2023 AAS Annual Meeting
Friday, September 15th-Sunday, September 17th
at the Fairfield Bay Conference Center
- If you choose to fill out the print-out form, please email to gmsteeno@uark.edu or mail to 2475 N. Hatch Avenue, Fayetteville, AR 72704.
Cobblestone Inn & Suites-Fairfield Bay (Call 501-825-3046 to book a room in our block)
The Arkansas Archeological Society’s 2023 Annual Meeting is in Fairfield Bay at the Fairfield Bay Conference Center. Located near Arkansas Highway 16 and the Mountain Ranch Golf Club, the conference center is in the heart of town directly across from the Cobblestone Inn & Suites- Fairfield Bay, where our hotel accommodations will be. Please call and mention that you are with the Arkansas Archeological Society to book your room in our block.
All of the usual Annual Meeting events will take place including the Friday evening reception, Saturday presentation of papers, the Archeological Research Fund silent auction and raffle, and the Saturday evening banquet with co-keynote speakers, Dr. Carla Klehm, Research Assistant Professor for the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST) at the University of Arkansas and Malcolm Williamson, Research Associate for CAST.
The keynote address will include a discussion of CAST’s 3D documentation of the Edgemont Shelter, which is located in Fairfield Bay. On Sunday, Dr. Emily Beahm, Station Archeologist at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, will be giving a tour of the shelter for interested Annual Meeting attendees. You will be able to sign up for the tour on the Annual Meeting Registration Form.
Call for Papers / Presentations / Posters
Papers, presentations, and posters are now being accepted for the 2023 Annual Meeting. Presentations are scheduled for Saturday, September 16th, and time slots are 20 minutes each. Topics on anything archeological, both pre-Contact and historic, are welcome. Papers are the traditional format, but other presentation ideas will be considered. There are a maximum of 13 available time slots for papers and a maximum of 2 posters, which are filled on a first come, first served basis, so please don’t wait until the last minute. Titles and abstracts must also be submitted for posters; there will be a description of each in the program. The posters will be placed on easels, so they will need to be attached to stiff poster board. If you would like to give a paper, a special presentation, or a poster please send a title and abstract by August 1 to Gillian Steeno, Program Chair, gmsteeno@uark.edu.
What typically happens at the Annual Meeting?
Each year, on or near the last weekend of September, the Arkansas Archeological Society holds its Annual Meeting. Besides the opportunity to visit with friends and have a great time, the meeting offers a variety of activities, as follows:
Friday evening kicks off the festivities with a reception for registered attendees.
On Saturday, papers on current archeological topics are presented by professional and amateur archeologists from throughout Arkansas, in a 20-minute format, usually with slides. The annual Business Meeting is held Saturday morning before and includes the presentation of certificates of appreciation and other special awards. (Award Nomination Form). After the lunch break, more papers are presented.
In addition, a highlight of the meeting is the Archeological Research Fund (ARF) Silent Auction and Raffle. Many wonderful items, including books, artwork, posters, jewelry, etc., are donated to raise money for the research fund. In addition to the Silent Auction, books, t-shirts, and other items are usually available for purchase. The Archeological Research Fund (ARF) provides money not available from other sources for archeological projects in Arkansas. Support from the Research Fund can help with different aspects of archeological research, such as radiocarbon analysis of charred material for dating or identification of small seeds or bones by specialists. The deadline for submissions to the ARF committee is August 15, 2023. Please send submissions to Jessica Cogburn at jessica.cogburn@arkansas.gov.
A banquet is held Saturday evening and after the dinner, a Keynote Speaker—a specially selected archeologist from outside Arkansas—makes a presentation on his or her work.
Sunday morning usually offers museum tours or tours to archeological sites.
For a list of past meetings, click here.