. Morse | The Neanderthals Rediscovered: How Modern Science is Rewriting their Story | |
| 2014 | Scholarly | Michael L. Galaty, Ols Lafe, Wayne E. Lee, and Zamir Tafilica | Light and Shadow: Isolation and Interaction in the Shala Valley of Northern Albania |
| Popular | Jerry D. Moore | The Prehistory of Home | |
| 2013 | Scholarly | Elizabeth Arkush | Hillforts of the Ancient Andes: Colla Warfare, Society and Landscape |
| Popular | Patrick Kirch | A Shark Going Inland is My Chief. The Island Civilization of Ancient Hawai’i | |
| 2012 | Scholarly | Matthew R. Des Lauriers | sland of Fogs: Archaeological and Ethnohistorical investigations of Isla Cedros, Baja California |
| Popular | Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo | Statues that Walked | |
| 2011 | Vernon James Knight, Jr. | Mound Excavations at Moundville: Architecture, Elites, and Social Order | |
| Steven R. Simms | Traces of Fremont: Society and Rock Art in Ancient Utah | ||
| 2010 | David W. Anthony | The Horse, the Wheel and Language | |
| Rebecca Yamin | Digging in the City of Brotherly Love | ||
| 2009 | Lothar von Falkenhausen | Chinese Society in the Age of Confucius (1000-250 BC): The Archaeological Evidence | |
| Jack Brink | Imagining Head-Smashed-In | ||
| 2008 | Tom D. Dillehay | Monuments, Empires and Resistance | |
| James W. Bradley | Before Albany | ||
| 2007 | Kristian Kristiansen & Thomas B. Larsson | Transformations | |
| Bradley T. Lepper | Ohio Archaeology: An Illustrated Chronicle of Ohio's Ancient American Indian Cultures | ||
| 2006 | Peter Bellwood | First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies | |
| James E. Bruseth and Toni S. Turner | From a Watery Grave: The Discovery and Excavation of La Salle's Shipwreck, La Belle | ||
| 2005 | Kelley Hays-Gilpin | Ambiguous Images: Gender and Rock Art | |
| Susan Toby Evans | Ancient Mexico and Central America: Archaeology and Culture History | ||
| 2004 | Brian Fagan | Before California: An Archaeologist Looks at Our Earliest Inhabitant | |
| T.J. (Tony) Wilkinson | Archaeological Landscapes of the Near East | ||
| 2003 | Kathleen Deagan and José María Cruxent | Archaeology at La Isabela: America's First European Town and Columbus's Outpost among the Tainos | |
| Thomas F. King, Randall S. Jacobson, Karen Ramey Burns, and Kenton Spading | Amelia Earhart's Shoes: Is the Mystery Solved? | ||
| 2002 | Lewis R. Binford | Constructing Frames of Reference: An Analytical Method for Archaeological Theory Building Using Ethnographic and Environmental Data Sets | |
| Ann-Marie Cantwell and Diana Dizerega Wall | Unearthing Gotham: The Archaeology of New York City | ||
| 2001 | William W. Fitzhugh and Elisabeth I. Ward | Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga | |
| 2000 | Clive Gamble | The Paleolithic Societies of Europe | |
| 1999 | Jon Muller | Mississippian Political Economy | |
| Mark Lehner | The Complete Pyramids | ||
| 1998 | Tom D. Dillehay | Monte Verde, A Pleistocene Settlement in Chile | |
| Stephen Plog | Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest | ||
| 1997 | Bruce D. Smith | The Emergence of Agriculture | |
| Carmel Schrire | Digging Through Darkness: Chronicles of an Archaeologist | ||
| 1996 | Mary C. Stiner | Honor among Thieves: A Zooarchaeological Study of Neandertal Ecology |
Student Awards
Book Award (Scholarly and Popular)
Nomination/Submission Deadline: 15 Nov 2024
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 2022 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:
(a) I am not and have not ever been the subject of a discrimination or harassment lawsuit or related administrative complaint that resulted in an adverse finding; and(b) I do not have and have not had a current or pending disciplinary action such as suspension or termination of registration, resulting from a Register of Professional Archaeologists’ grievance investigation.
