Editorial Policy, Information for Authors, and Style Guide for

SAA Style Guide December 2023 i

American Antiquity

Latin American Antiquity

, and

Advances in Archaeological Practice

Revised December 2023

CONTENTS

1.0 EDITORIAL POLICY ______________________________________________________________________ 1

1.1 Basic Structure, Submission Limits, and Norms for All SAA Journals _________ 2

1.1.1 Word count limits ___________________________________________________________________________ 2

1.1.2 Figure count limits __________________________________________________________________________ 2

1.1.3 Table limits __________________________________________________________________________________ 3

1.1.4 Editors’ prerogative to decline to review __________________________________________________ 3

1.1.5 Gender language ____________________________________________________________________________ 3

1.1.6 Permission to use unpublished material ___________________________________________________ 3

1.1.7 Data Availability Statement ________________________________________________________________ 4

1.1.8 Competing Interests Statement ____________________________________________________________ 4

1.1.9 Artifacts not obtained through professional field research _______________________________ 4

1.1.10 Photographs of human remains and funerary objects ____________________________________ 4

1.1.11 Photographs of human subjects ____________________________________________________________ 5

1.1.12 Respectful terminology for the discussion of human remains ____________________________ 5

1.1.13 Diversity and inclusivity in language ______________________________________________________ 5

1.1.14 No payment for manuscripts _______________________________________________________________ 6

2.0 INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS ________________________________________________________ 6

2.1 Editors’ Responsibilities _____________________________________________________________ 6

2.2 Authors’ Responsibilities ____________________________________________________________ 6

2.3 Peer Reviewer Responsibilities _____________________________________________________ 7

2.4 Submissions ____________________________________________________________________________ 7

2.5 Page Proofs _____________________________________________________________________________ 8

2.6 Final Digital Copy _____________________________________________________________________ 8

2.7 Permissions ____________________________________________________________________________ 8

3.0 STYLE GUIDE _____________________________________________________________________________ 9

3.1 Preparing the Manuscript ___________________________________________________________

3.2 Sections of the Manuscript ___________________________________________________________ 9

3.2.1 Title page __________________________________________________________________________________ 10

3.2.2 Abstracts and Keywords __________________________________________________________________ 11

3.3 Textual Elements _____________________________________________________________________ 11

3.3.1 Headings __________________________________________________________________________________ 11

3.3.2 Numbers and dates _______________________________________________________________________ 12

3.3.3 Metric measurements ____________________________________________________________________ 13

3.3.4 Mathematical and statistical copy ________________________________________________________ 13

3.3.5 Radiometric ages and dates ______________________________________________________________ 14

SAA Style Guide December 2023 ii

3.3.6

Quotations_________________________________________________________________________________ 15

3.3.7 Spelling ____________________________________________________________________________________ 16

3.3.8 Italics ______________________________________________________________________________________ 16

3.3.9 Capitalization _____________________________________________________________________________ 17

3.3.10 Hyphenation ______________________________________________________________________________ 18

3.3.11 Abbreviations _____________________________________________________________________________ 18

3.3.12 Accents and Diacritical Marks ____________________________________________________________ 19

3.3.13 Contractions and serial commas _________________________________________________________ 19

3.3.14 Parentheses _______________________________________________________________________________ 19

3.3.15 Hyperlinks ________________________________________________________________________________ 19

3.4 In-Text Reference Citations_________________________________________________________ 20

3.4.1 Simple citation ____________________________________________________________________________ 20

3.4.2 Two authors _______________________________________________________________________________ 20

3.4.3 Three or more authors____________________________________________________________________ 20

3.4.4 Several authors cited in one place or several references by same author ______________ 21

3.4.5 Two or more references by same author or authors in same year _____________________ 21

3.4.6 Two authors, same surname, same year published _____________________________________ 21

3.4.7 Two authors, same surname, different years published ________________________________ 22

3.4.8 Government agency, company, or similar entity as author _____________________________ 22

3.4.9 Citation with pages, figures, or tables specified _________________________________________ 22

3.4.10 Multivolume set ___________________________________________________________________________ 22

3.4.11 Forthcoming book or article in journal issue in press ___________________________________ 22

3.4.12 No author specified _______________________________________________________________________ 23

3.4.13 Primary-source materials (e.g., unpublished archival materials including

administrative records, letters, etc.) _____________________________________________________ 23

3.4.14 Earlier edition specified __________________________________________________________________ 24

3.4.15 Newspapers _______________________________________________________________________________ 24

3.4.16 Personal communication, no publication involved ______________________________________ 24

3.4.17 Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge _________________________________________________ 24

3.4.18 Web pages and electronic documents ___________________________________________________ 24

3.4.19 Social media _______________________________________________________________________________ 25

3.4.20 AI-generated text _________________________________________________________________________ 25

3.5 Citations and References in REVIEWS and BOOK NOTES ______________________ 25

3.6 Tables __________________________________________________________________________________ 26

3.6.1 Size ________________________________________________________________________________________ 26

3.6.2 Typing _____________________________________________________________________________________ 26

3.6.3 Numbering and title ______________________________________________________________________ 26

3.6.4 Rules and headings _______________________________________________________________________ 26

3.6.5 Body _______________________________________________________________________________________ 27

3.6.6 Footnotes __________________________________________________________________________________ 27

3.6.7 Citation ____________________________________________________________________________________ 27

3.7 Figures _________________________________________________________________________________ 27

3.7.1 Size ________________________________________________________________________________________ 28

3.7.2 Drawing and lettering ____________________________________________________________________ 28

3.7.3 Permissions _______________________________________________________________________________ 29

3.7.4 Numbering and captions _________________________________________________________________ 29

3.7.5 Citation ____________________________________________________________________________________ 29

3.7.6 Color Figures ______________________________________________________________________________ 30

3.8 Acknowledgments and Funding Statement ______________________________________ 30

3.9 Data Availability Statement and Competing Interests Statement ____________ 31

3.10 Supplemental Material ______________________________________________________________ 31

SAA Style Guide December 2023 iii

3.11 Notes ___________________________________________________________________________________ 32

3.12 References Cited______________________________________________________________________ 32

3.12.1 Book, single author _______________________________________________________________________ 33

3.12.2 Book, multiple authors ___________________________________________________________________ 34

3.12.3 Edited or compiled book (editor or compiler as “author”) ______________________________ 34

3.12.4 Translated book___________________________________________________________________________ 34

3.12.5 Reissued or reprinted book ______________________________________________________________ 34

3.12.6 Book or other item, no author ____________________________________________________________ 35

3.12.7 Multivolume set ___________________________________________________________________________ 35

3.12.8 Titled volume/monograph in a series ___________________________________________________ 35

3.12.9 Article in a journal ________________________________________________________________________ 36

3.12.9a Article in a special issue of a journal (or whole special issue) _________________________ 36

3.12.10 Article, group author ____________________________________________________________________ 36

3.12.11 Article in a magazine, no author ________________________________________________________ 36

3.12.12 Item in a newspaper _____________________________________________________________________ 37

3.12.13 Chapter in edited book or monograph __________________________________________________ 37

3.12.14 Chapter in edited volume in a series ____________________________________________________ 37

3.12.15 Article in conference proceedings, transactions, or annual reports series ____________ 38

3.12.16 Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge ________________________________________________ 38

3.12.17 Paper or poster presented at a meeting ________________________________________________ 39

3.12.18 A book review ___________________________________________________________________________ 39

3.12.19 Contract and proprietary reports _______________________________________________________ 39

3.12.20 Dissertation or thesis ____________________________________________________________________ 40

3.12.21 In-press manuscript (article or book) __________________________________________________ 40

3.12.22 Unpublished manuscript ________________________________________________________________ 41

3.12.23 Web pages, electronic documents, blogs, social media, and film/TV __________________ 42

3.12.24 Article published online _________________________________________________________________ 43

3.12.25 Item in institutional repository _________________________________________________________ 43

3.12.26 Born digital ______________________________________________________________________________ 43

3.12.27 Datasets __________________________________________________________________________________ 43

3.13 Online Supplemental Material _____________________________________________________ 44

3.13.1 Content and access________________________________________________________________________ 44

3.13.2 Copyright __________________________________________________________________________________ 45

3.13.3 Responsibility for content and format ___________________________________________________ 45

3.13.4 Peer review _______________________________________________________________________________ 45

3.13.5 File formats _______________________________________________________________________________ 45

3.13.6 File size and number ______________________________________________________________________ 46

3.13.7 Citation and naming of supplemental files _______________________________________________ 46

3.13.8 References Cited __________________________________________________________________________ 46

3.14 Additional References for Authors ________________________________________________ 47

4.0 SUMMARY OF FILE TYPES AND NAMES ____________________________________________ 48

SAA Style Guide December 2023 1

1.0 EDITORIAL POLICY

American Antiquity (AAQ) is a quarterly journal that publishes original papers on the

archaeology of North America and on archaeological method, theory, and practice worldwide.

Manuscripts describing research south of the continental United States will be transferred to

Latin American Antiquity (LAQ). The editors of AAQ and LAQ will discuss manuscripts that

straddle the border, and the editors of AAQ and Advances in Archaeological Practice (AAP)

will discuss manuscripts that treat issues of practice. Authors submit manuscripts to the editor for

consideration as ARTICLES, REPORTS, COMMENTS, or FORUM essays. BOOK REVIEW

ESSAYS, REVIEWS, and BOOK NOTES are solicited by the journal’s Book Review Editor;

volunteered manuscripts for this section are rarely accepted. For further information, contributors

should contact the book review editor listed in the most recent issue of the journal.

Latin American Antiquity (LAQ) is a quarterly journal that publishes original papers on

the archaeology, ethnohistory, and art history of Latin America and the Caribbean. This includes

all regions in the continental New World that are south of the current US-Mexico border. The

journal publishes ARTICLES, REPORTS, and COMMENTS in method and theory, field

research, and analysis that use a Latin American database as defined above. REVIEWS, BOOK

REVIEW ESSAYS, and BOOK NOTES are solicited by the journal’s Book Review Editor, and

volunteered manuscripts are rarely accepted. For additional information, contributors should

contact the Book Review Editor listed in the most recent issue of the journal. Except where

circumstances dictate otherwise, all submissions should be in English or Spanish. The editors

strongly encourage authors to publish in their native language (English or Spanish). Authors

wishing to publish in Portuguese should first contact the editors. A Spanish language style guide

is available at https://www.saa.org/publications/latin-american-antiquity by clicking the “Style

Guide” link.

Advances in Archaeological Practice (AAP) is a quarterly digital journal that publishes

original papers advancing scholarship and sharing solutions in the broad practice of archaeology.

Unlike AAQ and LAQ, this journal is not geographically restricted. The journal publishes

original ARTICLES that present creative solutions to the challenges archaeologists face in the

ways that they approach the archaeological record to learn about the past, convey their findings

in the present, and manage resources for the future. “Practice” is defined broadly, and topics can

include, but are not limited to, innovations in approach, technique, method, technology, business

models, collaboration, compliance, process, ethics, theory, public engagement, and training.

Manuscripts are to be short, problem oriented, and illustrated. They should identify a problem or

issue encountered in the practice of archaeology and go on to discuss how that problem was

overcome. They should also provide clear “takeaways” that allow other practitioners in

government, private practice, and academia to apply the results to their own work. AAP

publishes DIGITAL REVIEWS but does not currently publish BOOK REVIEWS, BOOK

NOTES, or COMMENTS. Those interested in publishing a DIGITAL REVIEW should first

contact the Digital Reviews Editor, as independent submissions are not accepted.

OBITUARIES are published in The SAA Archaeological Record

(https://www.saa.org/publications/the-saa-archaeological-record).

SAA Style Guide December 2023 2

1.1 Basic Structure, Submission Limits, and Norms for All SAA Journals

In all journals, the categorization of a manuscript as an ARTICLE or a REPORT is left to the

editors’ discretion. ARTICLES are usually longer than REPORTS and address topics of major

importance in a way that reaches out to a broad audience of professional archaeologists and the

informed public. REPORTS, on the other hand, may be more technical, address a specific topic,

and be of primary interest to relatively fewer readers. Authors are encouraged to contact the

editor(s) of the journal to which they plan to submit if they are unsure about the status of their

work as an ARTICLE or REPORT. Moreover, the editors reserve the right to determine this

status.

COMMENTS correct major errors of fact or provide new information directly relevant to

a paper published previously in either AAQ or LAQ; differences of interpretation or opinion may

accompany such demonstrations but may not be the primary motivating factor for a COMMENT.

Those whose work is being commented on are given the opportunity to reply to the specific

points raised in the COMMENT. The COMMENT and accompanying reply are usually

published together, at which time the exchange ends. Authors of COMMENTS in excess of

~1,000 words should contact the editor of the respective journal before submitting.

COMMENTS may be subject to peer review at the discretion of the editors.

A FORUM contribution is an essay of opinion on current issues or topics of immediate

significance to a broad audience. Exclusive to AAQ, FORUM essays are occasionally solicited

by the editor. Unsolicited essays are welcome, but authors are encouraged to contact the editor

before submitting. Like ARTICLES, REPORTS, and COMMENTS, submissions for the

FORUM category, whether solicited or not, are subject to peer review and the article word limit.

1.1.1 Word count limits

For all journals, word count is defined as including all text elements intended to appear in print.

Additional items may appear as online supplements, if appropriate. Total word count includes

the title page, abstracts (English and second language), keywords (English and second language),

text, acknowledgments, funding statements, statements of data availability and competing

interests, lists of online supplemental material, figure and table captions, text of all tables (for

Excel tables, copy and paste into a Word document to check the word count), notes, and the

references cited section. All word counts are recommended rather than fixed.

