General Information
The SAS has a longstanding program of awards for outstanding student conference posters in the realm of archaeometry. The prestigious R.E. Taylor Student Poster Award acknowledges innovative student contributions to archaeological research through the use of scientific methods, and has enhanced the careers of prominent young scholars and professionals for more than two decades. The award is named in honor of Professor Emeritus R. Ervin Taylor of the University of California at Riverside for his outstanding contributions in the development and application of radiocarbon dating in archaeological research and his dedication to the founding of The Society for Archaeological Sciences, his leading role as President (1980) and General Secretary (1981-2002) of the Society, and his committed service as Editor of the SAS Bulletin. Professor Taylor's many valuable contributions were recognized by the Society of American Archaeology in 2004 with the Fryxell Award for Interdisciplinary Research.
These awards are typically given yearly at the Society for American Archaeology annual meeting and every other year at the International Symposium on Archaeometry. In some years poster or presentation competitions are administered by SAS at other conferences under the R.E. Taylor program or through SAS sponsorship of awards judged by the conference organizers. Event organizers interested in an SAS-sponsored award should review our co-sponsorship guidelines and contact SAS as far in advance of the event as possible.
R. E. Taylor Student Poster Award Competition at the 89th SAA Annual Meeting
The Society for Archaeological Sciences invites applications for the R.E. Taylor Poster Award at the 89th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in New Orleans, Louisiana. The award consists of $200 USD and a complimentary 2024 SAS membership. A runner-up prize will include $100 USD and SAS membership. Both winners are expected to provide the SAS with a ~500 word extended abstract based on their poster for publication in the SAS Bulletin. The Society will further publicize the winners and their research via social media.
Entries will be judged on the significance of the archaeological problem, appropriateness of the methods used, soundness of conclusions, quality of the poster display, and oral presentation of the poster by the student, who should be the first author in order to be considered. Students should submit an email application to Tatsuya Murakami (
Good luck to everyone!
2023 R.E. Taylor Award Recipient: 88th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Portland, Oregon
Valentina Martinoia (Simon Fraser University): "Social inequality in the Middle-Late Neolithic? Stable isotope analysis of the individuals from Beli Manastir-Popova zemlja (Slavonia, Croatia)"
Beli Manastir (Slavonia, Croatia) is the largest Middle-Late Neolithic habitation site discovered in Croatia. A total of 38 individuals were found in different burial positions and different areas of this site, and sometimes within burial clusters, with only 3 individuals buried with abundant grave goods. The burials were, in most cases, placed between or alongside buildings, although some of them could be found in pits or the channel located in the north-eastern part of the site. Interestingly, while adult males and females are equally represented, almost half of the total
number of inhumations belong to subadults, two-thirds of which were females, which suggests possible sex selection. Some authors (Los, 2020; Freilich et al., 2021) suggested that the possible sex selection, the differences in burial positions and locations, the presence of burial clusters, as well as of grave goods are likely an indication of different social statuses within this Neolithic community. We therefore carried out carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur stable isotope analysis to investigate both the long- and short-term diet and mobility of the individuals from Beli Manastir to test whether the hypothesis of social inequality at this site can be corroborated by dietary and mobility isotopic data.
You can see the poster below:
Honorable mention: Amanda Dobrov (University of New Mexico): A Clean Break: A Departure from Standard Typologies through an Investigation of Pottery Temper at Joshua Tree National Park
This poster will focus on my current master’s research and is in joint partnership between the University of New Mexico, Joshua Tree National Park, and the descendant communities from the California Desert. The project developed through consultation with the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, and Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. These consultations resulted in the research questions being pursued; questions that tribal consultants felt would be most useful and relevant to them. The overarching goal of the project is to create identifiable groups for the pottery found in Joshua Tree National Park. Over the years, a number of different scholars have attempted to create pottery typologies for this area. The results of these studies have yielded confusing, often contradictory descriptions of the pottery and generally unhelpful guides. The typology generated as a part of my master’s project will help standardize pottery recording by park and tribal archaeologists to attempt to better connect descendant communities with use areas in the park. This project differs from past attempts to create typologies in this area by focusing on the compositional makeup of the sherds
through both binocular and petrographic analysis.
You can see the poster below:
