SAS Bulletin
Volume 20 Number 1/2 January /June 1997
Vice-Presidents' Annual Reports 1996-97
Vice President for Inter-society Relations
The 1996/1997 year brought a new direction
for the Inter-Society Relations committee. In concert with Arleyn Simon
and the Membership Committee, we have begun the planning stages for more
intensive contact with other organizations to encourage membership, and
internet/web based outreach with the SAS Web master. The first step was
an internet mailing to the International Association for Obsidian Studies
(IAOS) membership pointing to the number of obsidian studies articles in
JAS and the reduction in price to full SAS members. This included a letter
to the current President, Jon Ericson.
Along this line, IAOS is planning
to present a workshop at the 1998 SAA meetings in Seattle focusing on archaeological
obsidian studies for archaeologists. In the above letter I noted that a
number of SAS members will probably be participating, and cross-advertising
between the organizations, as well as sponsorship may be mutually beneficial.
I have yet to receive an answer, but will be following up shortly.
I continue to send our meeting dates
to various newsletters, but am surprised to see how few actually list it.
I will continue to do so, and persistence will eventually pay.
Probably most important, is the proposal
by my lab, the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology, in association with
SAS, to host the 2000 Archaeometry Symposium at Berkeley. The lab and particularly
the museum frequently host conferences of the size typical of the Archaeometry
Symposium, and the campus and Bay Area are a particularly pleasant and
functional area for this type of conference. Mexico City and Beijing have
also tenured proposals, but we are confident ours will be given serious
consideration. The lab, the Archaeological Research Facility, and museum
recently brought Mike Tite, the standing committee chair, to Berkeley to
show off the facilities. We hope that he was impressed. As usual, any member
that has inter-society type news, please forward it, and I'll act on it
appropriately.
M. Steven Shackley
shackley@qal.Berkeley.EDU
Vice President for Membership Development
SAS Seeks To Renew and Add New Members Join our quest to
understand the past, using the tools of tomorrow!
The Society for Archaeological Sciences
is launching a membership campaign to build the society for the next century.
In the most recent SAS Bulletin, SAS President Rob Sternberg emphasized
that SAS members share the common goal of encouraging interdisciplinary
collaboration and cooperation among scientists in archaeology and in the
physical and natural sciences. SAS members represent an international cross-section
of disciplines including anthropology, biology, botany, chemistry, classics,
geochemistry, geochronology, geography, geology, metallurgy, and zoology.
Approximately 25% of the membership is non-North American and we want to
continue this growth of SAS as a truly international archaeometric community.
The Society for Archaeological Sciences
strives to highlight the contributions of archaeometry to archaeological
research and education. Through its activities, SAS endeavors to enhance
funding and research opportunities for interdisciplinary archaeometric
research. The Society is instrumental in the publication of the refereed
series: Advances in Archaeological and Museum Science (Plenum Press); the
sponsorship of conferences and conference sessions that encourage data-sharing
within archaeometry and explain those of allied fields; the publication
of SAS Bulletin, a substantial, indexed quarterly with research updates,
laboratory profiles, conference summaries, book reviews, job announcements,
and extensive calendars of meetings.
One of the best ways we can highlight and
promote the contributions of archaeometry to archaeology is by increasing
our membership and the corresponding readership of the SAS Bulletin and
the Journal of Archaeological Science. The SAS web site (http://www.wisc.edu/anthropology/sas/sas.htm)
as well as the moderated discussion group SASnet provide instant access
to information on the society, meetings, conferences, and participation
and queries into topics of research interest.
There are currently 354 active SAS members.
We believe that membership in SAS will increase and exceed the previous
high (of 500+ members) by launching a proactive membership program which
will benefit current and new members of the Society. Several steps are
included in this program: 1) The SAS executive board has undertaken the
reactivation of the SAS Bulletin under the editorship of Rob Tykot; 2)
The SASnet and the SAS web site are continuously active and updated by
web master Jim Burton; 3) The SAS will have increased visibility at national
and international meetings through membership booths in exhibit halls,
well advertised general meetings, SAS sponsored symposia; awards for best
archaeometric poster and paper by students. The SAS is planning these activities
for the upcoming 63rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology,
March 25-29, 1998, Seattle, Washington, USA (http://www.saa.org)
and the 31st International Symposium on Archaeometry, April 27- May 1,
1998, Hungarian National Museum, Budapest, Hungary (http://origo.hnm.hu/ametry98/).
We are sending a mailing to all SAS members
asking them to update their mailing address, email, phone, and fax numbers.
These must be regularly updated to ensure that members receive the publications
(Bulletin and JAS) and communications (SASnet) to which they are entitled.
We are also including new member brochures in this mailing and encourage
you to recruit other full members and student members among your colleagues.
Inquiries regarding membership status should be addressed
to the Secretary/Treasurer, Felicia Beardsley, Department of Anthropology,
University. of California/Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521-0418 USA,
tel 909-787-5524; fax 909-787-5409; e-mail beards@citrus.ucr.edu
Arleyn W. Simon
arleyn.simon@asu.edu
Report from the Web manager/VP for Electronic Communications
SASnet:
In contrast to the explosively exponential
growth of the Internet this year, SASnet has increased its subscriber base
slowly and steadily, from approximately 100 subscribers at the beginning
of 1996 to an easily-managed, moderately-sized list of 437 by June 1997.
This is partly the result of the new open-door policy, intended to increase
interaction between archaeometrists and those not trained in physical sciences
but who need access to archaeometric expertise and to increase the visibility
of the SAS among those who are not currently members. The average number
of messages has increased accordingly from approximately 6 messages a month
to nearly two dozen per month...still a relatively quiet list for it's
size. To avoid typical list problems such as "spams" and "flame wars",
SASnet was configured as a moderated list. Fortunately I have not ever
had to decline posting any message because it was abusive or inflammatory.
SASnet has remained a most civil and informative list that has been a real
pleasure to manage - kudos to the current subscribers!
SASweb:
The SAS now has a home on the Internet
(http://www.wisc.edu/anthropology/sas/sas.htm) through the courtesy of
the University of Wisconsin's Department of Anthropology. Web pages, on-line
since April 1996, include society information, Bulletin contents, email
addresses of the SAS membership, and extensive links to archaeometric facilities,
publications, meetings, and other resources. Visitors to the SAS home pages
have slowly increased from approximately 100/month in May 1996 to about
360/month in May 1997. A majority of these visitors are from the U.S.,
the U.K., and Canada, but a significant percentage each month, usually
in the lower double digits, are from other countries in Europe, South America,
Australia and Asia. The most popular document, by far, is the compilation
of abstracts from the 1996 International Archaeometry Conference. Suggestions
for additional content, including relevant on-line links, are invited.
James Burton
jhburton@facstaff.wisc.edu
To the SAS Bulletin Contents
To the Society for Archaeological Sciences