● AAQ recommends 10,000 words for ARTICLES and 3,000 words for REPORTS.

● LAQ recommends10,000 words for ARTICLES and 3,000 words for REPORTS.

● AAP recommends 10,000 words per RESEARCH article and 5,000 words per HOW-TO

article. DIGITAL REVIEWS average 1,500‒2,000 words.

Editors reserve the right to ask authors to reduce manuscript length if it aids clarity.

1.1.2 Figure count limits

All journals set the maximum number of figures that may appear in a final published manuscript

but allow a reasonable number of additional figures, videos, 3D models, and other graphic

content to appear as online supplements.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 3

● AAQ allows 10 figures to appear within the article text for ARTICLES and 5 figures for

REPORTS.

● LAQ allows 10 figures to appear within the article text.

● AAP does not restrict the number of figures within the article text.

Manuscripts that exceed the stated limits will be returned to the author by the editors. The

editors reserve the right to eliminate some figures or request that they appear online as

supplemental material.

1.1.3 Table limits

Additional tables beyond the limits or guidelines below may be included as online supplemental

material.

● AAQ allows three tables per submission. These should be designed to fit on no more than

three journal pages.

● LAQ allows three tables per submission. These should be designed to fit on no more than

three journal pages. A single table should not exceed two journal pages.

● AAP allows two tables per submission.

Manuscripts that exceed the maximum or optimal number of tables will be returned to the

authors by the editors.

1.1.4 Editors’ prerogative to decline to review

The editors reserve the right to reject (with or without peer review), or return for revision, any

material submitted on the grounds of unsuitable subject matter for the scope of the journals, poor

quality, or inappropriate length. Manuscripts may also be returned for reformatting and revisions

when they do not comply with the journals’ style or ethics provisions.

1.1.5 Gender language

All three journals adhere to the 1973 American Anthropological Association statement on gender

language, which discourages the employment of male third-person pronouns and the use of

generic “man” in reference to non-sex-specific semantic categories. More comprehensive terms

(e.g., “one,” “person,” “humans,” “humankind,” “they”), in grammatically correct constructions,

are preferred as a matter of equity. When referring to individuals, authors should carefully

consider their use of pronouns and be respectful of an individual’s preferences. Please consider

use of nonbinary language where appropriate.

1.1.6 Permission to use unpublished material

Before a manuscript can be published in any of the journals, the author must submit written

permission from anyone whose unpublished works (e.g., papers presented at meetings, personal

communications, or unpublished manuscripts) are cited or otherwise used in the paper in

question. Written permission (e.g., an email or letter) from the person whose permission is

needed will be adequate proof.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 4

1.1.7 Data Availability Statement

A Data Availability Statement is required for every article per the following SAA policy: “All

publications of the Society for American Archaeology shall include a ‘Data Availability State-

ment’ (DAS) in the published manuscript. The DAS will provide information on the disposition

and accessibility of the physical and digital data on which the research is based.” This statement

is required as a part of manuscript submission. For more information, please see Section 3.9.

1.1.8 Competing Interests Statement

All authors must include a competing interests declaration in their manuscript. This declaration

will be subject to editorial review and will be published in the article. For more information,

please see Section 3.9.

1.1.9 Artifacts not obtained through professional field research

The SAA strives to balance the goal of generating and disseminating knowledge about the past

and the archaeological record with the goal of not adding commercial value to archaeological,

ethnographic, or historical-period objects that (1) have been obtained without systematic

descriptions of their context, (2) have been recovered in such a manner as to cause unscientific

destruction of sites or monuments, or (3) have been exported in violation of the national laws of

their country of origin (per SAA Ethics Principle 3). Descriptions, discussions, or images of

artifacts that fulfill any of the three criteria listed above will be subject to review by journal

editors. Authors may be asked to remove these items as a condition of publication. Specifically,

the SAA will not knowingly publish manuscripts that provide the first descriptions of such

objects. In the case of LAQ, the editors are particularly wary of publishing images of looted

artifacts that are in private collections or held by museums, whether or not they have been

previously published.

Authors are encouraged to contact the editors of each journal before submitting a paper

that contains text or images that may be in conflict with SAA Ethics Principle 3. It is the author’s

responsibility to provide justification for the publication of information that might be in conflict

with this policy or with the Society’s goals as stated above, and the editors’ and reviewers’

responsibility to determine the validity of the justification.

1.1.10 Photographs of human remains and funerary objects

Out of respect for diverse cultural traditions, photographs of full or explicit human remains are

not accepted for publication in any SAA journal. Whenever possible, authors dealing with

human remains should provide a statement in their article or report that establishes that

permission to analyze and publish data was obtained from appropriate tribal and/or institutional

representatives. Authors should also be mindful of the wishes of descendant communities as they

relate to publishing photographs of funerary objects and belongings. Thus, requests for waivers

of this policy may be submitted by the author(s) to the editor to publish fragments. Editors will

submit the request to the SAA President and members of the Executive Committee for

consideration. Authors, editors, and SAA executive members, however, should be very cautious

about this issue. Line drawings or other renderings of human remains may be an acceptable

substitute for photographs. In other cases, authors may be asked to present images as online

SAA Style Guide December 2023 5

supplemental figures. Authors who wish to include such images are encouraged to contact the

editors before submission.

Excavation permits: Excavation permits granted by the authority responsible for these

matters in the countries of the Americas and the Caribbean should be indicated in the

acknowledgments section.

1.1.11 Photographs of human subjects

Photographic images depicting recognizable, living individuals must be accompanied by written

releases both from the subject(s) in the photo AND from the photographer who took the photo

(see Section 2.6 and Subsection 3.7.3 below) that grant the SAA the right to publish the photo.

1.1.12 Respectful terminology for the discussion of human remains

The editors request that respectful language be employed when referring to the remains of

people, their belongings, and manner in which they were treated after death and subsequently

encountered. Conversations with Indigenous collaborators and descendant communities can also

help to determine what language is acceptable, not acceptable, or preferred. The editors reserve

the right to ask authors to modify terminology as such.

1.1.13 Diversity and inclusivity in language

The editors ask that authors consider the origins and implications of their language. We

acknowledge that the history of archaeology is in part based on colonialism, scientific racism,

and elitism. The terminology and language that we employ in our scholarship has the potential to

reinforce or combat racism and structural inequality. The editors reserve the right to request

authors revise or modify their language in keeping with this recognition. We ask that authors

consider the following guidelines in preparing their manuscripts:

● The prefixes “pre-” and “post-” should be used judiciously as modifiers and hyphenated

when employed (e.g., pre-Mississippian, Euro-American). Avoid Eurocentric and other

terminology that carries an implicit colonial bias (e.g., prehistoric, prehispanic,

precolumbian, pre-European). Capitalize nouns that refer to specific taxa or legacy

terminology (e.g., Late Precontact, Weeden Island). To the extent possible use the most

specific term appropriate for the phrase.

● Avoid terminology that refers to pejorative concepts rooted in outdated notions about

social evolution (e.g., primitive, barbaric) or understanding of cultural practices (e.g.,

berdache vs. two-spirit).

● When writing in English, capitalize the words Indigenous and Native when used as a

noun to refer to the original inhabitants of a place or the collective identity and culture of

Indigenous and Native peoples. Do not capitalize when these words are used as adjectives

(e.g., native speaker of Spanish).

● Consider the differences between racial, ethnic, political, and cultural identities of

individuals and groups (e.g., slave vs. enslaved person). Racial or ethnic groups

designated by proper nouns should be capitalized (e.g., Black, White, Hispanic).

● Utilize endonyms, Indigenous names, or political identities specified by a tribe, nation, or

community for populations discussed in our journals whenever possible (e.g., Ancestral

SAA Style Guide December 2023 6

Puebloan and not Anasazi; Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Muscogee Nation;

African American vs. Haitian American; in South America, Selk´nam and not Ona).

● Older sources may include pejorative words or concepts. Omit, paraphrase, or

contextualize the use of pejorative words or concepts derived from older sources.

1.1.14 No payment for manuscripts

None of the journals pay authors for manuscripts, nor do they provide manuscript retyping,

copying, preparation of illustrations, abstracting, translations, or other such services, which are

the responsibility of the author.

2.0 INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS

2.1 Editors’ Responsibilities

Manuscripts are evaluated by the editors in consultation with the Editorial Advisory Committee

who suggests peer referees, or by the associate editors for REVIEWS and BOOK NOTES, as

appropriate. Authors may suggest potential reviewers, but the editors are not bound by these

suggestions. Referees’ substantive evaluations are solicited with editorial guarantees of

anonymity. Referees may, however, waive anonymity. Editors have responsibility for all final

decisions regarding manuscripts. Reviewers are given 30 working days to review manuscripts.

The goal is to notify authors of a decision to accept or reject a manuscript within 10 working

days after reviews are completed. Acceptance may be offered on the condition that revisions be

undertaken. Rejection may be outright or with the possibility of reconsideration after revision,

which may entail a new round of evaluations.

The editors of each journal seek to craft consistency and clarity of writing across all

accepted submissions. Stylistic changes will be made prior to the acceptance and transmittal of

revised manuscripts to Cambridge University Press (CUP; the SAA’s publishing partner)

production, and may include word use preference, grammar, or spelling choices.

2.2 Authors’ Responsibilities

Authors, and not the SAA, are responsible for the content of their papers, for the quality of the

writing, for the accuracy of quotations and their correct attribution, for the legal right to publish

any material submitted and the appropriate handling of issues of coauthorship, and for submitting

their manuscripts in proper form for publication. Authors bear the responsibility for securing

written permission, when necessary, for figures, tabular materials, or any other material protected

by US or international copyright laws. As noted above in Subsection 1.1.6, the author must

submit written permission from anyone whose unpublished works are cited or used. Evidence of

such permission must accompany a final submission. Attribution for figures, etc., should be

given with the manuscript, preferably in the caption for each figure. A manuscript submitted to

either journal must not be under consideration by any other journal or publication medium at the

same time or have been published elsewhere. After a manuscript has been accepted, and before it

is published, the corresponding author will be asked to sign a License to Publish Agreement,

SAA Style Guide December 2023 7

which must be received before publication takes place. Corresponding authors are required to

proof their manuscripts on the timetable suggested by the publisher. Final submission of a

manuscript grants the SAA the right to use any figure therein on the cover of the number of the

journal in which it appears.

More information on Open Access options within each journal can be found on the

following pages:

AAQ: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-antiquity/information/journal-

policies/open-access-options

LAQ: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/latin-american-

antiquity/information/journal-policies/open-access-options

AAP: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/advances-in-archaeological-

practice/information/journal-policies/open-access-options

2.3 Peer Reviewer Responsibilities

Editors expect peer reviewers to adhere to high standards of professionalism in writing their

reviews, which should be free of biased language. Reviewers are also expected to be as accurate

as possible in their assessments and comments on the manuscripts so that both authors and

editors can better define the course of action to be taken after the evaluations. Please note that

papers or proposals that are sent out for review are confidential documents and should not be

shared or discussed with anyone other than those involved in the peer review process. Sharing

with third-party tools such as Large Language Models (for example, ChatGPT) would constitute

a breach of confidentiality.

2.4 Submissions

All manuscript materials (text, references, tables, figures, and other parts) and License to Publish

agreements (upon final manuscript acceptance) must be submitted electronically through

Editorial Manager

. The system can be accessed at

AAQ: http://www.editorialmanager.com/aq

LAQ: http://www.editorialmanager.com/laq

AAP: http://www.editorialmanager.com/advances

Manuscripts for AAQ and AAP must be submitted in English. Manuscripts for LAQ may

be submitted in English or Spanish. Authors wishing to publish in Portuguese should contact the

editors prior to submitting.

Inquiries and/or publications for review should be sent—normally by the publisher—to

the associate editor for REVIEWS and BOOK NOTES (for either AAQ or LAQ). Current

addresses for the associate editors for REVIEWS, DIGITAL REVIEWS, and BOOK NOTES

appear on the pages below:

AAQ: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-antiquity/information/about-

this-journal/book-reviews

SAA Style Guide December 2023 8

LAQ: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/latin-american-

antiquity/information/about-this-journal/book-reviews

2.5 Page Proofs

Page proofs for ARTICLES, REPORTS, COMMENTS, and FORUM contributions are sent to the

corresponding author of a manuscript, who checks them for typographical errors. No text may be

rewritten at this stage, but editorial errors may be corrected, and significant new data or an

absolutely essential correction sometimes may be added. All changes and additions by authors are

suggestions only. Proof corrections and responses to queries should be submitted to CUP via the

online correction tool EditGenie within 48 hours of receipt. Authors of articles, reports, and forum

contributions will typically see revised proofs of their articles; book review authors will only

review the proof once.

2.6 Final Digital Copy

Upon publication of an article on Cambridge Core, an email will be sent to the authors

containing a code to access the article and instructions for sharing the article. The terms for

sharing publication and prepublication versions of the contribution are specified in the License to

Publish agreements signed by the author(s). Most articles will be published on Cambridge Core

(on FirstView) ahead of their assignment into an issue but may be published first in the issue

depending on timing. Publication on FirstView is final and no changes may be made to this

version of record except in cases of errors in key metadata (author names, titles) and

accompanied by a correction notice.

All three journals take advantage of CoreShare, whereby a full, read-only version of an

article can be shared on an unlimited basis to anyone without full access to the journals.

2.7 Permissions

The SAA requires that authors seek permission to use personal communications, cite

unpublished manuscripts by other authors, and from recognizable human subjects in images.

