Society for American Archaeology Announces New Grant to Fund Precolumbian Archaeological Research
A generous new grant program administered by the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) will fund Latin American archaeological projects that show promise for significant contributions to understanding precolumbian Latin American indigenous cultures.
The H. and T. King Grant for Precolumbian Archaeology will award up to $60,000 per year to fund at least two, but preferably more, winning proposals for archaeological research, laboratory or collections study, or fieldwork focusing on the indigenous cultures from Mesoamerica, Central and South America, and the Caribbean.
“Grant support at this level for archaeological projects is difficult to find, particularly if you are an early career archaeologist or scholar,” said SAA President Susan M. Chandler. “The H. and T. King Grant will allow SAA to provide funding to the most capable scholars with the most promising projects, thus ensuring that important archaeological research vital to our understanding of precolumbian cultures is able to move forward.”
The grant program builds on the donors’ long-standing support of precolumbian scholarship.
“I have had the privilege of being able to study the precolumbian cultures of Latin America ever since the 1970s when we lived in Mexico,” said H. King. “And I have been able to work as an art historian for many years with the remarkable objects they left behind. My work would have hardly been possible without the work and writings of archaeologists, but much more remains to be discovered.”
The donors designed their grant to promote research that will lead to a fuller understanding of the complex history of precolumbian cultures.
“Given the dearth of historical records, it is so important that more archaeological work be done so that we can learn more about these extraordinary cultures which are, sadly, not well enough known when compared with their European counterparts,” T. King said.
“We want to contribute to this endeavor as much as we can,” said H. King. “Without scientific excavations, precolumbian art history is, in many ways, deprived of the ‘story’.
Complete applications for the H. and T. King Grant for Precolumbian Archaeology should be submitted by e-mail to htkgrant.saa@gmail.com by February 15, 2019. A full description of the program, eligibility requirements, and application materials is available on the Society’s website, www.saa.org.
La Society for American Archaeology King Grant Announcement
