Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) 2009

Stanford University will host the second US meeting of the Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) on the weekend of May 1-3 2009. The intention of this TAG conference is to provide a forum for the diverse and interesting theoretical perspectives that exist in the United States, and to bring together both Classical and anthropological archaeology. TAG was founded in Great Britain in 1979 with the aim of exploring inter-disciplinary theoretical issues, promoting debate, discussion of their application and use for archaeological interpretation. It has always been an exploratory venue for progressive and innovative archaeological research. The annual conference meeting is an important part of the TAG mission and these meetings have recently started at universities in the United States, with the 2008 meeting being held at Columbia University in New York City.

TAG is centered around a plenary session in which a handful of scholars will comment on this year’s theme, “The Future of Things”. Our speakers include Rosemary Joyce (University of Berkeley), Stephen Shennan (University College London), Webb Keane (University of Michigan), and Michael Schiffer (University of Arizona).

Other session organizers include Meg Conkey (UC Berkeley), Diane Gifford-Gonzalez (UC Santa Cruz), Tom Levy (UC San Diego), Barbara Mills (University of Arizona), Katharina Schreiber (UC Santa Barbara), and Sander van der Leeuw (Arizona State University).

Sessions on any theoretical theme are welcome and are not dictated by the plenary session. Session organizers will be responsible for selecting speakers and organizing abstracts. There are several format options, such as sessions, workshops, or roundtable discussions and these can either be half-day (6-10 papers) or full day sessions (12-18 papers). Individuals should contact session organizers for participation in a specific themed session.

If you are interested in organizing a session or submitting a paper, please express your interest to