This process should be started early so that it does not hold up publication of your manuscript.

These permissions can be obtained by email and should be transmitted to the journal editor.

Obtaining permissions to reuse copyrighted material is a more formal process as described in

Subsection 3.7.3.

● Text of permission may be “I [person cited/ms. author/subject of image] give permission

to the Society for American Archaeology to publish my [quote/citation/image] in [article

title] by [author] in [journal].”

● Transmittal to the editor should include a signature or digital signature or email headers

that include contact information for the person giving permission.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 9

3.0 STYLE GUIDE

The specifications given here codify current style guidelines for AAQ, LAQ, and AAP and

supersede all previous style guides. Authors are, therefore, urged to review this guide carefully.

In cases of conflict between this style guide and other sources, the instructions given here are to

be followed. For any style item not explicitly addressed here, the SAA defers to the most recent

version of The Chicago Manual of Style.

A Spanish-language version of this guide (https://www.saa.org/publications/latin-

american-antiquity) is available for those writing in that language. However, minimal

information on Spanish stylistic conventions is included here to assist authors referencing

Spanish-language materials.

3.1 Preparing the Manuscript

Upload all files, including text, tables, figures, and captions, at the following URLs (file name

protocols are provided in Section 4.0):

AAQ: http://www.editorialmanager.com/aq

LAQ: http://www.editorialmanager.com/laq

AAP: http://www.editorialmanager.com/advances

Editorial Manager

(EM), the online program for submitting manuscripts, prompts the

author through a series of steps to select the type of submission; enter a title, abstracts, and

keywords; add authors; and then upload components of the manuscript. The submission, peer

review, decision, and revision (if necessary) processes are conducted entirely within EM. The

process for all three journals is roughly the same, though submissions to AAP do not require a

title page with author name(s) and address(es) for the initial submission (see below).

To alleviate software incompatibilities and related digital problems, authors using

automated utilities such as linked footnotes and endnotes in MS Word or a bibliographic

compiler (e.g., EndNote) must convert the output to plain text before uploading. Note that

authors may also upload LaTeX source files to EM for peer review.

The maximum size of any individual file is 15 MB. This file size is often sufficient for

first drafts of articles, but please contact the editor if you would like to submit larger files at the

draft stage or during revisions.

3.2 Sections of the Manuscript

Each of the following sections of the manuscript should be on a separate page or should start a

new page. All sections of the manuscript should be double-spaced. Pages are numbered

consecutively through notes only. Arrange the parts of the manuscript in the following order (see

below for more information on each section), unless otherwise indicated by the software, as this

varies by journal:

● Title page (For AAQ and LAQ separate page, number as page 1; for AAP the title page

only required after initial peer review)

SAA Style Guide December 2023 10

● English abstract and keywords

● Spanish abstract and keywords (in reverse order if paper is written in Spanish; see below)

Note: Spanish abstracts and keywords for manuscripts written in English are not

required at the time of submission but will be required if the manuscript is accepted for

publication; be aware, however, that for AAQ and LAQ, length of abstract factors into

the word count. Abstracts and keywords can also be accepted in Portuguese and French,

when regionally appropriate. Authors are responsible for ensuring that their abstracts

and keywords are written by someone proficient in the language, and that both texts are

similar.

● Text (begin new page)

● Acknowledgments (should immediately follow end of text)

● Funding Statement

● Data Availability Statement

● Competing Interests Statement

● Notes (begin new page)

● References Cited (begin new page)

● Supplemental Material (uploaded separately, but note that the Supplemental Material

captions list appears before the Notes and/or References Cited in the final article)

● Figure Captions (new page, captions listed sequentially, not paginated)

● Figures (each uploaded separately) and permissions (if applicable)

● List of Tables

● Tables (each uploaded separately)

All SAA journals accept supplemental material (text, figures, tables, color images,

appendixes, videos, etc.) that can be posted as online companion files at the time of publication.

See Section 3.13 below for details on preparing and submitting supplemental material. SAA

journals no longer publish appendixes; this information is now always posted as supplemental

material.

3.2.1 Title page

Prepare as in the following example:

Animals as Raw Material in Beringia: Insights from the Site of Swan Point CZ4B, Alaska

(center)

François B. Lanoë and Charles E. Holmes

(center halfway down page, initial caps only)

DO NOT CITE IN ANY CONTEXT WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR(S)

(center, several spaces above author’s or authors affiliation)

François B. Lanoë School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA ([email

address], corresponding author)

Charles E. Holmes Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK, USA

SAA Style Guide December 2023 11

Notes: The complete mailing addresses for each author should be on separate lines,

except authors at the same institution should combine their address; boldface authors’ names, no

comma following the name, only a space between the name and the address. An email address

for the corresponding author (usually the lead author) follows in parentheses after the country;

email addresses for other authors are optional. The corresponding author should be indicated,

following the email address, even if the lead author is considered the corresponding author.

Other address examples include: Gary Coupland and David Bilton Department of

Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (coupland@chass.utoronto.ca,

corresponding author; Anthony M. Krus Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre,

Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride, UK ([email protected],

corresponding author); Juanita Sáenz Banco de la República, Museo del Oro, Bogotá, Colombia

(jsaenza@banrep.gov.co).

3.2.2 Abstracts and Keywords

Two abstracts and sets of keywords, usually in English and in Spanish, must accompany all

ARTICLES (including historical pieces such as autobiographies and biographies), REPORTS,

COMMENTS, and FORUM contributions. While the two abstracts and sets of keywords are

generally expected to be in English and Spanish, another language may be substituted if

appropriate by permission of the editor(s).

● The abstract should not exceed 200 words in length.

● It is usually preferable that the “second” abstract (i.e., the one written in the language in

which the paper is not written) be a somewhat expanded version.

Given the many places that journal contributions are indexed and abstracted, as well as

the fact that most readers judge whether to read an article from the abstract, the abstract may well

be the most important part of the paper.

● It should be a factual summary of the contents and conclusions of the paper, refer to new

information that is being presented, and indicate its relevance.

● The abstract should not be an introduction to the paper or an outline of it with each

section being reduced into a sentence.

● Avoid the passive voice.

● Do not merely entice the reader by saying “Implications for the origins of agriculture will

be discussed.” Instead, state the conclusions: “This research suggests that agricultural

economies are not simply a result of a human foraging population reaching an

environment’s carrying capacity.”

3.3 Textual Elements

3.3.1 Headings

● Primary heads should be flush left, in bold, with headline-style capitalization (principal

words capitalized excluding articles, prepositions, and conjunctions), and two lines of

space above and below.

● Do not use “INTRODUCTION” or “ABSTRACT” as headings.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 12

● Secondary heads should be typed flush left and set in italics, using headline-style

capitalization, with a single line of space above and below.

● Tertiary heads should be typed as part of the paragraph, with a paragraph indentation, the

head italicized, with headline-style capitalization, followed by a period, and followed by

the beginning of the text of the paragraph.

Example: Pithouse Villages. The survey uncovered 13 pithouse village sites, all

located along the Rio Grande . . .

● Acknowledgments, Funding Statement, Data Availability Statement, Competing Interests

Statement, and Supplemental Material should be treated as tertiary-level headings, but are

placed flush left, not indented.

● Notes and References Cited are primary-level headings.

3.3.2 Numbers and dates

● When cardinal numbers are used, all numbers above nine should be expressed in Arabic

numerals (except as noted below); spell out numbers zero through nine. Note, however,

that on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis, when the majority of numbers is above nine, the

numbers zero through nine can be expressed numerically as well for better readability.

● Use commas to indicate places in Arabic numerals, e.g., 5,000; 10,000; 240,000;

1,000,000.

● Spell out any number that begins a sentence.

Examples: “Twelve of the vessels” (or can be rephrased as “A total of 12 vessels

was analyzed”) or “Five hundred years ago”

● Spell out numbers that are used in a general sense in the text.

Example: “We recovered several hundred sherds”

● Ordinal numbers are always spelled out in text.

Examples: “During the seventh cycle,” “In the eighteenth century,” “In the fiftieth

percentile”

● In the References Cited section, use ordinal numbers to indicate at which annual meeting

a paper was presented.

Example: “Paper presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Society for

American Archaeology”

● Leading zeros are to be used in the text and tables, where appropriate, e.g., “p = 0.05”

● Pay particular attention to significant figures. Numerical data derived from measurements

or calculations should be reported to all certain or known places and one more uncertain

place. Thus, “10.7 g” has three significant figures and means “between 10.6 g and

10.8 g.” Similarly, “13.0 g” means “12.9‒13.1 g” but “13 g” means “12‒14 g” and has

just two significant figures. When mathematical operations are conducted on measured

quantities, the lowest significant figure is displayed in the result. Thus, 10.6 m × 3.10 m =

32.9 m

, 10.6 m × 3.1 m = 33 m

, and 10.6 m × 3 m =30 m

(in the last case, the final 0 is

a placeholder, not a significant figure). Errors of significant figures are particularly

common in estimates and calculations of population.

● Scientific notation is often preferable to avoid ambiguity of significant figures and should

always be used when more than three zeros are needed as placeholders to the right of the

decimal point. Thus “3.1 × 10

−4

” should be used instead of “0.00031.” For zeros to the

left of the decimal point, the use of scientific notation is optional but encouraged to avoid

problems of significant figures.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 13

● The journals use AD and BC (the journals do not use CE or BCE)

● 250 years, 5,000 years, 10,000 years

● October 3, 1952 (but see Subsection 3.4.13 on citation of primary-source materials and

Subsection 3.12.12 on citation of newspapers)

● twenty-first century (not 21

)

● 1970s (not 1970’s)

● 1921–1925 (not 1921–5 or 1921–25) (See Subsection 3.3.5 on the expression of

radiometric dates.)

● Official site numbers should be included with the site names whenever possible.

o Full Smithsonian Trinomial System (STS) site numbers are preferred (e.g., 23SG5);

do not use hyphens between components of the trinomial and use only capital letters

for the county designation.

o Where the STS is not employed, use the accepted numbering system for that region

(e.g., LA44356). Hyphenation in the Borden system is acceptable (e.g., GbTo-31),

but site numbers in this system need to be complete, not abbreviated.

• Do not include precise ID data for sites (e.g., latitude/longitude, GIS coordinates, UTM).

3.3.3 Metric measurements

All measurements of distance, area, volume, and mass should be expressed in the metric system

unless reporting an older excavation conducted in the English system, in which case the English

equivalent should follow the metric and be placed in parentheses (abbreviated with a period, e.g.,

8 in., 10 ft.). Thus, centimeters, meters, kilometers, liters, grams, and hectares are used, not

inches, feet, gallons, acres, miles, etc.

● The metric units are abbreviated without periods: 18 cm, 3 m, 12 km, 28 ha, 6 m

, 2 L,

4 mL, 0.5 g, 6 kg

● Leave a space between the number and the abbreviation.

● All measurements should be expressed with Arabic numerals and abbreviated except

when they are used nonspecifically, appear at the beginning of a sentence, or as noted

above.

Examples: “Several cubic meters of fill,” “Three kilometers from the site”

Things expressed in units of kg or g are always labeled “mass,” not “weight” whether in running

text or tables.

3.3.4 Mathematical and statistical copy

● For displayed equations, allow ample space above and below the equation (setting it off

from the text) and between elements of the equation or formula (around equal signs, for

example).

● Use Word’s Equation Editor to construct equations; do not cut and paste the equation as a

graphic.

● Except for commonly accepted Greek symbols, letters that represent mathematical

variables should be italicized.

● Do not use Roman letters when a Greek letter is intended; for example: do not use “x”

when χ is intended or “B” for β.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 14

● Use p (for probability), s (for sample standard deviation), σ (for population standard

deviation), μ (for population mean), χ

(for Chi-squared).

Statistical expressions should be typed as follows (note italicization):

F = 13.67; df = 1, 24; p = 0.08

● Where p-values are used, they should be reported as continuous quantities (e.g., p = 0.08,

not p < 0.05)

o Avoid using the phrase “statistical significance” or other bright-line

dichotomizing variants such as “significantly different”

o p-values should be described in language stating what the value means in the

scientific context, so that a reader has the ability to interpret it appropriately

● Use leading zeros (e.g., 0.05) in text, figures, and tables.

● Leave one space around = or ≠ signs.

3.3.5 Radiometric ages and dates

In all instances where radiocarbon assays are reported for the first time, the following

conventions must be employed. Nonetheless, if the assay was first published elsewhere, it is only

necessary to cite that reference (with page number[s]).

The uncalibrated radiocarbon age must be given in the first direct citation. Uncalibrated

radiocarbon ages must

● be based on the Libby 5,568-year

C half-life (divide radiocarbon ages based on the

Cambridge 5,730-year half-life by 1.03); note that all

C labs report dates using the

Libby half-life;

● be expressed as radiocarbon years BP—do not convert to radiocarbon years AD/BC;

● be followed by the 1-sigma (σ) standard error as given by the laboratory;

● include the sample identification number given by the laboratory (use conventions

established for laboratory abbreviations used in the journal Radiocarbon and include a

hyphen between the lab identifier and the lab number, e.g., Beta-103456);

● state what type of material was dated (e.g., wood, charcoal, corncob, bone apatite); and

● state whether the date has been corrected for isotopic fractionation. If a δ

C value was

given by the laboratory, then this correction has been made. The best way to indicate this

is to provide the δ

C value (note: never italicize δ).

Example: 3680 ± 60 BP (Beta-3964; wood charcoal; δ

C = −23.8‰).

Calibrated dates must always be identified as such, using the conventions cal AD, cal BC

(the journals do not use CE or BCE), or cal BP (note the placement of cal and the punctuation).

