LARAMIE – The votes are in. For the sixth time since the inception of the State Archaeology Celebration Contest by the Society for American Archaeology (SAA), the Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month poster placed 3rd. State Archaeology Month Coordinator Gwendolyn Kristy says the win is bittersweet. “Of course, we always hope to place first, but the competition is fierce. We are just glad to have the opportunity to educate the public about the different kinds of archaeology in Wyoming.”

In 1996, the first State Archaeology Celebration Poster Contest was held at the annual SAA meeting. Since this first contest in 1996, Wyoming has placed in the top three of the SAA poster contest 26 times: first place 13 times, second place eight times, and now third place six times.

The 2024 poster, “People & Plants,” highlights paleoethnobotany, the archaeological field that examines human-plant relationships. The poster features predominantly perishable items used for plant processing, plants archaeologists know were used for food and medicine, and tools constructed in part of plant material. The poster is available free of charge and may be picked up at the State Historic Preservation Office, Barrett Building, 2301 Central Avenue in Cheyenne, or in Laramie at The University of Wyoming’s Anthropology building located at 12th and Lewis, Room 312. 2025 Wyoming Archaeology Month posters will be unveiled at this weekend’s Wyoming Archaeology Society (WAS) meeting being held in Cheyenne. Posters will be distributed to numerous organizations from around the state. For more information about the WAS meeting, visit their website at wyomingarchaeology.org.

For more information about the Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month program, contact Gwendolyn Kristy, chief of SHPO’s Planning & Historic Contexts Development Program, at 307-766-5366 or at gwendolyn.kristy@wyo.gov. You can also learn more about the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office at wyoshpo.wyo.gov.