Archaeology Division Annual Report for 2002

Archaeology Division
Annual Report for 2002

Archaeology Division (AD) Executive Committee Membership: The AD Executive Committee Members for 2002 were: Patricia Crown (Chair), Meg Conkey (Chair-Elect), David Anderson (Treasurer), Ken Sassaman (Secretary), Jay Johnson (Publications Director), Cathy Costin (Program Editor), Robert Preucel (Member-at-large), Jeff Altshul (Member-at-large), and Lauren Bigelow (Student Member). James Skibo served as Chair of the AD Nominations Committee.

1) Membership. Membership in the AD stands at 1,417 members, which is an increase of 95 members over last year, largely in the Regular and Student member categories. We have also lost 9 international members and 3 joint members in the last year.

2) Financial Standing. The financial status of the AD continues to be good and permitted the AD to undertake several initiatives. As of September 2, 2002, the date of the last financial statement, we had net assets of $82,732.08. In large part, the high assets are due to several years of not publishing a publication. We are in the process of "catching up" on the publications series, and this will eventually draw down the high asset figure to a more normal level.

3) Annual Meeting. The AD reviewed over 300 paper submissions. 24 sessions recommended by the AD were included in the meetings out of 29 submitted. The AD had 2 invited sessions at the meetings this year, "25 years after the Individual in Prehistory," and "Owning the Past, building the future: Archaeology, Cultural Property, and Maya Identity." We also co-sponsored one session.

Tim Earle delivered the Distinguished Lecture for 2002, with about 200 individuals in the audience. Rosemary Joyce has been selected to give the Distinguished Lecture for 2003 at the AAA Annual Meetings in Chicago. Two previous distinguished lectures were published in American Anthropologist in 2002 (Stein and Ashmore).

In 1997, the Executive Committee of the Archeology Division established the Gordon R. Willey Award to recognize an outstanding contribution to archaeology published in American Anthropologist. The awards committee for 2002 was chaired by Meg Conkey. The recipient of the 2002 award is Susan D. Gillespie of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Florida for her article, "Rethinking Maya Social Organization: Replacing 'Lineage' with "House", published in September 2000.

At the AAA meetings, AD executive committee members attended meetings concerning the development of an AAA electronic publishing program and issues related to Section Fundraising.

4) Spring Meeting activities. The AD spring meeting is held at the Society for American Archaeology meetings, generally held in March. For the past three years, the AD has sponsored a session at the SAA meetings, as a form of outreach. At the 2002 Annual Meeting of the SAA in Denver, the AD sponsored a session, "Current Theoretical Perspectives and Directions in Sociocultural Anthropology: Implications for Archaeology" organized by Patricia Crown, Deborah Nichols and Susan Lees. The session included papers by socio-cultural anthropologists on current theory of relevance to archaeologists and generated considerable interest. At the 2003 Annual Meetings of the SAA in Milwaukee, the AD will again sponsor a session, "Gordon R. Willey's Contribution to American Archaeology: Contemporary Perspectives" organized by Jeremy Sabloff and William L. Fash.

Other issues dealt with at the spring AD Executive Committee meeting included a discussion of the Long Range Plan (presented by our liaison, Peggy Nelson), nominations for AD and AAA-wide elections, and the Willey Award nomination. The AD has undertaken a major effort to find and nominate candidates for AAA wide positions in addition to the positions on the AD executive committee. This is a very time-consuming task for the Secretary of the AD. We currently have 19 archaeologists serving in various capacities for the AAA, including President-Elect Liz Brumfiel.

5) Communications and Publications. Volume 10 of the Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association (A3PA), entitled, "Social Memory, Identity and Death: Archaeological Perspectives on Mortuary Ritual" came out in early 2002. Volume 11, "The Space and Place of Death", edited by Helaine Silverman and David Small came out over the summer, 2002. Due to a problem at the printers, the volume lacked a title on the front cover. Sticky labels to place on the volumes are being mailed to all AD members. The AD deeply regrets this error and has instituted additional checks of final print copies to ensure that this doesn't happen in the future. Volume 12 has been sent to the AAA offices to send on to the printer, and this should be out late this year or in early 2003. It is entitled, "Thinking Small: Global Perspectives on Microlithization," edited by Steven Kuhn and Robert Elston. Volume 14, "Archaeology IS Anthropology," edited by Susan Gillespie and Deborah Nichols, will also come out soon, probably in early 2003. Our publications director, Jay Johnson, has done a terrific job trying to catch up on the publications series after it had fallen behind by several issues. We now employ a copy editor to help with the volumes, making it easier for volume editors. Jay is also attempting to improve the distribution of A3PA by making new issues available on line thru a link with the AAA website.

6) Outreach. Outreach activities for this year included sponsoring a 3rd annual symposium at the Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The AAA also participates on the board of the Register of Professional Archaeologists (RPA).

At the AD's behest the AAA and AD jointly paid the fees to become a "sponsoring organization" for a 2 year trial period beginning January 2002. Jeffrey Altschul, Member at Large of the AD, became the first AAA representative to the RPA Board.

7) By laws. There were no changes in the bylaws this year.

8) Long Range Plan. Concerning issues of diversity (Objective V), the AAA-AD, in the Spring 2003 executive committee meeting, the AD will discuss the possibility of establishing travel grants for minority student members to attend the Annual Meetings and establishing a mentorship program for minorities.

9) Future Activities. The AAA-AD will continue its outreach to other professional archaeology associations/societies. We will continue to make our publications available on the internet. We are exploring ways to put some of our funds into endowments for our two major awards. We are also exploring the possibility of establishing grants for minority students in archaeology to attend the meetings and will discuss several possibilities at the spring meeting of the executive committee. We hope to increase membership by having a booth at the SAA meetings.

10) Long Range Plan. The AD was sent a copy of the AAA Long Range Plan and asked to comment on it and provide suggestions for specific objectives for the AD in the Plan. We particularly recommend including a task related to lobbying the US Congress on issues related to cultural preservation, a task focused on the relationship between anthropology and descendant communities, and outreach to other professional organizations in archaeology. We also want the AAA to reinstate a AAA table in the exhibits room at the SAA meetings, to encourage membership and sell A3PA publications. The AAA-AD Executive Committee members are willing to man such a booth for the meetings.

About AAA / Join AAA / Jobs & Careers / AAA Meetings / AAA Publications
Sections & Interest Groups / Staff Directory / Anthro Links / Support AAA

Questions or comments? We want to hear from you!
Contact us / AAA Privacy Policy