Authors must

● identify the particular calibration used (e.g., IntCal 2020);

● state whether the calibration is made for 1 or 2σ (2 preferred);

● present the calibrated age as a range of calendar age (or ranges where more than one is

possible). If there is more than one possible range of calendar age, and the calibration

program assigns probabilities to each, these must be cited.

Example: “For the date 3680 ± 60 the two possible calibrated age ranges are

2279–2232 cal BC (p = 0.05) and 2209–1905 cal BC (p = 0.95). (Calibrated at 2σ with

the program CALIB 3.2 [Stuiver and Reimer 1993; Stuiver et al. 1998].)”

SAA Style Guide December 2023 15

If many calibrated dates are included in a manuscript, then presentation in the form of a

table is advised (see, for example, Table 2 in Little, American Antiquity 67(1):112).

● Unlike other four-digit numbers, radiocarbon ages with four digits do not have a comma.

Radiocarbon ages with five digits do have a comma.

● The atomic mass of an isotope is indicated as a superscript preceding the atomic symbol:

C, not C-14 or C

Bayesian or other modeled dates must be clearly stated as such, and the full methods,

assumptions, and citations for programs or software used to generate them must be explained

either in printed text or as an online supplement.

● Modeled radiocarbon dates are qualitatively different from standard calibrated dates. To

make the distinction clear, radiocarbon dates that have been subject to statistical

modeling should be presented in italics. All modeled date estimates should also include

the highest probability density (hpd) and not standard deviations (sigma); e.g., AD 1067–

1094 (68.3% hpd) or AD 998–1178 (95.4% hpd).

● Bayesian models of radiocarbon ages should be described with accessible, plain English.

Where it is necessary to refer to specific software functions or command names in the

text (e.g., Chronological Query Language commands), these should be clearly indicated,

and the names should be capitalized.

Example: “We constrain the period of time represented by each site phase (that is

between the OxCal Boundaries for the start and end of the relevant OxCal Phase).”

● The complete and exact OxCal runfiles that were used to generate all the reported results

should be included in the supplementary material or deposited in a repository and

referenced in the text by a DOI (e.g., tdar.org, zenodo.org, osf.io, etc.). Avoid including

OxCal code in the text of the manuscript.

3.3.6 Quotations

● Quoted matter of less than four typed lines in length should be run into the text, between

(double) quotation marks.

● Use single quotation marks only when it is necessary to have quotation marks within a

quotation.

● After the quotation, cite author, year of publication, and page number(s) in parentheses.

Example: Mental life, as such, cannot be grasped, but we can grasp the intention

through the intentional product, “the objective and identical correlate in which mental life

surpasses itself” (Ricoeur 1981:50).

● Quoted matter that runs to four or more typed lines should be set off from the text as a

block quote and double-spaced, with two lines of space above and below.

Example: Most of the area is true savannah, the most difficult vegetation for the

primitive farmer to cope with, and also the rains in general are undependable. . . . The

only incentive for heavy settlement would be on the basis of irrigation agriculture, and

. . . [at Zempoala] this incentive was presented [Sanders 1953:76].

Note: Brackets are used instead of parentheses within the excerpt for author-added

material and for the citation.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 16

● When emphasis is added or was already in the original material, the source of the

emphasis should be noted after the citation, within the brackets.

Example: [Sanders 1953:76; emphasis added] or [Sanders 1953:76; emphasis in

original].

● When a translation of material is made, it should follow the quotation, with translator

noted.

Example: [translation by Rowe (1980:15)] or [translation by author]. Refer to the

Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, Chapter 13, for more information on quotations

and for the correct use of ellipsis points. Leading ellipses are rarely necessary.

3.3.7 Spelling

The authority for spelling in all journals is the most recent edition of Merriam-Webster’s

Collegiate Dictionary (as of June 2021, this is the 11th edition, in print and online). For anything

not in this work, consult Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (Unabridged).

● Use American English spellings (except in quotations and references and in referring to

an institution when it is imperative to preserve the original spelling).

● When more than one spelling is offered for a word, use the first spelling listed for the

entry, e.g., acknowledgments, not acknowledgements; archaeology, not archeology;

appendixes, not appendices; artifact, not artefact; benefited, not benefitted; labeled, not

labelled; toward, not towards, etc.

● Preferred spellings for some words commonly used in archaeological parlance include

ballcourt, colonial, cross section (noun), cross-section (verb), ear spool, field house,

fieldwork, ground stone, lidar, pithouse, pit structure, plow zone, postcontact, posthole,

post mold, posttest, precolumbian, precontact, prehispanic, pretest, rockshelter, room

block, use life, X-ray (noun), x-ray (verb).

● Use “%” where it follows a number (e.g., 20%), otherwise, spell it out. Use % in tables.

● The plural of nouns follows the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition.

● The noun “data” takes the plural form of the verb: “data are”; “data indicate.”

The primary Spanish dictionary used by all journals is the latest edition of Diccionario de

la Real Academia Española. This is supplemented by the latest edition of Vox New College

Spanish and English Dictionary, which contains more of the words used in archaeological

writing than do other commonly available Spanish-English dictionaries. It also features special

sections on Spanish grammatical conventions (e.g., capitalization, numerals, syntax).

3.3.8 Italics

● Words in languages other than the primary language in which the manuscript is written

are italicized consistently throughout the manuscript (e.g., bajada, encomienda, vecino;

exceptions noted below).

● Use standard orthographies, including diacritical marks, and explain unusual symbols

(also see Subsection 3.3.12 on accents).

● Generic, specific, and varietal names are italicized: e.g., Homo sapiens, Spondylus sp. All

other taxonomic designations are printed in roman type.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 17

● Titles of books, journals, and other literary works are italicized when mentioned in the

text; article titles mentioned in the text are in roman type, set off by quotation marks, as

are the titles of theses and dissertations.

● Letters that represent mathematical variables are italicized (see Subsection 3.3.4).

● ALWAYS italicize the “n” and “N” in “n = ” and “N = ” constructions.

● Foreign words and phrases in common use, or anglicized, should not be italicized.

Consult the main section of the latest edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate

Dictionary to determine if a foreign word or phrase has made it into common use and

therefore should not be italicized (e.g., a priori, et al., in situ, sensu, metate, milpa, vis-

à-vis); any word that appears at the end of the dictionary in the section on “Foreign

Words and Phrases” should be italicized (e.g., axis mundi, caveat lector, cursus

honorem).

3.3.9 Capitalization

For capitalization of non-archaeological terms in English, consult the Chicago Manual of Style,

17th edition, Chapter 7. Note that Spanish capitalization rules are different from those of

English; please refer to the Spanish language version of the style manual.

● Capitalize the names of specific archaeological and geographical areas.

Examples: Mesoamerica, Lowland Maya, Gulf Coast, the Southwest, the

Midwest.

● Directional, topographical, and general geographic terms are in lowercase unless they are

derived from proper names of political, ethnic, or taxonomic entities.

Examples: southwestern, north coast of Peru, central Mexico; but Mesoamerican

region, Maya Lowlands, Sonoran Desert, Eastern Woodlands.

● Capitalize taxonomic names of generic and higher rank.

Examples: order Artiodactyla, family Bovidae, genus Bison, Pinus ponderosa.

● Names of mountains, rivers, oceans, and so forth are capitalized, along with the generic

terms—such as lake, mountain, river, valley—when used as part of a name. When a

generic term is used descriptively rather than as part of the name or when used alone, it is

lowercased.

Examples: the Mississippi River, the valley of the Mississippi, the Mississippi

River valley, the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, Lakes Michigan and Huron.

● Capitalize proper names, including Lower, Middle, Early, and Late when they are part of

the name, of chronological, cultural, and geological divisions, but give taxonomic

division names and restrictive modifiers in lowercase.

Examples: Upper Paleolithic period, late Holocene, Classic period, Koster site,

Upper Republican aspect, Olmec horizon, Riverton phase, Denali complex

● Do not capitalize “colonial period” or “modern era.” Do not capitalize “prehispanic.”

Note that for the SAA journals, there is no hyphen or internal capital “C” in

“precolumbian.”

● Capitalize the names of archaeological classes and types, but place generic terms in

lowercase.

Examples: Clovis point, Cody knives, Hardin Barbed point, Salado polychromes

(which include types Gila Polychrome, Tonto Polychrome, etc.).

SAA Style Guide December 2023 18

3.3.10 Hyphenation

For rules governing hyphenation of non-archaeological compound words, consult Chapter 7 in

the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, or the latest edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate

Dictionary.

● Compounds are spelled without hyphens if they can be considered permanent

combinations.

Examples: Paleoindian, preceramic, Postclassic, rockshelter; but pre-

Basketmaker, mid-Pleistocene, etc.

● Prefixes in common use are not hyphenated.

Examples: infrastructure, intercommunity, intrasite, noncultural, preexisting,

reanalyze, subfield

● Hyphenate descriptive terms that are combinations of words including a preposition.

Example: red-on-buff pottery

● Hyphenate fractions when they are spelled out.

Examples: one-third, seven-tenths

● A general rule is to hyphenate paired words serving an adjectival function (termed

compound modifiers).

Examples: obsidian-hydration dating, heat-treated silicates, two-story pueblo,

low-ranked resource, but high return rate

● Never hyphenate a combination of an adverb ending in -ly plus a participle or adjective.

Examples: poorly developed argument

● Interdisciplinary research uses terminology and phrase constructions borrowed from a

parent discipline such as isotope chemistry. If common usage in a parent discipline

dictates leaving compound modifiers open (such as “stable isotope ratio” or “heavy

mineral analysis”), we will normally follow that usage.

3.3.11 Abbreviations

Abbreviations are used infrequently in the journals.

● Exceptions include acronyms for long titles of agencies, institutions, etc., which will be

mentioned frequently in the text (they are always introduced following the full name at its

first occurrence).

Examples: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Instituto Nacional de

Antropología e Historia (INAH).

● Metric units are given in abbreviated form when they follow numbers.

Examples: 7 km, 2,000 m asl, 23 cm (See Subsection 3.3.3; see also Subsection

3.3.5 for information on placement of abbreviations pertinent to dates.)

● A few other abbreviations are permitted in parenthetical constructions.

Examples: et al., e.g., i.e., ca., cf. (“compare against”; does not mean “see” or

“see also”), vs. (not v. unless a legal case is cited), rev. ed., 3 vols.

● Latin abbreviations should only appear within parentheses. Outside of parentheses, they

must be spelled out and preferably should appear in the language of the submission.

Example: “for example,” “and others,” “that is.”

● Never use ibid. or op. cit.; follow the conventions for in-text citations in Section 3.4.

● “Figure” is always spelled out, never abbreviated.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 19

● Try to avoid using abbreviations in figures and tables. When necessary, provide the

complete spelling in the figure captions or table notes.

3.3.12 Accents and Diacritical Marks

For all journals, include all common accents and diacritical marks for European, Asian, African,

American, and Indigenous languages in paper titles, abstracts, text, acknowledgments, notes,

figures and figure captions, table headers and tables, data availability statements, and References

Cited sections. Be sure accents and diacritical marks are clearly marked, accurate, and consistent.

Authors and editors should follow generally accepted conventions, but editors may exercise

reasonable discretion in accepting accents and diacritical marks that are important for words and

place-names within local and Indigenous languages.

● Pay particular attention to proper names and titles of works. The rules of placement of

accents in Spanish hold for all modern place names in Spanish that appear commonly on

a map that were hispanicized from other languages such as Nahuatl or Mayan, except for

words that have accepted English spellings.

Examples: San Juan Teotihuacán, Mexico (not “México”).

● Archaeological site names that are derived from Indigenous languages that do not require

accents should not include them in English-language submissions.

Examples: Teotihuacan, Chichen Itza, Kaminaljuyu.

● Alternate spellings using new Indigenous orthographies may be used at the discretion of

authors and editors, as may new spellings/names adopted for grammatical or political

reasons.

Examples: Chich’en Itsa’ or Chichen Itza, Tak’alik Ab’aj or Abaj Takalik, Seibal

or Ceibal.

● Spanish capital letters that should contain accents must have them included, as must

letters that contain diacritical marks.

Examples: TRÁNSITO, COMPRENDÍA, ESPAÑOL.

3.3.13 Contractions and serial commas

● In no case should contractions be used in English submissions.

● Serial commas (“the Oxford comma”) should always be used in English submissions.

3.3.14 Parentheses

Back-to-back sets of parentheses should not be used. Instead, combine elements using a

semicolon within a single set of parentheses. Thus “(e.g., the Castillo) (Figure 1) (Tozzer 1957)”

should appear as “(e.g., the Castillo; Figure 1; Tozzer 1957). Place elements in order of

importance to the sentence before the parentheses with citations last.

3.3.15 Hyperlinks

● For AAQ/LAQ, to indicate hyperlinks, include the URL in parentheses next to the text:

Example: I love looking at penguins in National Geographic

(www.nationalgeographic.com/).

SAA Style Guide December 2023 20

● For AAP, since published digitally, actual text (individual words/phrases) can contain

embedded hyperlinks in the final publication and URLs need not be spelled out in

running text (except in the References Cited).

3.4 In-Text Reference Citations

There are two different formats used for in-text citations in the journals:

● REVIEWS and BOOK NOTES follow the format given in Section 3.5.

● ARTICLES, REPORTS, COMMENTS, FORUM contributions, and BOOK REVIEW

ESSAYS use the style described immediately below.

In-text year citations always immediately follow the name(s) of the author(s). All of the

examples make use of parentheses in their ordinary format, but note that when reference citations

are used in textual material set off in parentheses, the parentheses in the citations convert to

brackets.

