Society for American Archaeology

Society for American Archaeology
Name	Society for American Archaeology
Formation	1934
Type	Professional association
Purpose	Archaeology in the Americas
Headquarters	United States
Region served	Americas
Membership	Archaeologists, students, institutions

Contents

Society for American Archaeology is a North American professional association dedicated to the scientific study and preservation of the archaeological record of the Americas, spanning regions such as Mesoamerica, Andean civilization, Mississippian culture, Ancestral Puebloans, and Archaic period (North America). Founded in the 20th century, the society connects practitioners working at sites from Paleo-Indian period localities and Clovis culture camps to historic-era assemblages tied to Spanish colonization of the Americas, British colonization of the Americas, and French colonialism in North America. It engages with scholarly communities associated with institutions such as Smithsonian Institution, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, American Museum of Natural History, Field Museum of Natural History, and National Park Service.

History

The organization was established amid debates over research priorities that involved figures associated with Alfred V. Kidder, Ales Hrdlicka, J. Alden Mason, and contemporaries from institutions like Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, Columbia University, and University of Chicago. Early activities intersected with federal programs including the Works Progress Administration and with regional surveys such as those at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, Mesa Verde National Park, and Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Twentieth-century controversies about site stewardship involved legal frameworks like the Antiquities Act and later statutes such as the National Historic Preservation Act and Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), bringing the society into dialogue with tribal governments including Navajo Nation, Pueblo peoples, Lakota people, and Haudenosaunee nations. The society’s trajectory reflects shifts in theoretical frameworks from culture-historical archaeology through processual archaeology to post-processual archaeology, influenced by scholars connected to Lewis Binford, Gordon Willey, Julian Steward, and Kathleen Kenyon.

The group declares goals that align with professional standards advocated by entities such as the Society for Historical Archaeology, American Anthropological Association, International Council on Monuments and Sites, and the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Objectives emphasize responsible research at sites from Easter Island-scale world heritage locales to local collections in museums like Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and university repositories at Yale University and University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The society promotes practices that engage descendant communities including Cherokee Nation, Tohono O'odham Nation, Lakota Sioux, and Inuit, and supports compliance with laws such as Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and international conventions such as the 1970 UNESCO Convention.

Membership historically included professionals affiliated with museums like the Smithsonian Institution, universities such as University of California, Los Angeles and University of Arizona, cultural resource management firms, students, avocational archaeologists, and indigenous scholars from nations such as Maya peoples and Mapuche. Governance is exercised through elected officers, a board comparable to boards of American Association for the Advancement of Science and committees modeled after panels used by the National Research Council and National Endowment for the Humanities. Leadership has featured presidents and councilors who have worked on projects at Poverty Point National Monument, Serpent Mound, Monte Albán, and Tikal.

The society publishes peer-reviewed journals and monographs comparable to publications by Cambridge University Press, University of California Press, and journals like American Antiquity, Latin American Antiquity, and multiple series that distribute research on topics from Zooarchaeology at Mesa Verde to lithic analyses from Clovis culture sites. Its periodicals serve as outlets for scholarship related to fieldwork at sites such as Copán, Cerro Sechín, and Pukara de Quitor, and for methodological advances influenced by scholars associated with Radiocarbon dating innovations and isotopic studies practiced at laboratories like Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Annual meetings convene researchers, students, government officials, and tribal representatives in venues similar to those used by American Anthropological Association and Society for Historical Archaeology, often hosted in cities with major museums such as Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Denver. Sessions cover fieldwork reports from regions including Amazon basin, Caribbean, Pacific Northwest, Great Plains, and Andes, and incorporate panels on repatriation involving institutions such as Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and American Museum of Natural History. Workshops address methods like GIS, remote sensing, and ancient DNA analysis pioneered at centers such as Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

The society confers awards recognizing scholars and projects connected to figures and places such as Gordon Willey, Alfred V. Kidder, Pueblo Bonito, and Cahokia, and honors work in conservation, public outreach, and scholarship comparable to prizes given by Society for Historical Archaeology and American Philosophical Society. Awards celebrate lifetime achievement, early career research, and contributions to ethical practice involving collaborations with tribal historic preservation offices and institutions including National Park Service and Smithsonian Institution.

The organization engages in advocacy regarding laws and policies like Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), National Historic Preservation Act, and the 1970 UNESCO Convention, and issues guidelines aligned with ethical statements from American Anthropological Association and International Council on Monuments and Sites. Its ethics statements address access to collections at repositories such as Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and repatriation decisions involving descendant communities like Hopi Tribe, Zuni people, and Arapaho. The society participates in debates over stewardship at sites including Mesa Verde National Park, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, and Serpent Mound, and collaborates with agencies such as the National Park Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs.