Congratulations to the Berry site and the Exploring Joara Foundation for winning this year’s Excavation Outreach Contest! The AIA has long been aware that many archaeology projects combine public outreach programs with their research. The Excavation Outreach Contest provided the Institute with an opportunity to find out more about these exemplary outreach programs and to recognize the outstanding efforts of many of our members. Candidates were asked to submit a 100 word description of their…
Download as PDF Success of Second National Archaeology Day Emphasizes Event’s Growing Popularity The second National Archaeology Day was celebrated on October 20, 2012. On that day and throughout the month of October, the AIA, its Local Societies, and 125 Collaborating Organizations from around the world held more than 275 events in 49 U.S. states, eight Canadian provinces, and six other countries (Australia, Egypt, France, Germany, Ireland, and the United Arab Emirates). While final reports…
The 2013 Annual Meeting is just two shorts weeks away! The discounted group rate at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel has already sold out. However, we are thrilled to announce that our other Official AM hotel, the Grand Hyatt, has extended the booking window to December 24 to allow attendees the opportunity to stay at one of the conference hotels at the discounted group rate of $139/night. Please note there are only a few hundred rooms left at…
Roxborough State Park, History Colorado archaeologists, and the Denver Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society teamed up for an Archaeology Fair to celebrate National Archaeology Day. There were several booths set up to demonstrate the tools, diet, shelter, and climate of Archaic period Colorado. Visitors were given the opportunity to hike to view locations of past sites. Lectures and hands on activities were available to the public, as well as a film screening. Three…
“…whoever draws the longest Lot shall have the first Choice of the plantation…” And so, in 1739, Montserratian planter Robert Piper established in his last will and testament the means by which his two plantations—“Little Bay Plantation” and “Silver Hill Plantation”—were to be divided equally among his four sons, and in so doing, recorded in writing the common name of the plantation that has been the focus of the Little Bay Archaeology Project for the…
The Society Outreach Grant is a program that encourages AIA Local Societies to prepare and execute outreach activities in their local communities. Successful applicants propose society projects that focus on education, public outreach, and attracting new members to the AIA. As a winner of the Society Outreach Grant, the AIA Western Illinois Society hosted a series of events and lectures as part of their project, “Year of Western Illinois Archaeology.” Organized by Tom Sienkewicz, Danielle…
Download as PDF AIA Lecture Program begins 117th season For 116 years the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) has been sending leading scholars to the Institute’s Local Societies to share exciting new finds, cutting-edge research, and fresh ideas with AIA members and the general public. The 117th lecture season starts in September 2012. During the season the AIA will send almost 100 lecturers to give approximately 300 presentations at over 100 Local Societies in the…
Download as pdf Site Preservation Grant Awarded to Carr Plantation Archaeology Project on Montserrat The 1997 eruption of the Soufrière Hills Volcano on Montserrat covered the southern two-thirds of the Caribbean island under pyroclastic flow and volcanic ash. The eruption destroyed Montserrat’s capital, Plymouth, and a significant portion of the island’s prehistoric and historic settlements. The island’s populace was forced to relocate to the northern part of the island and a new capital was established…
BOSTON—February 9, 2012—The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) awarded its most recent Site Preservation Grant to the Carr Plantation Archaeology Project on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. The project, directed by Jessica Striebel MacLean of Boston University, will protect and raise awareness of the Carr Plantation—one of the few remaining European heritage sites on the island that dates back to the 17th century. The majority of Montserrat’s prehistoric and European settlements, historically concentrated…
Download Article (PDF) Introduction For several years, volunteer site stewardship has been recognized as an effective way to help protect archaeological and historical resources and several site stewardship programs have been developed throughout the United States. A 2007 survey by Sophia Kelly, published by the National Park Service as Technical Brief 22, listed many of the state programs and identified key elements of volunteer site stewardship. During the last four years, however, many changes have…
In 2007, underwater cave explorers Beto Nava, Alex Alvarez, and Franco Attolini chanced upon a human skeleton and the bones of extinct megafauna at the bottom of a deep pit within the Aktun Hu submerged cave system of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It was immediately apparent that this black abyss – later named Hoyo Negro – held the remains of a unique Late Pleistocene site. At the end of the last glacial maximum, sea levels were…
The Awards Ceremony of the 113th AIA Annual Meeting took place on Friday, January 6. 2014 AIA Award Winners Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement L. Hugh Sackett L. Hugh Sackett attended Oxford University (Merton College) where he received his Lit Hum (1949-53) MA and Dip. Ed. (1954). Since then, he has divided his time between teaching classics and classical archaeology at Groton School (Groton, MA) and fieldwork/study at the British School at Athens.…
As part of an AIA-funded Site Preservation grant, a community workshop was recently held at the World Heritage nominated site of Thimlich Ohinga in rural western Kenya. Thimlich Ohinga is a remarkable 500-year-old site composed of monumental stone walls that were built with unshaped stones and no mortar in a series of concentric enclosures, rising to almost 14 feet in places. The site served as a fortification and urban complex and, after initial abandonment,…
As part of the first National Archaeology Day celebration held on Saturday, October 22, 2011, the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), in partnership with Google Earth, unveiled a new Google Earth layer displaying popular archaeological sites located throughout the United States and Canada. The map includes an image and a brief description for each site, and links to the featured site’s main website and the AIA website. To create the map, AIA staff, contacted state…
Download Article (PDF) Stephen Mandal and Finola O’Carroll Irish Archaeology Field School Introduction The following article introduces a new model for the preservation of archaeological and architectural heritage within an urban green space by highlighting an ongoing project at Blackfriary in Trim, County Meath, Ireland. Blackfriary, a medieval Dominican friary, was founded by Geoffrey de Geneville, Lord of Trim, in 1263 a.d.The site is located 63 meters above sea level on the northern side of…
Download as PDF Saving Irish Sites! In April 2011, the AIA added two more archaeological sites, both located in Ireland, to the growing list of projects being supported by the Institute’s Site Preservation Program. Money to help save the Irish sites was raised through a special pledge drive held at the AIA Annual Spring Gala. The two sites, the Blackfriary at Trim in County Meath and the Dominican Priory at Tulsk in County Roscommon, are…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BOSTON—July 20, 2011—The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) will fund archaeological conservation and research efforts at two medieval sites in Ireland—Blackfriary at Trim and the Priory at Tulsk. Funds for the two sites were raised through a special pledge drive held at the AIA Annual Spring Gala in New York City in April 2011. The Blackfriary at Trim, County Meath was founded in 1263 AD by Geoffrey de Geneville, Lord of Trim. …
Download as PDF Beyond Lectures: AIA Local Societies and Public Outreach Each year the AIA’s National Lecture Program sends nearly 100 archaeologists around the U.S. and Canada to give approximately 300 lectures to over 100 local societies. There was a time when these lectures were the primary (and often only) outreach efforts made by the societies. But that was in the past. Today, societies are organizing everything from archaeology fairs to movie festivals and are…
In December 2010, working in conjunction with Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, Heritage Watch conducted its second community workshop on heritage awareness. The event took place at Kok Somroang village, northeast of Banteay Chhmar; where a burial ground known as Kok Amak was pillaged by looters in 2010. The burial ground is believed to date to the Iron Age (ca. 500 B.C. to A.D. 500); yet no archaeological research at the site has been…
The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and the US Committee of the Blue Shield (USCBS) call on the international community to protect the ancient sites and antiquities of Libya, which are now facing very real threats of damage and destruction caused by the civil unrest and military action taking place there. While our thoughts are primarily for the safety of the people harm’s way, the cultural heritage and archaeological resources located in Libya are irreplaceable…