Example: (e.g., Shapere [1985] on the constitution of “observations” in physics,

and Kosso [1989] on observation in science generally).

For examples of citations in quoted material see Subsection 3.3.6 above.

In-text citations should include a page number when the citation is to a book or

monograph. Page numbers should always be provided for quotations, definitions, paraphrasing,

and other use of exact terms regardless of the source.

3.4.1 Simple citation

(Wylie 1991) or Wylie (1991)

Note: For authors with two surnames, as is usually the case in Spanish-speaking

countries, use both surnames in the citation.

3.4.2 Two authors

(Lipe and Varien 1999) or Lipe and Varien (1999)

3.4.3 Three or more authors

(Cobean et al. 1991) or Cobean and others (1991)

Note 1: Use of “et al.” is limited to parenthetical in-text citations. The only time all

names should be listed for a reference with three authors in a text citation is when a person is

senior author of more than one jointly authored item in the same year.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 21

Example: Barnosky, Anderson, and Bartlein (1987) and Barnosky, Grimm, and

Wright (1987) would appear as shown, not as Barnosky and colleagues (1987a, 1987b).

For four or more authors, include as many names as needed up to the first

different author followed by et al.

Example: (Barnosky, Anderson, Bartlein, et al. 1987) and (Barnosky, Anderson,

Grimm, et al. 1987).

Note 2: Whereas the use of et al. is permissible in parenthetical in-text citations, in the

References Cited, all names must be listed following the senior author’s name (up to 10; see

3.12.2). Note that “et al.” and all other Latin abbreviations appear only within parentheses within

the main text. Outside of parentheses, this can be written out as “et alia” (a gender-neutral

construction) or “and colleagues” or “and others.”

3.4.4 Several authors cited in one place or several references by same author

(Ashmore 1986; Coe 1965; de Montmollin 1988; Fox 1987, 1991; Freidel 1986; Freidel and

Schele 1986; Freidel et al. 1990)

Note: Use semicolons to separate works by different authors and commas to separate

distinct, chronologically ordered works by the same author. References are always ordered

alphabetically within strings by author. Note that de Montmollin is alphabetized here under “d,”

as the name would also be alphabetized in the References Cited section.

3.4.5 Two or more references by same author or authors in same year

In these cases, references must be labeled “a,” “b,” and so on based on their appearance in the

manuscript, not based on alphabetical order. Thus, a “b” reference must never appear before an

“a” reference.

(Jones and Brown 1972a, 1972b) or Jones and Brown (1972a, 1972b)

Note: When an individual or individuals have both authored and edited (or compiled)

publications with the same date, and both are cited, the edited (or compiled) volume is to be

distinguished in citation as follows.

Example: (Adams, ed. 1977) or Adams (ed. 1977). Edited (or compiled) volumes are so

identified in the text only when potential ambiguity occurs. The authored publication precedes

the edited (or compiled) one in both citation and reference.

Example: (Flannery 1976; Flannery, ed. 1976) or Flannery (1976) and Flannery

(ed. 1976)

3.4.6 Two authors, same surname, same year published

(J. Smith 1982; N. Smith 1982) or J. Smith (1982) and N. Smith (1982)

SAA Style Guide December 2023 22

Note: When two authors with the same surname and the same year published are cited,

the first initial of each author is added to prevent ambiguity. Same surname but different year

published does not require the first initial (see below).

3.4.7 Two authors, same surname, different years published

(Smith 1982; Smith 1987) or Smith (1982), Smith (1987)

3.4.8 Government agency, company, or similar entity as author

(United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service [USDA, SCS] 1975)

Note: State the complete name of the agency, company, etc., as with any other citation,

but if the citation will occur more than once in the text, then abbreviate names to their commonly

accepted acronyms and place in brackets. Subsequent citations in the text will be, for example,

(USDA, SCS 1975) or USDA, SCS (1975).

3.4.9 Citation with pages, figures, or tables specified

(Smith 1977:3), (Jones and Wilson 1971:Figure 2), (Johnson et al. 1970:Table 1), (Taylor

1964:23, 72–78) or Smith (1977:3), Jones and Wilson (1971:Figure 2), Brown (1968:533–534),

Johnson et al. (1970:Table 1), Taylor (1964:23, 72–78)

Note: Use a colon to separate date of publication from additional information. There

should be no space between the colon and additional information. Page numbers must always be

given when direct quotations are used in the text, when other authors’ ideas are directly

paraphrased, or when specific ideas or data are referenced from a long text. Always use full page

range numbers in a citation, e.g., 312–315, not 312–15. Never use ff. or passim (though it is

permissible to use “ff.” as an abbreviation for folios). Spell out and capitalize such words as

Figure, Table, Plate, etc. If citing a figure, table, etc., do not include the page number on which it

occurs unless additional, separate textual information from that page is being cited as well.

3.4.10 Multivolume set

(Thwaites 1896–1901:17:88–92, 19:197) or Thwaites (1896–1901:17:88–92, 19:197)

Note: In this example, “17” and “19” refer to the volume numbers. Volume number

should be cited as Arabic numerals even if the original series uses Roman numerals.

3.4.11 Forthcoming book or article in journal issue in press

(Kelly 2024) or Kelly (2024)

SAA Style Guide December 2023 23

Note: Everything has a date. Never use “n.d.” or “in press” with in-text citations. Give

date either of manuscript completion (in the case of a manuscript that is “on file” somewhere) or

of manuscript submission or anticipated publication date for an item that has been accepted for

publication. Also see Subsection 3.12.21 below.

3.4.12 No author specified

Cite the group or agency issuing the report or the publisher.

(United Nations 1963), (Committee on Ethics 1977) or United Nations (1963),

Committee on Ethics (1977)

Note: Also see Subsection 3.12.6 below.

3.4.13 Primary-source materials (e.g., unpublished archival materials including

administrative records, letters, etc.)

Citations for much primary-source material will be archive specific, so it is impossible to devise

a rote formula for citation. It is important to include the name of the archive, title of the work (if

named), nature of the material (e.g., letter [optional]), collection name, identification number

(legajo, fascicle, folio, etc.), date (if known; note use of day/month/year format), and geographic

location of material. Consider the following examples:

(Archivo General de la Nación, Lima [AGN], Juzgado de Aguas 3.3.7.23, f. 3v); note that

subsequent citations would use only the acronym AGN and the shortened “Aguas” (e.g., AGN,

Aguas 3.3.4.39, 3.3.9.9)

(Archivo General de Indias, Seville [AGI], Papeles de Cuba, legajo 2365, f. 345);

subsequent citation = (AGI, Cuba, legajo 2365, f. 523)

(McHenry County Courthouse, Woodstock, Illinois [MCC] 1880: Deed Book [DB] 1:5);

subsequent citation = (MCC 1890:DB 2:10)

(Raimond Quenel, Etienne Govreau, and Marie Louise Quenel to de Gruys Verloins, sale

of property, 8 February 1752, Kaskaskia Manuscripts [KM], Office of Randolph County Clerk,

Chester, Illinois); subsequent citation = (KM 52:2:8:1)

(F. Boas to E. B. Howard, letter, 9 May 1935, Boas Papers, American Philosophical

Society, Philadelphia)

Note: Primary-source citations appear only in the text and are not duplicated in the

References Cited section. If you are citing primary-source material from a published source,

you must follow conventional citation rules in the text and in the References Cited. It is

preferable to cite Latin American codices by the editor of the particular edition of the codex used

(unless the actual document was consulted), e.g., (Dibble 1980) for the sixteenth-century Codice

Xolotl. See corresponding example in Subsection 3.12.3.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 24

3.4.14 Earlier edition specified

In cases where many years (typically at least 100) separate the original publication of an item

and a reprinted edition, and where it is important to the author’s argument to indicate the use of

period sources, the original date of publication should be placed in brackets following citation, in

usual fashion, of the reprint edition.

(Cobo 1956 [1653]:169)

(Russell and Erwin 1980 [1865])

Note: See corresponding examples in Subsection 3.12.5.

3.4.15 Newspapers

(Weekly Missouri Courier [WMC], 7 July 1838:[page numbers, if available])

Note: After first mention, simply use WMC with date (day/month/year format) and page.

Also see Subsection 3.12.12.

3.4.16 Personal communication, no publication involved

(Katharina Schreiber, personal communication 1990) or Katharina Schreiber (personal

communication 1990)

Note: Give full name and date. Personal communications should be used sparingly and

should never be used when a published citation is available for the same information. Written

permission to use any information provided in a personal communication must be obtained from

the person(s) providing it. Personal communication citations appear only in the text and are not

duplicated in the References Cited section.

3.4.17 Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge

(D. Goodfish Cardinal 2004) or D. Goodfish Cardinal (2004)

Note: See Section 3.12.16 for how to cite in the References Cited section of the

manuscript.

3.4.18 Web pages and electronic documents

Treat web pages, electronic documents, and open data as published data, but cite the

document accordingly as a single- or multiple-authored document or as one produced by a group

or agency (no author specified). For example:

SAA Style Guide December 2023 25

(Glascock 2001; Shackley 2001) or Glascock (2001), Shackley (2001); likewise, for a

group citation use (Northwest Research Obsidian Studies Laboratory 2001) or Northwest

Research Obsidian Laboratories (2001)

3.4.19 Social media

Social media content originating from sites like Instagram, Facebook, and X (Twitter) should be

cited in author-date format as for all other sources:

(Smith 2017)

3.4.20 AI-generated text

Treat text generated by AI as personal communication but include the date (not only the year) or

include as an endnote; do not include in your references cited list.

(ChatGPT 3.5, September 7, 2023)

Note: For more information on using AI, use the following guidance from CUP:

● AI use must be declared and clearly explained in publications such as research papers,

just as we expect scholars to do with other software, tools, and methodologies.

● AI does not meet the SAA/CUP requirements for authorship, given the need for

accountability. AI and LLM tools may not be listed as an author on any scholarly work

published by the SAA/CUP

● Authors are accountable for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of their research

papers, including for any use of AI.

● Any use of AI must not breach CUP’s plagiarism policy. Scholarly works must be the

author’s own, and not present others’ ideas, data, words, or other material without

adequate citation and transparent referencing.

3.5 Citations and References in REVIEWS and BOOK NOTES

References in REVIEWS should be used sparingly, if at all; they are never used in BOOK

NOTES. When they occur, they should be placed in the text, in shortened form, enclosed in

parentheses.

● Article: (Ashmore, Latin American Antiquity 2[3]:199–225)

● Book: (Willey, Introduction to American Archaeology, vol. 1, 1966)

Review: (Tilley, Review of Binford, American Antiquity 57[1]:164–166)

Citations to the book under review require only the page numbers: (p. 5), (pp. 83–89)

SAA Style Guide December 2023 26

3.6 Tables

● Tabular presentation of data should be used sparingly. Data in a very short table, for

example, can often be included in the text with no loss of clarity. Large numbers of

individual, similar facts, however, are best presented in a table.

● Data tables should be submitted in .xls, .doc, or similar commonly used formats. They

may not be submitted as image files.

● Consult Chapter 3 of the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, for detailed information

on planning and constructing tables; also see recent issues of the journals.

● Editors, at their discretion, may require long tables be published online as supplemental

material, rather than in the printed text.

● Avoid using abbreviations and acronyms in tables. If they cannot be avoided, they must

be spelled out in the accompanying notes.

● Authors should submit each table as a separate file.

● Each table should have a title.

3.6.1 Size

When constructing a table, keep in mind the physical limitations of the journals’ size. A table

with more than 10–12 columns will often have to be placed sideways on the journal page; wider

tables will need to be broken up or set in reduced type. In no case should a table contain more

data than can appear in a two-page spread. Larger tables should be broken down into two or

more smaller tables

3.6.2 Typing

All sections of the table should be double-spaced.

3.6.3 Numbering and title

● Use Arabic numerals and number all tables sequentially in the order cited in the text.

● Provide a short title for each table, centered at the top of the page, using headline-style

capitalization (principal words capitalized excluding articles, prepositions, and

conjunctions). The title should not provide background information or describe the results

illustrated by the table.

Example: Table 2. Weir Family Cemetery Skeletal Summary.

3.6.4 Rules and headings

● Use no vertical rules.

● Provide horizontal rules only above and below the table’s column headings and beneath

the last row of data; no internal horizontal rules are allowed.

● Each column and row should have a brief heading.

● The left-hand column of a table is called a “stub.” Capitalization of stub headings is

sentence style, while all significant words are capitalized in the column headings.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 27

3.6.5 Body

● If a column heading does not apply to one of the items in the stub, that “cell” should be

left blank (do not use N.A. or NA for “not applicable”).

● All numeric cell entries are decimal. If there are no data for a particular cell, insert an em-

dash (—).

● Use tabs, not the space bar, to create columns.

3.6.6 Footnotes

There are three kinds of footnotes for tables:

● The title of a table should never be footnoted; instead, place information pertinent to the

entire table in a general note immediately below the table’s final horizontal rule.

Example:

Notes: Data from Kent (1991); all dimensions in mm.

● Notes specific to entry, section, or head. Examples:

C = child; A = adult.

Contains decorative brass elements identical to those found with Burials 2 and 6.

Data from Owsley et al. (1987).

● Notes indicating a level of statistical significance. Examples:

p = 0.05.

p = 0.01.

Note: Arrange notes, each one beginning on its own line, flush left, in the following

order: source notes, general notes, specific notes indicated by superscript lowercase letters (not

numbers), and significance notes indicated by asterisks.

