Archaeology Southwest at SAA 2025: Where to Find Us

Sara Anderson, Director of Outreach

Banner image: R0uge, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

(April 23, 2025)—As we head to the Society for American Archaeology’s annual meeting in Denver this week, I’ve been reflecting on something we heard loud and clear during our Appreciative Inquiry process last year: “Archaeology Southwest shows up.”

It wasn’t about any one project. It was about presence. Being there. Listening. Supporting. Staying in the conversation, even when it’s complex or uncomfortable. It’s the kind of feedback that sticks with you and reminds us why we do this work.

Showing up matters, especially now. Whether it’s a panel, a poster session, or an off-the-cuff hallway conversation, we believe that being there is a crucial part of making change happen. So, we’re coming to Denver with open ears and open hearts.

And this year, we’re taking our commitment to showing up to a whole new level.

We’re officially exhibiting at SAA 2025—something new for us, and we couldn’t be more excited! We’ll be at Booth #111, and we’d love for you to come say hello, chat about our latest projects, meet the incredible folks who make it all happen, and sign up for a membership. Whether you’re into collaborative research, preservation and protection efforts, or free swag, we’ve got something for everyone.

But that’s not all—we’ll be all over the conference, with several of our team members presenting and participating in key discussions. Here’s where you can find us:

Staff Presentations, Symposia, and Posters

Thursday, April 24 

Amy Gillaspie
Poster Presentation
Title: Preliminary Zooarchaeological Faunal Analysis from the Jones-Miller Bison Kill Site in the American Great Plains (with SJ Casillas, Monica Rose Eckels, and Jamie Hodgkins)
Session: General Poster Session: Zooarchaeology Part 3: Taphonomy and Site Formation
Room: Poster Hall in the Plaza Ballroom
Time: 1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m 

Friday, April 25

Steve Nash
Paper Presentation
Title: Collections-Based Research, Public Engagement, and Repatriation in the 21st Century
Session: General Session: Archaeology and Museums
Room: Tower Building Tower Court A
Time: 8:15 a.m. (Session runs 8:00 a.m.–10:45 a.m.)

Allen Denoyer and Sara Anderson
Paper Presentation
Title: Hands-On Archaeology: A Decade of Impactful Outreach through Experiential Learning
Session: General Session: Education in the Field and in the Classroom
Room: Tower Building Spruce
Time: 11:00 a.m. (Session runs 10:15 a.m.–12:00 p.m.)

Steve Nash
Forum
Title: The State of Museums and Collections in 2025
Room: Plaza Building Governor’s Square 12
Time: 1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 26

John Welch
Paper Presentation
Title: Cultural Landscapes at the Contested Interface of Archaeocentric and Holistic Approaches to Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (with Michael Spears, Katie Portman, and Sean O’Meara)
Session: General Session: Managing Landscapes in the American Southwest (chair)
Room: Plaza Building Plaza Court 4
Time: 8:00 a.m. (Session runs 8:00 a.m.–9:30 a.m.)

Benjamin Pelletier
Paper Presentation
Title: Building a Culturally Informed Viewscape Analysis Method for the Upper Gila
Session: General Session: Managing Landscapes in the American Southwest
Room: Plaza Building Plaza Court 4
Time: 8:30 a.m. (Session runs 8:00 a.m.–9:30 a.m.)

Sarah Oas (in absentia)
Paper Presentation
Title: Creating Histories through Collections: Native American Women and Museum Spaces (with Samantha Fladd and Emily Van Alst)
Session: Symposium: Reckoning with Legacy Exhibits, Data, and Collections (Sponsored by Committee on Museums, Collections, and Curation)
Room: Tower Building Terrace
Time: 9:30 a.m. (Session runs 8:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.)

Jaye S. Smith and Jeffery Clark
Poster Presentation
Title: Continued Work on the Ray Robinson Collection: The Perishable Assemblages from Bonita Creek Cave Cache and Hackberry Ranch Sites in Southeastern Arizona
Session: 302- Modern Methods in the American Southwest (General Session)
Room: Tower Court B
Time: 10:30-10:45 a.m.

Paul Reed

Paper Presentation
Title: Where Should American Archaeology Be in 20 Years?
Session: General Session: The Future of Archaeology: Ethical Conversations and Concerns from around the World (chair)
Room: Tower Building Windows
Time: 1:00 p.m. (Session runs 1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.)

Amy Gillaspie
Paper Presentation
Title: Identity in the Archaeological Record: A Case Study at the Historic Astor House of Golden, Colorado (with Michele Koons, Andrew Drysdale, and Ryan Cline) 
Session: *MW City and Country in the American West: Post-1848 Historical Archaeologies of Denver and Los Angeles
Room: Plaza Building Plaza Court 2
Time: 1:30 p.m. (Session runs 1:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m.)

Aaron Wright (in absentia)
Paper Presentation
Title: The Ties that Bind: Integrating Archaeological, Ethnographic, and Computational Models of Movement across the Great Bend of the Gila in Southern Arizona (with Phillip Leckman)
Session: Symposium: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Landscape Archaeology Part 2 (Sponsored by CAA-NA)
Room: Plaza Building Plaza Court 4
Time: 2:45 p.m. (Session runs 1:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.)

Karen Schollmeyer
Poster Presentation
Title: Suprahousehold Organization at the NAN Ranch Site, Southwest New Mexico (with Danielle Romero and Rebecca Harkness)
Session: General Poster Session: Home Sweet Home: Household Archaeology
Room: Poster Hall in the Plaza Ballroom
Time: 4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.

Amy Gillaspie
Poster Presentation
Title: Echoes of Paleoindians: Analyzing Faunal Remains from the Jones-Miller site in Wray, Colorado (with Monica Eckels, Jamie Hodgkins, and SJ Casillas)
Session: General Poster Session: Foraging Cultures in North America
Room: Poster Hall in the Plaza Ballroom
Time: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 27

Josh Watts
Paper Presentation
Title: Regional-Scale Research Sensitivity to Site Location: Geomasking and Site Data Aggregation in cyberSW
Session: Symposium: Multiscale Data and the History of Human Development in the US Southwest
Room: Tower Building Tower Court D
Time: 8:15 a.m. (Session runs 8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.)

Sarah Oas (in absentia)
Paper Presentation
Title: Enhancing Multiscalar Archaeofaunal Research Using cyberSW (with Samantha Fladd, Karen Gust Schollmeyer, and Christopher Schwartz)
Session: Symposium: Multiscale Data and the History of Human Development in the US Southwest
Room: Tower Building Tower Court D
Time: 9:15 a.m. (Session runs 8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.)

Sarah Oas and Jeff Clark (in absentia)
Paper Presentation
Title: Cotton Production and Regional Distribution for Western Pueblo Cultural and Ritual Sustainability, 1150–1450 CE (with Barbara Mills, Kyle Bocinsky, and Kaitlyn Elizabeth Davis)
Session: Symposium: Multiscale Data and the History of Human Development in the US Southwest
Room: Tower Building Tower Court D
Time: 9:30 a.m. (8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.)

Anastasia Walhovd
Discussant
Session: Forum: Creating Opportunities: A Conversation on the Impacts, Needs, and Future Directions of the SAA Native American Scholarships and the Student Excellence in Archaeology Award
Room: Plaza Building Governor’s Square 15
Time: 8:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m.
Moderator(s): Carla Hernández Garavito and Davina Two Bears
Participants: Beau Carroll, Jean-Paul Rojas, Carlton Shield Chief Gover, Jordi Rivera Prince, Maxwell Ward, Anastasia Walhovd

Booth 111 Schedule: