Society for American Archaeology

Professional association

The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) is a professional association for the archaeology of the Americas. It was founded in 1934 and its headquarters are in based in Washington, D. C. as of 2019, it has 7,500 members. Its current president is Deborah L. Nichols. Notable past presidents include Dean R. Snow. The mission statement of the SAA is to expand understanding and appreciation of humanity's past as achieved through systematic investigation of the archaeological record; promote research, stewardship of archaeological resources, public and professional education, and the dissemination of knowledge; and serve the public interest. It organizes a major academic conference every year and publishes several journals, including American Antiquity.

In April 2019, the SAA's 84th annual meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was the subject of controversy due to the attendance of David Yesner, a former professor of archaeology at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA). Prior to the meeting, a Title IX investigation at UAA had found Yesner guilty of "decades of sexual misconduct". UAA banned him from its premises and any affiliated events, and advised students to contact the police if they saw him on campus. Despite this, Yesner was allowed to attend the SAA annual meeting. Kristina Killgrove also resigned her position as the chair of the SAA's media relations committee in protest. The SAA subsequently issued an apology but claimed that it did not receive complaints about Yesner's presence at the conference until its second day, and acted upon them "within hours".

The SAA publishes American Antiquity, Latin American Antiquity and Advances in Archaeological Practice. It also publishes a magazine, the SAA Archaeological Record, previously known as the Bulletin of the Society for American Archaeology (until 1990) and the SAA Bulletin (1990–2001).