3.6.7 Citation

Every table must be cited in the text, beginning with Table 1 and continuing sequentially.

3.7 Figures

All illustrative materials are referred to as “Figures”; the journals do not use “Plates,” “Maps,” or

other such terms. Note that file resolution and size requirements apply generally only to AAQ

and LAQ; since AAP is only published digitally, low-res images are usually OK for viewing

online. If in doubt, however, submit high-res files for all journals.

● Authors are responsible for supplying figures electronically as high-resolution TIFF,

EPS, or JPG files for best print reproduction. Photographs or other grayscale illustrations

should be a minimum of 300 dpi, and black-only (no shades of gray) line art should be a

minimum of 1,200 dpi (and see 3.7.1 below for sizing guidelines).

● PDFs are also acceptable, but original file must have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 28

● The dpi of an image cannot be manually changed in photo-manipulation software—the

only way to turn a low-res image file into a high-res image file is to re-scan an image at

the appropriate dpi or locate an original high-res file.

● Images copied/saved directly from websites are NEVER usable for print—you must

request a high-res version to download from the source. Likewise, images copied and

pasted into a Word file are unusable for print.

● Avoid using abbreviations and acronyms on figures. If they cannot be avoided, they must

be spelled out in accompanying captions.

● The SAA’s publishing partner, Cambridge University Press, provides additional guidance

on submitting artwork, including the best formats for publishing in print and digitally

high-quality halftone and line drawing figures. They also provide information on

appropriate file naming, obtaining permissions for previously published materials, sizing,

and use of fonts. Please visit

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/authors/journals/journals-artwork-guide

● Illustrators or photographers who are not authors should provide written permission to

use the image (see subsection 3.7.3 below) and be credited in the caption.

Examples: Photograph courtesy of John M. Smith or Illustration by John M.

Smith and used with permission.

3.7.1 Size

Most figures are reduced before publication. The maximum dimensions of a published figure are

5.75 inches (ca. 15 cm) by 8 inches (20.3 cm). Extremely complex illustrations with considerable

detail and small lettering will not reduce well. If in doubt about the resolution or physical size of

an image file, check the resolution of your images in a program such as Adobe Photoshop or

Microsoft Paint. Keep in mind that the general requirement for printing is 300 dpi.

3.7.2 Drawing and lettering

● Use letters that are large enough so they will reproduce well even when reduced.

● Avoid cluttered illustrations.

● Do not draft the caption directly onto the figure.

● All symbolic keys to map or chart conventions should appear on the figure itself, not

separately in the caption.

● Maps must have a north arrow.

● Use a visual scale when objects, plans, sections, etc., are included in the figure. Place the

scale on the actual figure, not in the caption. Do not use the form “1 cm equals 450 cm”;

because almost all figures are reduced before publication, such scales will not be accurate

after reduction.

● Wording on figures must conform to the journals’ style and to internal usage in any given

article (e.g., “cm” not “cm.,” “AD” not “A.D.,” and accents should be added where

necessary).

● Avoid using abbreviations and acronyms on a figure as much as possible. If this cannot

be avoided, they must be spelled out in accompanying legends or captions.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 29

3.7.3 Permissions

Written permission is required to publish images not belonging to the author(s). Publication will

occur if and only if adequate proof of permission is provided.

For images that have previously been published by you or others and for which you do

not hold the copyright, guidance from Cambridge University Press provides examples of how to

request permission to reuse and reprint previously published material. Please see

https://www.cambridge.org/about-us/rights-permissions

More informal permission to use an image in the form of an email message from a

photographer, cartographer, or illustrator will suffice for images that have not been previously

published. If permission is not needed because the image’s owner has made it available through a

Creative Commons license, please indicate this to the editors.

3.7.4 Numbering and captions

● Use Arabic numerals and number all figures sequentially in the order cited in the text.

● Provide a succinct caption for each figure, using sentence-style capitalization.

● Place all captions together, double-spaced, on a separate page or pages at the end of the

manuscript. Refer to the following examples of figure captions for placement of essential

elements.

● Use lowercase or uppercase letters to identify sections of a figure depending on how the

image is labeled.

Examples:

Figure 2. The distribution of Numic languages in the Great Basin.

Figure 4. Electron micrographs of carbonized remains from the Copán Valley: (a)

Phaseolus sp. (bean) seed, (b) Celtis sp. (hackberry) pit, (c) Pinus sp. (pine) charcoal, (d)

Albizzia sp. charcoal.

Figure 10. Two views of a Moche stirrup-spout bottle (spout missing): left, the

Supernatural Human Decapitator holds his tumi at the Monster’s throat, apparently about

to decapitate him; right, he grasps the hair of the Monster Decapitator. (Museo Nacional

de Antropología y Arqueología, Lima. Photograph courtesy of Chris Donnan.)

3.7.5 Citation

● Every figure must be cited in the text and must be numbered sequentially in the order it

appears, using the following form. Do not abbreviate the word “Figure.”

Example: (Figure 2), (Figures 2–5), (Figures 1 and 2), (Figure 7a–f), (Figures 1,

2, and 5), “As shown in Figure 5. . .”

● When a figure or table citation is combined with an in-text reference, they are placed

within one set of parentheses and separated by a semicolon (see Subsection 3.3.14).

● See Section 3.13 for citation of supplemental figures posted online.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 30

3.7.6 Color Figures

AAP is a digital-only journal and can publish full color images at no additional charge. AAQ and

LAQ are published in print and digitally, and use of color in the print editions will incur

additional costs.

● Figures may be published in full color at the author’s expense, on recommendation from

the editor and by arrangement with the Cambridge University Press (CUP) production

editor. Effective for journal issues printed in January 2023 and beyond, the cost is $300

per image (but may be reasonably updated at CUP’s discretion as necessary), with an

upper limit of about $1,600 per article.

● Authors can elect to submit color images and have them appear in black-and-white in the

print publication and appear in color in the online version of the publication. CUP is also

able to accept a separate color and black-and-white version of a figure to replicate in

online and print publication, respectively, if needed.

● Unless you are paying for color printing, please be cognizant of color use and references

in charts, graphs, and other graphics that will become meaningless when printed in black-

and-white. Changes should be made to the images and/or legends, keys, captions, and

shading to make sure information is being provided effectively to readers.

● Color images and other materials can be posted online as supplemental material at no cost

(see Section 3.13).

3.8 Acknowledgments and Funding Statement

The Acknowledgments section of a manuscript is inserted at the end of the text, using a tertiary

heading—Acknowledgments.—placed flush left and immediately preceding the Funding

Statement. Support for completion of a project and manuscript should be cited: institutional,

intellectual, and technical (e.g., drafting of figures, translation of abstract). Authors who have

worked collaboratively with communities should acknowledge their partners, individually or

collectively. This section must be brief. Verbose acknowledgments will be edited prior to

publication. Phrases of the sort “all errors are the sole responsibility of the author” should be

omitted. If you would like to thank your editors, please do that by email, not in your published

acknowledgments. Not all authors thank the editors, and we do not want to create any perception

of favoritism.

The Acknowledgments section must contain a statement regarding the permits needed for

the work described. This should include the permit number(s), year(s), and the name of the

permitting agency or agencies. If no permit was required, this should be noted.

The Funding Statement section of a manuscript is inserted following the

Acknowledgments, using a tertiary heading— Funding Statement.—placed flush left and

immediately preceding the Data Availability Statement. Please supply all details required by any

funding and grant-awarding bodies as a separate section of your manuscript, as follows:

● For single agency grants: “This work was supported by the [Funding Agency] under

Grant [number xxxx].”

● For multiple agency grants: “This work was supported by the [Funding Agency 1] under

Grant [number xxxx]; [Funding Agency 2] under Grant [number xxxx]; and [Funding

Agency 3] under Grant [number xxxx].”

SAA Style Guide December 2023 31

● Where no specific funding has been provided for research, please provide the following

statement: “This research received no specific grant funding form any funding agency,

commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.”

3.9 Data Availability Statement and Competing Interests Statement

In AAQ and LAQ, the Data Availability Statement is placed after the Funding Statement, using a

tertiary heading—Data Availability Statement.—placed flush left. In AAP, it is submitted as a

separate file. It is intended to communicate to readers where the data are available or where the

objects from which the data were derived can be obtained. Manuscripts that do not use original

data should use this language: “No original data were used.”

SAA journals support practices that increase data access and research transparency.

Authors are strongly encouraged to make their data available through resources such as

institutional repositories, digital archives with access options, or other sites that support both data

preservation and allow access as appropriate. If data are legally restricted, authors should share

that information in this statement. Supplemental material is not an acceptable place to provide

raw data related to publication, as this is not archived with the body of the journal article. Raw

data should be deposited in a repository and referenced in the text by a DOI (e.g., tdar.org,

zenodo.org, osf.io, etc.).

In AAQ and LAQ, the Competing Interests statement is placed after the Data Availability

Statement, using a tertiary heading—Competing Interests.—placed flush left. In AAP, it is

submitted as a separate file. See section 1.1.8 for more information.

Competing interests are situations that could be perceived to exert an undue influence on

the content or publication of an author’s work. They may include, but are not limited to,

financial, professional, contractual, or personal relationships or situations. If the manuscript has

multiple authors, the author submitting must include competing interest declarations relevant to

all contributing authors.

● Example wording for a declaration is as follows: “Competing Interests: Author A is

employed at organization B. Author C owns shares in organization D, is on the board of

organization E and is a member of organization F. Author G has received grants from

organization H.”

● If no competing interests exist, the declaration should state “Competing Interests: The

author(s) declare none.”

3.10 Supplemental Material

The Supplemental Material list is placed after the Data Availability Statement, using a tertiary

heading—Supplemental Material.—placed flush left. It begins with the following statement:

“For supplemental material accompanying this article, visit

www.journals.cambridge.org/[Journal].” The link will be replaced by your article’s DOI during

the production process. See Section 3.13 for more information on supplemental material.

Follow that paragraph with a captions list for all supplemental material. All supplemental

material must be identified by type (i.e., “Supplemental Material 1” is not acceptable).

SAA Style Guide December 2023 32

Examples:

Supplemental Figure 1. Locations of all excavations and proveniences at Cold Springs.

Supplemental Table 1. Radiocarbon data from Cold Springs.

Supplemental Code 1. Primary Model.

Supplemental Text 1. Excavation and contextual information on Guevavi midden.

3.11 Notes

Important: If a utility was used to compile hyperlinked endnotes in a manuscript (e.g., “Insert

endnote” function in Microsoft Word), it must be disabled and the manuscript submitted with

plain text formatting.

Notes should be used sparingly in a manuscript to provide absolutely essential additional

information or clarification only when inclusion of that information in the actual text would

prove disruptive to the flow of the manuscript by adding too much detail on a particular point or

by additional tangential material to the argument in progress. The section with the text for all

notes begins a new page before the References Cited section of the paper, under the primary

heading Notes. Footnotes are not allowed. Double space all entries, and list each note, paragraph

style, beginning with the appropriate number.

Example:

1. Surveys currently are being conducted in the Chinchaysuyu, Antisuyu, and Cuntisuyu areas of

the Cuzco region. The preliminary results of these surveys support the findings presented here.

3.12 References Cited

The format described here is to be used only for ARTICLES, REPORTS, COMMENTS,

FORUM manuscripts, and BOOK REVIEW ESSAYS. For the format to be used for REVIEWS,

see Section 3.5.

● The reference section begins a new page, under the primary heading References Cited,

and must be double-spaced throughout.

● While citations should be thorough, they should be chosen judiciously. Editors may ask

authors to cut references.

● When formatting references cited prior to submitting a manuscript, authors do not need to

attempt to duplicate how references look after they are typeset. Instead, authors should

format them as follows. Entries should be flush left. Arrange the parts of each reference

in the general order author(s)/editor(s), date, title (and subtitle if applicable), publisher,

location of publisher. For correct punctuation between elements, see section 3.12.1 and

following.

● For name of publisher, do not include “and Company,” “Inc.,” “Publishers,” “Publishing

Company,” etc.

● Except in the most obvious cases (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Lima,

Bogotá, Mexico City, Paris, London [England], etc.), include state name (spell out the

state name [use DC for District of Columbia] and do not use the United States Postal

Service abbreviations) along with city, and, if necessary, country, of publication.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 33

Exception: if the state of publication is in the name of the publisher (e.g., University of

New Mexico Press), do not repeat the state name after the city of publication.

● All references cited in the text must appear in the References Cited section list (except for

personal communications and primary-source materials), and all entries in the list must

be cited in the text.

● Alphabetize the references cited section by the last names of authors.

● Use complete first names and middle initials for authors and editors as they appear on the

title page of the work. (Use initials only for authors known by initials [e.g., C. S. Lewis].)

● Names beginning with Mac or Mc are alphabetized letter by letter, as they appear.

● Two or more works by the same author or authors should be listed chronologically

(repeating author name[s] for each entry); two or more by the same author or authors in

the same year should be listed in the order they are first referred to in the text and

differentiated by lowercase letters following the date (e.g., 1991a, 1991b). An exception

is discussed in Subsection 3.4.5 above.

● Use headline-style capitalization for all English language titles, including articles, book

chapters, reports, etc. Use sentence-style capitalization for all Spanish language article

and book titles (but use headline style for Spanish or other language journal titles). Use

appropriate format for other foreign-language titles with respect to capitalization, accents,

etc. For titles published in non-Roman alphabets—Chinese, Cyrillic, etc.—give title in

Romanized transcription when possible, with English translation of the title following

immediately in brackets.

● If a bibliographic compiler (e.g., EndNote) has been used, authors are required to convert

the output to plain text before submitting/uploading manuscripts.

