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 (tmurakam@tulane.edu) by Sunday April 20th, 2025. Applications must include the title and abstract of the poster, evidence that you have registered for the SAA meeting (receipt), and proof of your status as an undergraduate or graduate student (valid student ID or signed letter from your department chair). If your poster is complete at the time of application, please include a PDF copy with the other documents. Confirmation that your application has been received will be sent to you; please keep this email confirmation. Initial applications submitted on time without the poster that are still missing the poster at the time of the second deadline will be excluded from consideration. Judges will be present in person at the SAA meeting to evaluate posters and to ask students questions about their research. Prizes will be awarded at the SAA meeting following the end of the last poster session.

Good luck to everyone!

2025 R.E. Taylor Award Recipient: 90th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Denver, Colorado 

Sophie Forbes (The University of Georgia): Five Thousand Years of Oyster Harvesting on Ossabaw Island, Georgia: A Sclerochronological Analysis

This research project seeks to understand how Indigenous and postcontact inhabitants of Ossabaw Island harvested a key coastal resource over 5,000 years from the earliest year-round inhabitation during the Late Archaic (ca. 3000 BCE) to the Plantation period (ca. AD 1850). Here we present the results of incremental oxygen isotope analysis on eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) from the Hokfv-Mocvse Shell Ring, Bluff Field, Finley’s Pond, and South End sites. This method provides a way to determine if oyster harvesting patterns changed through time via people’s preference for collection during specific seasons as well as their selection for different habitats of harvest. Comparison of this study with others in the region show that oyster harvesting primarily in colder months and extensive oyster harvesting across estuarineenvironments is common at Indigenous sites throughout the Georgia Bight from the Late Archaic into the Mississippian. Conversely, during the Plantation period, enslaved individuals harvested oysters from the spring and winter and likely from a single high salinity environment.

Olumide Ojediran (University of Colorado Boulder) Understanding Human-Equid Relationships in Old Oyo Empire, West Africa

Equid played a central role within the Old Oyo Empire, a prominent West African state that flourished from ca. 1570 to 1836 in what is now southwest Nigeria and southern Benin Republic, stretching from savanna to the coastlands. While historical records clearly document the roles of equids-particularly horses-in warfare and transportation across West Africa, little is known about their other cultural roles, or the social-ecological systems that maintained horses amidst the challenges of parasite-borne diseases such as trypanosomiasis, which would have had significant implications for the health and longevity of equines in the region. By analyzing palaeopathology, cut marks, and age-at-death of equine remains from the 17th century site of Ede-Ile-a prominent colony of the empire, evidence reveals that horses were not only integral to mobility and warfare but also played a role in human diets and as secondary products. Donkeys, though historically overlooked, also served important functions. Additionally, horse bones were repurposed as tools, suggesting an adaptive and resourceful engagement with equids beyond their conventional roles.