Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment

Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment is sponsored by Archaeological Institute of America (AIA). This endowment provides grants to archaeologists to start new archaeological survey projects. The awards are intended for projects involving field survey on the ground or a combination of field survey and remote sensing methods.

Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment for Archaeological Field Surveys - Archaeological Institute of America American Journal of Archaeology International Archaeology Day Archaeologists in Classrooms Unearth a Story Summer Reading Resources Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment for Archaeological Field Surveys Archaeological Institute of America Deadline: November 1, 2025 Purpose: The Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment provides grants to archaeologists to start new archaeological survey projects.

The awards are intended for projects involving field survey on the ground or a combination of field survey and remote sensing methods, rather than those based entirely on satellite imagery or other remote sensing data. Geophysical survey projects are also eligible. While all are encouraged to apply, preference will be given to archaeologists at an early stage in their careers (within 8 years of the receipt of the PhD).

Projects may concern any location in the world and any time period. Each project should make innovative use of technology, and the fieldwork proposed should be designed to address important questions about the human past. Applicants must be AIA members at the graduate student or professional level at the time of application, with a PhD in archaeology or a related field, and are expected to have an academic affiliation.

Applicants should either be the primary permit holder for the project proposed, or if the applicant is not the primary permit holder, the application should be accompanied by a letter of support from the primary permit holder. Awardees must have the permit in hand before funds will be disbursed. Awardees must make a formal report to the AIA at the conclusion of the award period.

This report should include a brief illustrated summary, written for a general audience, that can be published on the AIA’s website. Awardees are expected to submit poster or fieldwork abstracts for presentation at the Annual Meeting (submissions will be evaluated in the general pool, and acceptance is not guaranteed). Review the Follow-Up Check List for previous winners.

Non-Discrimination Statement The AIA welcomes applicants of all backgrounds and is committed to equal opportunity for all.

Under no circumstances will the AIA discriminate against qualified individuals on the basis of race, color, religious creed, retaliation, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender, disability, mental illness, genetics, marital status, age, veteran status, or any other basis prohibited under applicable law.

As part of the Archaeological Institute of America’s ongoing commitment to fieldwork and families, reasonable line items for the care of dependent and elderly family members are allowable expenses for AIA grants, fellowships, and scholarships. AIA Fellowship Coordinator fellowships@archaeological.

org Applications should be submitted via the online form accessible below All supplementary documents should be uploaded as PDF files Applicants must prepare a budget using the provided budget template which should be converted to PDF before submission. NOTE: AIA funds CANNOT be used to cover overhead or PI salaries.

Proposals will be reviewed according to the following criteria (roughly in this order of importance): The fit between the project and the mission of the Herzig Desnick Endowment The impact the research will have on our understanding of the past The feasibility of the project itself (how realistic its methods and goals are, in conjunction with its budget and timeline) The possession of, or the documented ability to acquire, the necessary permits The impact support from the Herzig Desnick Endowment will have on the overall success of the project (we assume that few projects will derive all their support from this source alone) The level of innovation in the use of technology The qualifications of the applicant (training, demonstrated research productivity, knowledge of/experience in the research region) The quality and feasibility of the publication plan, and (if digital data are involved) of the data management plan Indiana University, Bloomington Dr. Kevin Ennis is the Co-Director of the Khora of Archaic Morgantina Project (KAMP), located in Aidone, Sicily.

KAMP aims to gain new insights into the lives of indigenous Sicilian communities by studying an 8th-5th century BCE village situated along the Gornalunga River, just outside the ancient city of Morgantina.

This summer, with funds from the Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment for Archaeological Field Surveys, Dr. Ennis and his colleagues will use remote sensing, both ground-penetrating radar and magnetometry, to determine the boundaries of this new site and identify areas of interest for future excavation.

This grant-funded project offers a unique opportunity to take the first step towards creating a robust data set about a non-elite settlement at a moment of profound transition defined by colonization, connectivity, and local resistance.

Portland State University With a 2024 grant from the Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment Fund, Dr. Daniel Plekhov (Portland State University) and his colleagues will begin a survey project in the southern Municipality of Ulqin, Montenegro to investigate long-term changes to population distribution across the area. His team will complete the first comprehensive map of archaeological and historic sites in the municipality.

The team will combine cutting edge mapping technologies, such as drone photogrammetry, remote sensing, and terrestrial LiDAR, with surface finds from archaeological sites. During the course of their archaeological survey, Dr. Plekhov and his team expect to document sites from many eras including the early Neolithic, Medieval, and Roman periods as well as physical vestiges of communist Yugoslavia.

With this deeper understanding of the landscape, they will ask questions about why the sites are located where they are, how the people living there responded to the changing political forces over time, and how the historical factors might be influencing current trends in the region’s populations.

University of Alabama Rachel Cajigas will use the Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment for Archaeological Field Surveys to fund her project, “Exploring Late Archaic Monumental and Household Architecture within a Landscape of Change”. This project proposes to use various cutting-edge subsurface detection methods and archaeological survey to understand the changing use of the Creighton Island Shell Ring site and the surrounding area.

It also proposes to use these methods to locate a previously identified structure which may be the oldest habitation structure in North America. This research will enhance our knowledge of Late Archaic monumental constructions in the Southeast US and their relationship to environmental changes due to sea-level rise during the Late Holocene.

This novel research uses cutting-edge technology to identify structures within and around the Creighton Island shell ring site. This project will also provide valuable in-person archaeological field and technology training for undergraduate and graduate students.

Carleton College Sarah Kennedy used the Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment for Archaeological Field Surveys to fund her project, Out of the Mine and Into the Furnace: The Ongoing Environmental Impacts of Silver Refining in Peru.

The project aimed to establish a rigorous universal survey methodology using portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectroscopy for the evaluation of heavy metals in archaeological soils; and to track the introduction of mercury amalgamation technology to the silver refining process in Peru during the colonial period (AD 1650-1800).

Cassandra Koontz Scaffidi University of California, Merced Cassandra “Beth” Koontz Scaffidi used the Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment for Archaeological Field Surveys to fund her project, Wari Imperial Expansion and Dissolution: Insights from Pedestrian, UAV, and Isotopic Survey in the Caravelí Valley.

The project aimed to examine how the rise and fall of Wari impacted one region in its southern hinterlands, the unstudied Caravelí Valley, Arequipa, Peru. Read about Cassandra Koontz Scaffidi's experience University of Colorado Boulder Sarah James used the Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment for Archaeological Field Surveys to fund her project, The Brač Island Project.

The project aimed to conduct the first season of an intensive pedestrian survey, in conjunction with geophysical work and targeted excavation, focusing on three areas that were located but not investigated 25 years ago on Brač.

Read about Sarah James's experience University of Toronto Khaled Abu Jayyab used the Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment for Archaeological Field Surveys to fund his project, an Archaeological Survey in the Middle Kura Valley, Gardabani, Southeastern Georgia.

The survey aimed to uncover and document archaeological sites in the region with a special emphasis on the Neolithic (6000-5000 BC) and Chalcolithic (5000-3500 BC) landscapes and settlement systems. Read about Khaled Abu Jayyab's experience University of Texas at San Antonio Jessica Nowlin used the Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment for Archaeological Field Surveys to fund her project, the Sinis Archaeological Project.

The Sinis Archaeological Project aimed to understand the diverse social and environmental factors impacting resource extraction, settlement patterns, and colonial interactions in west-central Sardinia in the 1st millennium BCE through late antiquity.

Read about Jessica Nowlin's experience Florida State University Sarah Craft used the Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment for Archaeological Field Surveys to fund her project, the Timok Region Archaeological Project (TRAP). The Timok Regional Archaeological Project sought to situate the Roman imperial palace of Felix Romuliana within a broader geographical and diachronic understanding of the landscape beyond its walls.

Read about Sarah Craft's experience The AIA is North America's largest and oldest nonprofit organization dedicated to archaeology. The Institute advances awareness, education, fieldwork, preservation, publication, and research of archaeological sites and cultural heritage throughout the world. Your contribution makes a difference.

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