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 (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) by Sunday April 7, 2024. 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!

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: