Two members of CIAMS, Matthew Velasco (Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology), and Anna Whittemore (Ph.D. Candidate, Anthropology) will receive awards at this year's Society for American Archaeology (SAA) Meeting.
The SAA is an international organization, founded in 1934, dedicated to archaeological research, interpretation and protection. Each year, scholars gather to present, learn about, and recognize current research and contributions to scholarship. This year, the SAA's 90th Annual Meeting will take place in Denver, CO, from April 23-27, 2025.
Professor Matthew Velasco, CIAMS’s Director of Undergraduate Studies, was named as a recipient of the "Presidential Recognition Award," along with Sara L. Juengst, Associate Professor, UNC Charlotte. They will be awarded for their outstanding service to the SAA as co-chairs of the Bioarchaeology Interest Group, which provided essential ethical consulting to the SAA Board and co-organized the 2025 Presidential Opening Session at the annual meeting.
In addition, CIAMS PhD student Anna Whittemore was named the recipient of the "SAA Student Paper Award," for her paper titled: "Defining a 'Good Candidate' for Skull Surgery: A Comparison of Cranial Fractures with and without the Trepanation Treatment in the Ancient Andes (ca. 800–1200 CE)."
Both awards will be given out at the annual meeting of the SAA on Friday evening, April 25th. Congratulations!
