Welcome to the online media center of the Archaeological Institute of America, the oldest and largest organization in North America devoted to the world of archaeology. Links here take you to information about AIA News, Awards, and Events and to backgrounders about the AIA.

AIA News
Links to the latest updates about AIA programs and initiatives

AIA Awards
The 2009 winners of AIA awards presented at the Annual Meeting

AIA Events
Information about special lectures and events and more

• Sustainability Lessons from Easter Island, Boston, MA, February 23, 2009


• AIA's Benefit Gala, New York, NY, April 28, 2009


• AIA Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA, January 6-9, 2010

AIA Fact Sheet
A summary of the AIA's history, mission, and programs

The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is the oldest and largest archaeological organization in the United States.

Founded: 1879 by Harvard Professor Charles Eliot Norton and a group of Boston intellectuals.
Chartered: by Act of Congress in 1906
Headquarters: Boston, MA
Archaeology Magazine Publication Office: New York City

Mission: The Archaeological Institute of America promotes a vivid and informed public interest in the cultures and civilizations of the past, supports archaeological research, fosters the sound professional practice of archaeology, advocates the preservation of the world's archaeological heritage, and represents the discipline in the wider world.

Members: The AIA has nearly 250,000 members and subscribers including professional archaeologists, students and members of the general public from all walks of life, united by their shared passion for understanding and preservation of the human past. Ninety percent reside in the U.S.

Organization: AIA members may belong to 107 local societies (chapters) in the U.S. and Canada with one in Athens, Greece, and one in the Iberian Penisula. Societies are located in most states in the U.S.

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AIA FAQ
Frequently asked questions about the AIA's positions on looting, collecting, and museum acquisition policies

Q: What is at the heart of the disagreement of between museums and private collectors and the AIA?

A: The disagreement between museums and private collectors and AIA is about looting of archaeological sites and the incentive that the market in undocumented antiquities gives to that looting. The AIA believes that looting destroys the context of any physical object by taking it out of its environment in an uncontrolled manner.

The most important element to the scientific study of historic and cultural materials from the past is the organized gathering of data done by archaeologists. This establishes the context of the object being studied. The context reveals such things as the age of objects, how they relate to the culture of the time, what their social and cultural uses were, where and how they were made; in short, context offers a window into past cultures. This does not deny or ignore the aesthetic qualities of objects but rather provides valuable information that may enhance aesthetic appreciation of artistically created works from the past.

Whenever context is destroyed, the scientific data are destroyed with it. And when a site is looted we lose the context - the ability to learn from the past. That�s what looting does.

Art museums and private collectors do not endorse looting. But some museums and private collectors occasionally acquire and display objects that do not have a specific provenance. That means we do not know where the object came from or the circumstances of how or where it was found. The object lacks context.

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