European Association of Archaeologists


The European Association of Archaeologists is a membership-based, not-for-profit association, open to archaeologists and other related or interested individuals or bodies in Europe and beyond. It was founded in 1994 at an inaugural meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where its Statutes were formally approved, and recognized by the Council of Europe in 1999. EAA has had over 15,000 members on its database from 75 countries. EAA holds an annual conference and publishes the flagship journal, the European Journal of Archaeology. The EAA also publishes an in-house newsletter, The European Archaeologist, and two monograph series. The registered office of the association is in Prague, Czech Republic.
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Mission

The EAA offers Statutes, Code of practice and Principles, and code of practice for fieldwork training. The EAA further promotes international cooperation though interactions with Affiliate Organizations. In 1999, the EAA was granted consultative status with the Council of Europe, which in 2003 was upgraded to participatory status.

Governance

The EAA is governed by an Executive Board elected by full Members of the Association. The Executive Board comprises three or four officers and six ordinary members. The current president is Eszter Bánffy and former presidents include:

Awards

The EAA awards prizes and honours relevant to its aims. These include the European Archaeological Heritage Prize, the EAA Student Award, the EAA Book Prize and Honorary membership in the EAA.

European Archaeological Heritage Prize

The EAA instituted the European Archaeological Heritage Prize in 1999. An independent committee awards the prize annually to an outstanding individual, institution, government or a officer or body

Student Award

A student award was instituted in 2002 and is awarded annually for the best paper presented at the EAA Annual Meeting by a student or an archaeologist working on a dissertation.
  • 2002 - Laura M. Popova
  • 2003 - Anita Synnestvedt
  • 2004 - Jonathan D. Le Huray
  • 2005 - Marta Caroscio
  • 2006 - NOT AWARDED
  • 2007 - Goce Naumov
  • 2008 - NOT AWARDED
  • 2009 - Pamela Cross
  • 2010 - Camilla Norman
  • 2011 - Heide Wrobel Norgaard
  • 2012 - Maria Leena Lahtinen
  • 2013 - Oliver Dietrich
  • 2014 - Can Aksoy and Ziyacan Bayar
  • 2015 - Patrycja Kupiec, and special commendation to Christine Cave and Alex Davies
  • 2016 - Sian Mui and Shumon Hussain
  • 2017 - Emma Brownlee and Yftinus van Popta
  • 2018 - Hanna Kivikero
  • 2019 - Annabell Zander
  • 2020 - Samantha Leggett, and honorary mention to Tomas Janek
  • 2021 - Karen O'Toole
  • 2022 - Paloma Cuello del Pozo
  • 2023 - Mathilde Vestergaard Meyer
  • 2024 - Giacomo Casucci
  • 2025 - Daniel Alonso Naranjo

EAA Book Prize

The EAA annually awards the EAA Book Prize.
EAA Book Prize winning publications:

Annual meetings

The EAA inaugural meeting took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia in September 1994. The official first Annual Meeting took place in September 1995 in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and an Annual Meeting has taken place every year since. The table below shows the Meeting locations and dates.
Ljubljana, SloveniaSeptember 22–25, 1994
1stSantiago de Compostela, SpainSeptember 20–25, 1995
2ndRiga, LatviaSeptember 25–29, 1996
3rdRavenna, ItalySeptember 24–28, 1997
4thGothenburg, SwedenSeptember 23–27, 1998
5thBournemouth, United KingdomSeptember 14–19, 1999
6thLisbon, PortugalSeptember 12–17, 2000
7thEsslingen am Neckar, GermanySeptember 19–23, 2001
8thThessaloniki, GreeceSeptember 24–28, 2002
9thSaint Petersburg, RussiaSeptember 10–14, 2003
10thLyon, FranceSeptember 5–12, 2004
11thCork, IrelandSeptember 5–11, 2005
12thKraków, PolandSeptember 19–24, 2005
13thZadar, CroatiaSeptember 18–23, 2007
14thLa Valletta, MaltaSeptember 16–21, 2008
15thRiva del Garda, ItalySeptember 15–20, 2009
16thThe Hague, NetherlandsSeptember 1–5, 2010
17thOslo, NorwaySeptember 14–18, 2011
18thHelsinki, FinlandAugust 30 – September 1, 2012
19thPlzeň, Czech RepublicSeptember 4–8, 2013
20thIstanbul, TurkeySeptember 10–14, 2014
21stGlasgow, United KingdomSeptember 2–5, 2015
22ndVilnius, LithuaniaAugust 31 – September 4, 2016
23rdMaastricht, NetherlandsAugust 30 – September 3, 2017
24thBarcelona, SpainSeptember 5–8, 2018
25thBern, SwitzerlandSeptember 4–8, 2019
26thVirtual, onlineAugust 26–30, 2020
27thKiel, GermanySeptember 8–11, 2021
28thBudapest, HungaryAugust 31 – September 3, 2022
29thBelfast, United KingdomAugust 30 – September 2, 2023
30thRome, ItalyAugust 26–31, 2024
31stBelgrade, SerbiaAugust–September, 2025
*32ndAthens, GreeceAugust–September, 2026

* Those marked with an asterisk are upcoming

Publications

The EAA publishes the quarterly European Journal of Archaeology, originally the Journal of European Archaeology, the monograph series THEMES In Contemporary Archaeology, Elements: The Archaeology of Europe series and an electronic newsletter, The European Archaeologist. EJA is currently co-edited by Catherine J. Frieman and Zena Kamash.

Oscar Montelius Foundation

In 2013, the European Association of Archaeologists established the Oscar Montelius Foundation to support archaeological research, professional development, and heritage practice in Europe. The foundation is named after the Swedish archaeologist Oscar Montelius, known for his contributions to prehistoric archaeology.
The aims of the Oscar Montelius Foundation include promoting the exchange of archaeological information, encouraging ethical and scientific standards in archaeological practice, supporting the interests of professional archaeologists, and fostering cooperation with other archaeological and heritage organisations with similar objectives. The foundation also supports initiatives connected with the activities of the EAA, including professional development and scholarly exchange among its members.
The Oscar Montelius Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees appointed by the EAA Executive Board. Trustees are typically former members of the Executive Board and serve fixed terms, with limitations on reappointment. An auditor appointed by the Executive Board oversees the foundation’s financial accounts.

Early Career Achievement Prize

The Early Career Achievement Prize is an annual award established by the Oscar Montelius Foundation in 2021 to recognise outstanding contributions by early career professionals in archaeology and related heritage fields. The prize is presented during the opening ceremony of the EAA Annual Meeting.
Eligible nominees are early career researchers or practitioners, defined as individuals who have completed a PhD or MA/MS within five years of the nomination submission or who are within five years of their first professional appointment. Self-nominations are not permitted; nominations must be submitted by qualified proposers, including EAA members, academic supervisors, and directors of archaeological or heritage institutions.
Candidates are assessed according to four criteria: societal impact, innovative impact, interdisciplinary impact, and international impact, recognising contributions that demonstrate influence beyond disciplinary or national boundaries.
Recipients of the prize receive a diploma and three years of EAA membership funded by the Oscar Montelius Foundation. The foundation may also contribute to travel and accommodation costs for recipients to attend the Annual Meeting. Honorary mentions may be awarded in some years.

Recipients

2021 – Anita Radini2022 – Constanze Hedwig Schattke2023 – Abel Ruiz-Giralt2024 – Louise Cardoso de Mello2025 – Jorge Rouco Collazo