News

Wyoming Takes First Prize in State Archaeology Celebration Contest

Details: Category: News; Published: Wednesday, 13 May 2026 09:19

LARAMIE, Wyo. – May 13, 2026 – The votes are in. For the fourteenth time since the contest's inception, the 2025 Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month (WAAM) poster placed 1st in the Society for American Archaeology’s (SAA) 2026 State Archaeology Celebration Poster Contest. This national award recognizes outstanding public outreach and excellence in visual communication regarding archaeology and cultural heritage.

State Archaeology Month Coordinator Gwendolyn Kristy says, “The poster is not only a work of art, but is an invitation for every citizen of Wyoming to become a steward of our shared past, ensuring our state’s unique story remains protected for generations to come.”

In 1996, the first State Archaeology Celebration Poster Contest was held at the annual SAA meeting. Since the first contest in 1996, Wyoming has placed in the top three of the SAA poster contest 26 times: first place 14 times, second place 8 times, and third place 6 times. The first-prize honor will be awarded at the 2027 SAA conference, to be held in Indianapolis in April 2027.

The 2025 WAAM poster, “Threads through Time: Bone needles in Wyoming’s Archaeological Record,” features a bone needle fragment found at a site in Wyoming known as the La Prele Mammoth Site and is over 13,000 years old. You can see this poster and all other posters on the WY SHPO’s website. The poster and many other archaeology month posters are available free of charge and may be picked up at the State Historic Preservation Office, Barrett Building, 2301 Central Avenue in Cheyenne, or at the Anthropology Building in Laramie, located at 12th and Lewis, Room 312. If you wish to have a poster mailed to you, the WY SHPO charges $18 to cover shipping costs, and orders can be made on our Square website linked here.

2026 WAAM posters were unveiled at the Wyoming Archaeology Society (WAS) meeting in Casper on April 25. These posters feature original artwork by Wyoming artist Robert Martinez and celebrate the long and complex relationship between people and horses, as reflected in Wyoming’s archaeological record, as part of our Nation’s Semiquincentennial celebrations.

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; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can also learn more about the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office at wyoshpo.wyo.gov.

Figure 1. The first-prize poster: Threads through Time. Figure 2. The 2026 Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month poster, recently unveiled to the public, features artwork by Wyoming artist Robert Martinez.

Contact: Gwendolyn Kristy, (307) 399-5366; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.