AIA News

December 3, 2024

2025 AIA Awards Spotlight – Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology


Congratulations to the individuals, projects, and publications that received AIA Awards. They will be formally recognized at the 2025 AIA Awards Ceremony, which will take place during the 126th Annual Meeting. We have contacted this year’s winners to gather insights about their projects, experiences, and what inspired them to pursue a career in archaeology.


Christine Hastorf (University of California Berkeley)

Award: Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology

What drew you to archaeology?

I have always been interested in how people before me lived and lived successfully. First it was an interest in daily life in Europe. This interest continued back in time and by graduate school, due to a keen interest in biology and especially botany, with biological training, I found myself engaged with plant use, farming and food production. That quickly led me to archaeobotany, which I have been pursuing my whole career. Due to the graduate school I attended I was fortunate to work in the Andes of South America. This has allowed me to learn about a range of domestic plants and farming strategies and to study many questions about how people have engaged with plants over time in their landscape.

Tell us about your history with the AIA:

Most of my research and archaeological work has been in the Americas, especially South America, the high Andean mountains which is not traditionally the focus of the AIA. Due to my focus on food scholarship, the AIA has asked me to several times to present at the meetings on foodways in the past whcih I have enjoyed very much.

What’s next for you professionally?

I am nearing retirement, but have much research to complete on early settled life in the Andean highlands and plant – human engagement, with a special focus on parenchymatous identification in archaeological samples. I have several books and a range of publications to finish. I have large type collections that I must organize for deposition at the Smithsonian Institution. I look forward to seeing my former students thrive in their own research.

Do you have any advice for aspiring archaeologists?

It is trite, but I urge students to follow their passions and curiosities. Read broadly and deeply, allow yourselves to think about different theories and methods as you envision the past. Seek the small as well as the large. Work hard. Find the entry into the past that you love most to become the best you can be in that area. Have patience, archaeology is a long game, as deep knowledge comes from steady learning over time.

What achievement are you most proud of?

Having the opportunity to complete research and training in our discipline has allowed me to learn so much about how people have lived in many places in the world. Spending time with these generations of people has been an honor. I have enjoyed sharing my archaeobotanical interests with students and colleagues, both at the universities I have taught at, but also at meetings and in the field. One of the aspects of my career that I have been proud of was creating, directing, and running successful field and laboratory projects for many years. I hope my writing on food has helped others think about the more personal side of daily life in the past and of the many people who have lived before us so successfully. We live because of their accomplishments .


Questions? Learn more about AIA Awards here or reach out to awards@archaeological.org

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