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
Committee Members and Ends of Terms
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
| 2024 | Scholarly | Kristian Kristiansen, Guus Kroonen, and Eske Willersleve (editors) | The Indo-European Puzzle Revisited: Integrating Archaeology, Genetics, and Linguistics |
| Popular | Yonatan Adler | The Origins of Judaism: An Archaeological-Historical Reappraisal | |
| 2023 | Scholarly | Frances M. Hayashida, Andrés , Diego Salazar (editors) | Rethinking the Inka: Community, Landscape, and Empire in the Southern Andes |
| Popular | Nan A. Rothschild, Amanda Sutphin, H. Arthur Bankoff, Jessica Striebel Maclean | Buried Beneath the City: An Archaeological History of New York | |
| 2022 | Scholarly | Wesley Bernardini, Stewart B. Koyiyumptewa, Gregson Schachner, and Leigh J. Kuwanwisiwma | Becoming Hopi: A History |
| Popular | Ruth M. Van Dyke & Carrie Heitman | The Greater Chaco Landscape: Ancestors, Scholarship, and Advocacy | |
| 2021 | Scholarly | D. Rae Gould, | Historical Archaeology and Indigenous Collaboration: Discovering Histories that Have Futures |
| Popular | Mark D. McCoy | Maps for Time Travelers: How Archaeologists Use Technology to Bring Us Closer | |
| 2020 | Scholarly | Christine A. Hastorf | The Social Archaeology of Food: Thinking about Eating from Prehistory to the Present |
| Popular | Carl M. Davis | Six Hundred Generations: An Archaeological History of Montana | |
| 2019 | Scholarly | Krish Seetah | Connecting Continents: Archaeology and History in the Indian Ocean World |
| Popular | Lynn Meskell | A Future in Ruins: UNESCO, World Heritage, and the Dream of Peace | |
| 2018 | Scholarly | Tom Dillehay | Where the Land Meets the Sea |
| Popular | Peter Bogucki | The Barbarians: Lost Civilizations | |
| 2017 | Scholarly | Carolyn E. Boyd | The White Shaman Mural: An Enduring Creation Narrative in Rock Art of the Lower Pecos |
| Scholarly (Honorable Mention) | Enrique Rodriguez-Alegría | The Archaeology and History of Colonial Mexico: Mixing Epistemologies | |
| Popular | Michael E. Smith | At Home with the Aztecs: An Archaeologist Uncovers Their Daily Life | |
| 2016 | Scholarly | Robert L. Bettinger | Orderly Anarchy: Sociopolitical Evolution in Aboriginal California |
| Popular | Miranda Aldhouse-Green | Bog Bodies Uncovered: Solving Europe's Ancient Mystery | |
| 2015 | Scholarly | Steven A. Wernke | Negotiated Settlements: Andean Communities and Landscapes under Inka and Spanish Colonialism |
| Popular | Dimitra Papagianni and Michael A. Morse | The Neanderthals Rediscovered: How Modern Science is Rewriting their Story | |
| 2014 | Scholarly | Michael L. Galaty, Ols Lafe, Wayne E. Lee, and Zamir Tafilica | Light and Shadow: Isolation and Interaction in the Shala Valley of Northern Albania |
| Popular | Jerry D. Moore | The Prehistory of Home | |
| 2013 | Scholarly | Elizabeth Arkush | Hillforts of the Ancient Andes: Colla Warfare, Society and Landscape |
| Popular | Patrick Kirch | A Shark Going Inland is My Chief. The Island Civilization of Ancient Hawai’i | |
| 2012 | Scholarly | Matthew R. Des Lauriers | sland of Fogs: Archaeological and Ethnohistorical investigations of Isla Cedros, Baja California |
| Popular | Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo | Statues that Walked | |
| 2011 | Vernon James Knight, Jr. | Mound Excavations at Moundville: Architecture, Elites, and Social Order | |
| Steven R. Simms | Traces of Fremont: Society and Rock Art in Ancient Utah | ||
| 2010 | David W. Anthony | The Horse, the Wheel and Language | |
| Rebecca Yamin | Digging in the City of Brotherly Love | ||
| 2009 | Lothar von Falkenhausen | Chinese Society in the Age of Confucius (1000-250 BC): The Archaeological Evidence | |
| Jack Brink | Imagining Head-Smashed-In | ||
| 2008 | Tom D. Dillehay | Monuments, Empires and Resistance | |
| James W. Bradley | Before Albany | ||
| 2007 | Kristian Kristiansen & Thomas B. Larsson | Transformations | |
| Bradley T. Lepper | Ohio Archaeology: An Illustrated Chronicle of Ohio's Ancient American Indian Cultures | ||
| 2006 | Peter Bellwood | First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies | |
| James E. Bruseth and Toni S. Turner | From a Watery Grave: The Discovery and Excavation of La Salle's Shipwreck, La Belle | ||
| 2005 | Kelley Hays-Gilpin | Ambiguous Images: Gender and Rock Art | |
| Susan Toby Evans | Ancient Mexico and Central America: Archaeology and Culture History | ||
| 2004 | Brian Fagan | Before California: An Archaeologist Looks at Our Earliest Inhabitant | |
| T.J. (Tony) Wilkinson | Archaeological Landscapes of the Near East | ||
| 2003 | Kathleen Deagan and José María Cruxent | Archaeology at La Isabela: America's First European Town and Columbus's Outpost among the Tainos | |
| Thomas F. King, Randall S. Jacobson, Karen Ramey Burns, and Kenton Spading | Amelia Earhart's Shoes: Is the Mystery Solved? | ||
| 2002 | Lewis R. Binford | Constructing Frames of Reference: An Analytical Method for Archaeological Theory Building Using Ethnographic and Environmental Data Sets | |
| Ann-Marie Cantwell and Diana Dizerega Wall | Unearthing Gotham: The Archaeology of New York City | ||
| 2001 | William W. Fitzhugh and Elisabeth I. Ward | Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga | |
| 2000 | Clive Gamble | The Paleolithic Societies of Europe | |
| 1999 | Jon Muller | Mississippian Political Economy | |
| Mark Lehner | The Complete Pyramids | ||
| 1998 | Tom D. Dillehay | Monte Verde, A Pleistocene Settlement in Chile | |
| Stephen Plog | Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest | ||
| 1997 | Bruce D. Smith | The Emergence of Agriculture | |
| Carmel Schrire | Digging Through Darkness: Chronicles of an Archaeologist | ||
| 1996 | Mary C. Stiner | Honor among Thieves: A Zooarchaeological Study of Neandertal Ecology |
Student Fellowship Awards
Book Award (Scholarly and Popular)
Nomination/Submission Deadline: 15 Nov 2024
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 2022 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:
(a) I am not and have not ever been the subject of a discrimination or harassment lawsuit or related administrative complaint that resulted in an adverse finding; and(b) I do not have and have not had a current or pending disciplinary action such as suspension or termination of registration, resulting from a Register of Professional Archaeologists’ grievance investigation.
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
Committee Members and Ends of Terms
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
| 2024 | Scholarly | Kristian Kristiansen, Guus Kroonen, and Eske Willersleve (editors) | The Indo-European Puzzle Revisited: Integrating Archaeology, Genetics, and Linguistics |
| Popular | Yonatan Adler | The Origins of Judaism: An Archaeological-Historical Reappraisal | |
| 2023 | Scholarly | Frances M. Hayashida, Andrés , Diego Salazar (editors) | Rethinking the Inka: Community, Landscape, and Empire in the Southern Andes |
| Popular | Nan A. Rothschild, Amanda Sutphin, H. Arthur Bankoff, Jessica Striebel Maclean | Buried Beneath the City: An Archaeological History of New York | |
| 2022 | Scholarly | Wesley Bernardini, Stewart B. Koyiyumptewa, Gregson Schachner, and Leigh J. Kuwanwisiwma | Becoming Hopi: A History |
| Popular | Ruth M. Van Dyke & Carrie Heitman | The Greater Chaco Landscape: Ancestors, Scholarship, and Advocacy | |
| 2021 | Scholarly | D. Rae Gould, | Historical Archaeology and Indigenous Collaboration: Discovering Histories that Have Futures |
| Popular | Mark D. McCoy | Maps for Time Travelers: How Archaeologists Use Technology to Bring Us Closer | |
| 2020 | Scholarly | Christine A. Hastorf | The Social Archaeology of Food: Thinking about Eating from Prehistory to the Present |
| Popular | Carl M. Davis | Six Hundred Generations: An Archaeological History of Montana | |
| 2019 | Scholarly | Krish Seetah | Connecting Continents: Archaeology and History in the Indian Ocean World |
| Popular | Lynn Meskell | A Future in Ruins: UNESCO, World Heritage, and the Dream of Peace | |
| 2018 | Scholarly | Tom Dillehay | Where the Land Meets the Sea |
| Popular | Peter Bogucki | The Barbarians: Lost Civilizations | |
| 2017 | Scholarly | Carolyn E. Boyd | The White Shaman Mural: An Enduring Creation Narrative in Rock Art of the Lower Pecos |