● When citing DOIs, it is usually unnecessary to include an access date. However, when

citing dataset DOIs (e.g., tDAR, Open Context, figshare, etc.), always include access

dates (see examples in subsections below).

Follow the examples given below for arrangement. When in doubt about what to include

in a reference, and if no suitable example occurs below, consult the Chicago Manual of Style for

more obscure types of sources or include all information appearing on the title page of the work,

and the copyeditor will make the appropriate corrections. Reproduce punctuation and spelling of

words in a title exactly, and consult Subsection 3.3.12 for the use of accents in titles.

3.12.1 Book, single author

Joyce, Rosemary. 2000. Gender and Power in Prehispanic Mesoamerica. University of

Texas Press, Austin.

Morales Padrón, Francisco. 1971. Historia del descubrimiento y conquista de América. 2nd

ed. Editora Nacional, Madrid.

Restall, Matthew. 1997. The Maya World: Yucatec Culture and Society, 1550–1850. Stanford

University Press, Palo Alto, California.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 34

3.12.2 Book, multiple authors

Hampton, David R., Charles E. Summer, and Ross A. Weber. 1978. Organizational Behavior

and the Practice of Management. 3rd ed. Scott Foresman, Glenview, Illinois.

Note: Place only the first author’s name in reverse order and always use serial commas

when two or more authors are included (up to 10; if more than 10, list ONLY first seven

followed by et al.). This example also illustrates how to treat a later edition. For ordinal number

of edition, use 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., with no superscripts, and set off numbered editions with

periods. Also note whether an edition is revised or if it is a facsimile edition.

3.12.3 Edited or compiled book (editor or compiler as “author”)

Dibble, Charles E. (editor). 1980 [sixteenth century]. Codice Xolotl. Universidad Autónoma

de México, Mexico City.

Singleton, Theresa A. (editor). 1985. The Archaeology of Slavery and Plantation Life.

Academic Press, Orlando, Florida.

3.12.4 Translated book

Bonavia, Duccio. 1985. Mural Painting in Ancient Peru. Translated by Patricia J. Lyon.

Indiana University Press, Bloomington.

3.12.5 Reissued or reprinted book

When it is desirable to indicate the original publication date of a book together with the reissue

or reprint date (see Subsection 3.4.14 above), the following format should be used.

Russell and Erwin Manufacturing Company. 1980 [1865]. Illustrated Catalog of American

Hardware of the Russell and Erwin Manufacturing Company. Russell and Erwin

Manufacturing Company, New Britain, Connecticut. 1980 facsimile ed. Association for

Preservation Technology, Ottawa.

Note: Corresponding citation in the text would be: (Russell and Erwin 1980 [1865]).

In cases where a century or less separates the original date of publication from the reprint

or reissue date, use this format:

Densmore, Frances. 1970. Chippewa Customs. Reprinted. Ross and Haines, Minneapolis.

Originally published 1929, Bulletin No. 86, Bureau of American Ethnology,

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

Note: The corresponding text citation would be (Densmore 1970).

SAA Style Guide December 2023 35

3.12.6 Book or other item, no author

SCS Engineers. 1986. A Survey of Household Hazardous Waste and Related Collection

Programs. SCS Engineers, Reston, Virginia.

Secretaría de Programación y Presupuesto (SPP). 1981. Carta edafológica. Thematic map,

1:1,000,000. SPP. Mexico City.

US Government Printing Office. 1967. Style Manual. US Government Printing Office,

Washington, DC.

3.12.7 Multivolume set

Beals, Ralph L., and Joseph A. Hester Jr. 1974. Indian Land Use and Occupancy in

California. 3 vols. Garland, New York.

Biggar, Henry P. (editor). 1929. The Works of Samuel de Champlain, Vol. 3. Champlain

Society, Toronto.

Thwaites, Reuben G. (editor). 1896–1901. The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents. 73

vols. Burrows Brothers, Cleveland, Ohio.

Note: The name of the set is italicized, and the volume number follows, set off by a

comma, to specify reference to a single volume. The reference must be unequivocal about

whether a particular volume or the entire set is referenced, and which volume in each case. See

Subsection 3.4.10 for citation format for single volumes when more than one is cited.

3.12.8 Titled volume/monograph in a series

Thomas, David H. 1983. The Archaeology of Monitor Valley: 2. Gatecliff Shelter.

Anthropological Papers Vol. 59, No. 1. American Museum of Natural History, New

York.

Hack, John T. 1942. Prehistoric Coal Mining in the Jeddito Valley, Arizona. Papers of the

Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 35, Pt. 2. Harvard

University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Madsen, David B., and James F. O’Connell (editors). 1982. Man and Environment in the

Great Basin. SAA Papers No. 2. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, DC.

Parsons, Jeffrey R. 1971. Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the Texcoco Region, Mexico.

Memoirs No. 3. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Note: Italicize the title of the volume/monograph and list the series name, publisher, and

place of publication in the format given above. Note that in the first two examples no comma

SAA Style Guide December 2023 36

precedes “Vol.” because these examples are not volumes in the true sense (as in Subsection

3.12.7 above), but rather are distinct numbered monographs in a series (not a set).

3.12.9 Article in a journal

New in 2023: Include issue numbers whether or not journal is paginated continuously

(sequentially paged) throughout the volume. Note also that all journals employ all digits in page

references. List all authors (up to 10; if more than 10, list first seven followed by et al.).

Ashmore, Wendy. 1991. Site-Planning Principles and Concepts of Directionality among the

Ancient Maya. Latin American Antiquity 2(3):199–226.

Barile, Kerri S. 2004. Race, the National Register, and Cultural Resource Management:

Creating an Historic Context for Postbellum Sites. Historical Archaeology 38(1):90–

100.

Hogg, Alan G., Quan Hua, Paul G. Blackwell, Mu Niu, Caitlin E. Buck, Thomas P.

Guilderson, Timothy J. Heaton, et al. 2013. SHCAL13 Southern Hemisphere

Calibration, 0–50,000 Years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55(4):1889–1903.

Prieto-Olavarría, Cristina, Horacio Chiavazza, and Brigida Castro de Machuca. 2020.

Cerámica híbrida, huarpes y etnogénesis en una ciudad colonial meridional (Mendoza,

Argentina). Latin American Antiquity 31(3):458–476.

3.12.9a Article in a special issue of a journal (or whole special issue)

Waters, Michael R. 2000. Alluvial Stratigraphy and Geoarchaeology in the American

Southwest. In “North American Geoarchaeology: Dedicated to C. Vance Haynes, Jr.,”

edited by Andrea K. L. Freeman and Vance T. Holliday. Special issue,

Geoarchaeology, 156):537–557.

Freeman, Andrea K. L., and Vance T. Holliday (editors). 2000. “North American

Geoarchaeology: Dedicated to C. Vance Haynes, Jr.” Special issue, Geoarchaeology

15(6):503–608.

3.12.10 Article, group author

Royal Society Conference of Editors. 1968. Metrification in Scientific Journals. American

Scientist 56(2):159–164.

3.12.11 Article in a magazine, no author

The Indian Homeland. 1991. US News and World Report, July 8:27–28.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 37

Note: Discount the initial article when alphabetizing. For an authored article in a

magazine, follow the format for an article in a journal, but use the date, month, and page

numbers as specified here. This format also applies to encyclopedia entries that lack an author;

authored encyclopedia entries can be treated as chapters in an edited volume.

3.12.12 Item in a newspaper

When nonauthored items appear:

Weekly Missouri Courier (WMC) [Palmyra, Missouri]. 1838. [short description of what is

being cited, e.g., “Advertisement placed by J. H. and A. A. Stirman.”] 7 July:[page

numbers, if paginated].

When authored items appear:

Noble, John W. 2002. When Humans Became Human. New York Times, February 26:D1,

D5.

Noble, John W. 2002. When Humans Became Human. New York Times, February 26.

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/26/science/when-humans-became-human.html,

accessed May 26, 2020.

3.12.13 Chapter in edited book or monograph

Manzanilla, Linda. 1999. The Emergence of Complex Urban Societies in Central Mexico:

The Case of Teotihuacan. In Archaeology in Latin America, edited by Gustavo G.

Politis and Benjamin Alberti, pp. 93–129. Routledge, London.

Note: Multiple editors are listed in full (up to 10; if more than 10, list first seven followed

by et al.).

Sánchez, Luís Alberto. 2000. Panamá: Arqueología y evolución cultural. In Artes de América

Central en las colecciones del Museo Barbier-Mueller de Barcelona: Nicaragua, Costa

Rica, y Panamá, edited by Michael J. Snarskis, Silvia Salgado González, and Luís

Alberto Sánchez, pp. 115–145. Museo Barbier-Mueller Art Precolombí, Barcelona.

Bartel, Brad. 1985. Comparative Historical Archaeology and Archaeological Theory. In

Comparative Studies in the Archaeology of Colonialism, edited by Stephen L. Dyson,

pp. 8–37. BAR International Series 233. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.

3.12.14 Chapter in edited volume in a series

Weaver, Sally M. 1978. Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario. In Northeast, edited by

Bruce G. Trigger, pp. 525–536. Handbook of North American Indians Vol. 15, William

C. Sturtevant, general editor. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 38

Note: The same reference format is used for articles in the Handbook of Middle

American Indians and the Handbook of South American Indians.

Kohl, Philip L. 1987. The Use and Abuse of World Systems Theory: The Case of the Pristine

West Asian State. In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Vol. 11, edited

by Michael B. Schiffer, pp. 1–35. Academic Press, San Diego, California.

Note: When the volumes are individually titled, the volume title is italicized; otherwise,

the series name is italicized. The editor’s name follows the volume title or series name and

volume number and is followed by the inclusive page numbers.

3.12.15 Article in conference proceedings, transactions, or annual reports series

Gruhn, Ruth, and Alan L. Bryan. 1977. Los Tapiales: A Paleoindian Site in the Guatemalan

Highlands. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 121:235–273.

3.12.16 Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge

To better allow recognition and citation of Indigenous and Traditional knowledge that comes in

the form of oral teachings we offer the following guidance, adapted from work by Lorisia

MacLeod.

There is no single standard when sharing information communicated by Indigenous and

Traditional authorities. Here, we provide a template with an example of information

communicated by individuals during a research project and examples of collective authorship.

Citations should indicate where unpublished field notes, recordings, or other primary

documentation may be housed.

Best practices ask that you review the citation for interview data with the people who

were interviewed to ensure that you have identified them correctly and have permission to share

information. When you submit your manuscript, please include a note conveying that permission

to the editor, and note cited or uncited community collaborations in the acknowledgments.

Last name, First name, Middle initial [may use Indigenous name and/or name in Latin

Script]. Year. Topic/subject of communication if applicable. Nation/Community.

Treaty Territory (if applicable). City/Community they live in (if applicable). Month

Date.

Cardinal, D. Goodfish 2004. Lake Cree Nation. Treaty 6. Lives in Edmonton. Oral teaching,

personal communication, April 4.

Riley, Ramon, Ramos Albert, and Abner Tessay. 2016. Western Apache Reuse of

Archaeological Sites. White Mountain Apache Tribe. Meeting held at Nohwike’

Bágowa, the White Mountain Apache Cultural Center and Museum, with T.J.

Ferguson, Maren Hopkins, and Sarah Herr. Whiteriver, Arizona, May 19. Meeting

notes on file at Desert Archaeology Inc., Tucson, Arizona.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 39

Bureau de Nionwentsïo. 2022. A’kwatatia/Nous Parlons. Le Territoire de la Nation

Huronne-Wendat: Des Origines aux Luttes Contemporaines. Bibliotheque et archives

nationales du Quebec, Quebec et Bibliotheque et archives Canada, Ottawa.

Wadsworth, William, Kisha Supernant, Ave Dersch, and the Chipewyan Prairie First Nation.

2021. Integrating Remote Sensing and Indigenous Archaeology to Locate Unmarked

Graves: A Case Study from Northern Alberta, Canada. Advances in Archaeological

Practice 9(3):202–214.

Note: Indigenous and Traditional knowledge communicated through existing film or

recordings can be cited as archived materials (see sections 3.12.23 and 3.12.25). For additional

background and examples please visit the University of Alberta library:

https://guides.library.ualberta.ca/c.php?g=715568&p=5112574.

3.12.17 Paper or poster presented at a meeting

Odewale, Alicia. 2017. Digging in Our Mothers’ Gardens: Unearthing Formations of Black

Womanhood. Paper presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Society for Historical

Archaeology, Dallas, Texas.

Note: Written permission from the author(s) of a presented paper must be obtained before

it may be cited. Use Arabic numerals for the number of the conference, congress, etc., as is used

in the name, and be sure to include the location.

3.12.18 A book review

Potter, Parker B., Jr. 1992. Review of Reading Material Culture: Structuralism, Hermeneutics,

and Post-Structuralism, edited by Christopher Tilley. American Antiquity 57(3):556–557.

3.12.19 Contract and proprietary reports

Use the following format only for reports that are not published as a part of any series. When a

series is identified (e.g., Archaeological Series, Arizona State Museum; Research Series,

Arkansas Archeological Survey), follow the format for volumes/monographs in a series given in

Subsections 3.12.8 and 3.12.14 above. Otherwise, cite by author(s), editor(s), or compilers, as

appropriate; date of completion or submission; and title. Follow that with the name of the

institution through which the report was prepared, and then the “client” that paid for the report

(e.g., agency, institution, or other client). Occasionally these will be the same; if so, indicate that

clearly. Contract numbers should be given when available, and National Technical Information

Service (NTIS) numbers when appropriate. In an effort to alleviate the problem of

nonavailability of “gray” literature, indicate where copies may be obtained. Cite only materials

that are publicly available. Authors should make special efforts to obtain all the listed

information for their citations, even when some is not given in the publication.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 40

Archaeological Services Inc. 2012. The Archaeology of the Mantle Site (AlGt-334): Report

on the Stage 3-4 Mitigative Excavation of Part of Lot 22, Concession 9, Town of

Whitchurch-Stouffville, Regional Municipality of York, Ontario. Report on file at the

Ontario Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sport, Toronto.

