Society for American Archaeology (SAA)

Basic Information

The Society for American Archaeology (SAA), founded in 1934, is “an international organization dedicated to the research, interpretation, and protection of the archaeological heritage of the Americas” (http://www.saa.org/). It has more than 7,000 members, including professional, student, and avocational archaeologists, and publishes two scholarly journals – American Antiquity and Latin American Antiquity – as well as a members’ magazine, The SAA Archaeological Record. Its annual meeting regularly draws more than 3,000 registrants. Policy is set by officers and a board of directors elected by the members of the society, and a professional staff is employed at its office in Washington, DC.

Major Impact

Guidelines for Ethical Practice

Protection of archaeological sites from looting and destruction has been a concern of the SAA since its beginning. In the first issue of American Antiquity, the society’s first president, Arthur C. Parker, wrote that one of the new...