| Scholarly (Honorable Mention) | Enrique Rodriguez-Alegría | The Archaeology and History of Colonial Mexico: Mixing Epistemologies | |
| Popular | Michael E. Smith | At Home with the Aztecs: An Archaeologist Uncovers Their Daily Life | |
| 2016 | Scholarly | Robert L. Bettinger | Orderly Anarchy: Sociopolitical Evolution in Aboriginal California |
| Popular | Miranda Aldhouse-Green | Bog Bodies Uncovered: Solving Europe's Ancient Mystery | |
| 2015 | Scholarly | Steven A. Wernke | Negotiated Settlements: Andean Communities and Landscapes under Inka and Spanish Colonialism |
| Popular | Dimitra Papagianni and Michael A. Morse | The Neanderthals Rediscovered: How Modern Science is Rewriting their Story | |
| 2014 | Scholarly | Michael L. Galaty, Ols Lafe, Wayne E. Lee, and Zamir Tafilica | Light and Shadow: Isolation and Interaction in the Shala Valley of Northern Albania |
| Popular | Jerry D. Moore | The Prehistory of Home | |
| 2013 | Scholarly | Elizabeth Arkush | Hillforts of the Ancient Andes: Colla Warfare, Society and Landscape |
| Popular | Patrick Kirch | A Shark Going Inland is My Chief. The Island Civilization of Ancient Hawai’i | |
| 2012 | Scholarly | Matthew R. Des Lauriers | sland of Fogs: Archaeological and Ethnohistorical investigations of Isla Cedros, Baja California |
| Popular | Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo | Statues that Walked | |
| 2011 | Vernon James Knight, Jr. | Mound Excavations at Moundville: Architecture, Elites, and Social Order | |
| Steven R. Simms | Traces of Fremont: Society and Rock Art in Ancient Utah | ||
| 2010 | David W. Anthony | The Horse, the Wheel and Language | |
| Rebecca Yamin | Digging in the City of Brotherly Love | ||
| 2009 | Lothar von Falkenhausen | Chinese Society in the Age of Confucius (1000-250 BC): The Archaeological Evidence | |
| Jack Brink | Imagining Head-Smashed-In | ||
| 2008 | Tom D. Dillehay | Monuments, Empires and Resistance | |
| James W. Bradley | Before Albany | ||
| 2007 | Kristian Kristiansen & Thomas B. Larsson | Transformations | |
| Bradley T. Lepper | Ohio Archaeology: An Illustrated Chronicle of Ohio's Ancient American Indian Cultures | ||
| 2006 | Peter Bellwood | First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies | |
| James E. Bruseth and Toni S. Turner | From a Watery Grave: The Discovery and Excavation of La Salle's Shipwreck, La Belle | ||
| 2005 | Kelley Hays-Gilpin | Ambiguous Images: Gender and Rock Art | |
| Susan Toby Evans | Ancient Mexico and Central America: Archaeology and Culture History | ||
| 2004 | Brian Fagan | Before California: An Archaeologist Looks at Our Earliest Inhabitant | |
| T.J. (Tony) Wilkinson | Archaeological Landscapes of the Near East | ||
| 2003 | Kathleen Deagan and José María Cruxent | Archaeology at La Isabela: America's First European Town and Columbus's Outpost among the Tainos | |
| Thomas F. King, Randall S. Jacobson, Karen Ramey Burns, and Kenton Spading | Amelia Earhart's Shoes: Is the Mystery Solved? | ||
| 2002 | Lewis R. Binford | Constructing Frames of Reference: An Analytical Method for Archaeological Theory Building Using Ethnographic and Environmental Data Sets | |
| Ann-Marie Cantwell and Diana Dizerega Wall | Unearthing Gotham: The Archaeology of New York City | ||
| 2001 | William W. Fitzhugh and Elisabeth I. Ward | Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga | |
| 2000 | Clive Gamble | The Paleolithic Societies of Europe | |
| 1999 | Jon Muller | Mississippian Political Economy | |
| Mark Lehner | The Complete Pyramids | ||
| 1998 | Tom D. Dillehay | Monte Verde, A Pleistocene Settlement in Chile | |
| Stephen Plog | Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest | ||
| 1997 | Bruce D. Smith | The Emergence of Agriculture | |
| Carmel Schrire | Digging Through Darkness: Chronicles of an Archaeologist | ||
| 1996 | Mary C. Stiner | Honor among Thieves: A Zooarchaeological Study of Neandertal Ecology |
Scholarships: for undergraduate and graduate student scholarships, see the Cheryl L. Wase Memorial Scholarship, Matthew Tobin Cappetta Archaeological Scholarship, Student Excellence in Archaeology Scholarships, and Native American Scholarships.