Matternes, Hugh B., Valerie Davis, Julie Coco, Staci Richey, and Sarah Lowry. 2012. Hold

Your Light on Canaan's Shore: A Historical and Archaeological Investigation of the

Avondale Burial Place (9BI164), Volume I: Report of Investigation. Submitted to

Georgia Department of Transportation, Contract No. TOOELENV060077. Copies

available from New South Associates, Stone Mountain, Georgia.

3.12.20 Dissertation or thesis

If you consult a dissertation or thesis, use the following examples to determine the appropriate

format. Note: Use the designation “Master’s thesis” or otherwise in place of “PhD dissertation.”

For dissertations or theses not accessible through University Microfilms or a service such

as Proquest, use the following format (if you access a dissertation or thesis online, cite as you

would any electronic document and include the URL in the reference).

Author. Year. Title. PhD dissertation, Name of Department (e.g., Department of

Anthropology), Name of University, Location of University.

Marek-Martinez, Ora Viola. 2016. Archaeology For, By, and With the Navajo People: The

Nihookáá Dine’é’ Bila’ Ashdla’ii Way. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology,

University of California, Berkeley.

For dissertations or theses accessed through University Microfilms or a service such as

Proquest, examples could include:

Dungan, Katherine Ann. 2015. Religious Architecture and Borderland Histories: Great Kivas

in the Prehispanic Southwest, 1000 to 1400 CE. PhD dissertation, Department of

Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson. Proquest (ATT 3746452).

Moore, Jerry D. 1985. Household Economics and Political Integration: The Lower Class of

the Chimu Empire. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of

California, Santa Barbara. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

3.12.21 In-press manuscript (article or book)

These formats should be used only if a manuscript has been accepted for publication. Note:

Material submitted but not yet accepted for publication (i.e., still under consideration) should be

referenced in manuscript form (see Subsection 3.12.22).

Fisher, Chelsea. 2024. Walking Rural at Tzacauil. Ancient Mesoamerica, in press.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 41

Hare, Timothy, and Marilyn Masson. 2024. Walking through the Urban Maze of Mayapán.

In Maya Urbanism, edited by Damien Marken and Charlotte Arnauld, in press.

University Press of Florida, Gainesville.

Note: Use this format when it is certain that the item will be published in the year cited.

If articles are available online before they are in print (e.g., FirstView at Cambridge

University Press), please include DOI number.

Birch, Jennifer, Sturt W. Manning, Samantha Sanft, and Megan Anne Conger. 2021. Refined

Radiocarbon Chronologies for Northern Iroquoian Site Sequences: Implications for

Coalescence, Conflict, and the Reception of European Goods. American Antiquity, in

press. https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2020.73.

Chirinos Ogata, Patricia, and Daniel Saucedo Segami. 2020. Towards an Archaeology of the

Japanese Diaspora in Peru. International Journal of Historical Archaeology, in press.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-020-00562-8.

3.12.22 Unpublished manuscript

Unpublished manuscripts should be cited sparingly and require written permission from the

author(s), or in cases where materials are held by a repository, permission from the repository.

Cite the year in which the manuscript was written. Never use “n.d.” If a date is not available,

give a best estimate (e.g., ca. 1962, ca. 1970s). All updates should be furnished as available (i.e.,

if an unpublished manuscript is accepted for publication).

If you are referencing your own unpublished material, or a copy of someone else’s

unpublished material that is in your possession, give com plete information about where a copy

may be obtained, including, for example, university department name, university and city branch

if more than one, and city and state names if they cannot be determined from university name.

Note: It is not acceptable to use the format “Ms. in possession of author.”

Kent, Susan. 1992. The Organization of Storage Areas: A Cross-Cultural Perspective.

Manuscript on file, Anthropology Program, Old Dominion University, Norfolk,

Virginia.

If you are referencing materials such as field notes, reports, etc., that are on file in a

repository, consider the following examples:

Borchers, Perry E. (supervisor). 1971–1975. Restoration Drawings of the Pueblo of Walpi

and The Pueblo of Walpi at the Southwestern End of the First Mesa, Hopi Reservation,

Arizona. Drawings on file, Historic American Buildings Survey, National Park Service,

Washington, DC.

Wagner, G. N. 1990. Autopsy Protocol for Walter Weir. Manuscript on file, Office of the

Armed Forces Medical Examiner, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Washington,

DC.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 42

Note: If the material is untitled, give it a brief description (write with sentence-style

capitalization).

Dellinger, Samuel C. 1932. Original unpublished field notes from the Ozark bluff shelters.

Manuscript on file, University of Arkansas Museum, Fayetteville.

3.12.23 Web pages, electronic documents, blogs, social media, and film/TV

Use the following format to reference web pages and electronic documents:

Glascock, Michael D. 2001. Archaeometry Laboratory at MURR. Electronic document,

http://archaeometry.missouri.edu/index.html, accessed April 12, 2016.

Northwest Research Obsidian Studies Laboratory. 2001. XRF Information. Electronic

document, http://www.obsidianlab.com, accessed April 12, 2010.

AITC (@AITC_DC). 2017. “Take a peek behind the scene of AITC.” Twitter, December 6,

5:45 a.m. https://twitter.com/AITC_DC/status/938403987585486848, accessed January

26, 2018.

Iowa Archaeology (iowaarchaeology). 2016. “Hey, #iowacity! Someone sent word that

there’s a rattata hanging out near the OSA. See if you can catch it!” Instagram, July 16.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ BH77qgpBUI9/?taken-at=550586378, accessed August

4, 2016.

Miller, Sarah. 2018. “Great day at the Capitol supporting Florida Archaeology! See you all

next year:)” Facebook, January 29. https://www.facebook.com/semiller88/posts/

10156307465918606?pnref=story, accessed January 30, 2018.

Society for Black Archaeology. 2020. Archaeology in the Time of Black Lives Matter.

Vimeo, June 25. Columbia Center for Archaeology. https://vimeo.com/433155008,

accessed December 15, 2020.

Supernant, Kisha. 2017. On Canada 150. Metis Archaeologist (blog), June 30.

https://metisarchaeologist.wordpress.com/, accessed December 7, 2020.

Danforth, Mike, and Ian Chillag. 2015. F-Bombs, Chicken, and Exclamation Points. How to

Do Everything (podcast), April 15. http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510303/how-to-do-

everything, accessed May 18, 2020.

Cuarón, Alfonso (director). 2013. Gravity. Warner Bros. Pictures, Burbank, California. Blu-

ray Disc 2014, 1080p HD.

Tiley, Mark (director). 2022. Ghosts of a Drowned World. Ancient Apocalypse, Episode 4. ITN

Productions and Netflix Inc. https://www.netflix.com/title/81211003, accessed April 18,

2023.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 43

3.12.24 Article published online

If there is also a print version and page numbers are known:

Hamilakis, Yannis. 2003. Iraq, Stewardship, and “The Record”: An Ethical Crisis for

Archaeology. Public Archaeology 3(2):104–111.

https://doi.org/10.1179/pua.2003.3.2.104.

If online publication precedes print publication and page numbers are unknown:

Chirinos Ogata, Patricia, and Daniel Saucedo Segami. 2020. Towards an Archaeology of the

Japanese Diaspora in Peru. International Journal of Historical Archaeology, in press.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-020-00562-8.

3.12.25 Item in institutional repository

White, Elizabeth Jane Bridges. 2015. Beyond Empire: Vijayanagara Imperialism and the

Emergence of the Keladi-Ikkeri Nayaka State, 1499‒1763 C.E. Deep Blue.

http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/111540, accessed November 11, 2015.

In this example, Deep Blue is the name of the University of Michigan institutional open

access archive. The archive should be noted.

Note: Use this only if the article/paper is unpublished; otherwise cite the published

version so that the author is given credit by citation tracking software.

3.12.26 Born digital

Evans, Tim N. L. 2015. A Reassessment of Archaeological Grey Literature: Semantics and

Paradoxes. Internet Archaeology 40. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.40.6.

3.12.27 Datasets

Marwick, Ben. 2017. Research Compendium for the 1989 Excavations at Madjebebe

Rockshe[l]ter, NT, Australia. Figshare.

https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1297059.v4, accessed June 7, 2023.

Note: The generic format is [author(s) or organization name], [publication year], [title of

dataset], [publisher or data repository name], [persistent unique identifier to the online location

of the data], [date accessed].

SAA Style Guide December 2023 44

3.13 Online Supplemental Material

3.13.1 Content and access

Supplemental material is not edited or typeset and is published online with the full article in

exactly the format supplied by the authors. Supplemental material must contribute substantively

to the conclusions of the paper, but this material should not be essential to the article itself,

which must stand alone. Editors will have the ultimate responsibility for determining whether the

supplement is appropriate and acceptable. We do not encourage submission of references as

supplemental material because they will not be linked to the publication and will not contribute

toward the citation measures of the papers cited. Examples of materials that may be appropriate

to include in supplements:

● Detailed descriptions of materials and methods that would enable other researchers to

replicate portions of the study, if desired. Concise descriptions of the methods should be

provided in the text, and the author should refer the reader to the supplemental material—

if included—for full descriptions and details.

● Tables too large to be formatted properly on a printed journal page

● Figures that provide additional background information that contributes meaningfully to

the conclusions of the paper but may not be necessary in the paper body

● Audio, video, animations, photographs, three-dimensional models

● Transcripts or other materials in the original (non-English) language

Supplemental files are not appropriate for data sharing or archiving. The SAA encourages

sharing of data, and recommends that data files (e.g., spreadsheets, databases, shapefiles, etc.) be

secured in an accessible digital archive. Code (e.g., OxCal, R, Python, etc.) should be shared

through a code-hosting site or archive. The deposited data and code files should be cited in the

paper by the DOI that links the reader to the deposited files. Examples of archives suitable for

depositing data and code accompanying papers include:

● The Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR)

● Open Context

● Archaeology Data Service (ADS)

● A university library

● Multidisciplinary DOI-issuing data repositories, e.g., dataverse, zenodo, osf, and figshare

The journals will not accept as supplemental material files that precisely identify the

location of sites (e.g., latitude/longitude, UTM coordinates, or other GIS data). Current

guidelines provide for citation of online resources.

● Additional examples of citation format for data repositories are provided in Subsection

3.13.7, “Citation and Naming of Supplemental Files.”

● Any links provided as supplemental online material (as opposed to text citations) must

have clear indications of persistence. They should (1) be housed and maintained in an

institutional archive or other trusted third-party repository, and (2) have clear authorship,

titles, dates, and persistent identifiers (e.g., DOIs, ARKs, or persistent URLs). Editors

shall make the determination of whether supplemental material provided via links are

properly archived, persistent, and available.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 45

3.13.2 Copyright

is held by a third party, with the copyrighter.

3.13.3 Responsibility for content and format

Editors will assess supplemental material for appropriateness and relevance. Authors will be

responsible for the accuracy and format of supplemental material. They should therefore ensure

that they are clearly and succinctly presented and that the style of terms and format conforms to

the rest of the paper. During processing for online publication, SAA staff may apply standard

house formatting, but the contents will remain unchanged.

3.13.4 Peer review

Supplemental material will be made available to reviewers and are subject to their evaluation.

3.13.5 File formats

Authors should submit files in standard or widely available formats. The following formats are

recommended for different categories of supplemental material:

● Text: Microsoft Word (.doc; preferred)

PDF (.pdf; NOT preferred, but accepted)

● Tables: Microsoft Word (.doc; preferred)

Microsoft Excel (.xls; preferred)

PDF (.pdf; NOT preferred, but accepted)

● Manipulable Databases and Spreadsheets

The journals will post manipulable databases and spreadsheets as long as they do not

exceed reasonable limits (see Subsection 3.13.6). Authors may also provide links or

references to repositories such as The Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR), Open

Context, the Archaeology Data Service (ADS), or a university library.

● Graphics: TIFF (.tif; preferred)

EPS (Encapsulated PostScript; .eps; preferred)

JPEG (.jpg; NOT preferred, but accepted)

● Audio: MP3 (.mp3)

● Video: AVI (.avi)

Quicktime (.mov)

MPEG-4 (.mp4)

MPEG-2 (.mpg)

● Animations and panoramic photos: Adobe Flash VR (.swf)

SAA Style Guide December 2023 46

3.13.6 File size and number

● The journals strongly prefer to accept no more than 10 files as supplemental material.

● For reasons of accessibility and ease of download, individual text, table, and image files

should not exceed 10 MB.

● Sound/movie files should not exceed 30 MB.

● Total size of all files submitted as supplemental material should not exceed 100 MB.

● Authors may request an exception for the size and number of individual files from the

editor.

3.13.7 Citation and naming of supplemental files

● All supplemental material must be clearly identified at an appropriate place in the text of

the article or report using the following convention, for example: (Supplemental Table 1),

(Supplemental Figure 3), (Supplemental Video 1), etc.

● Files submitted as supplemental material must be clearly labeled as such by inserting

“Supplemental” at the beginning of the file name (e.g., Supplemental_Figure_1.tif).

● Databases, images, or other materials not hosted by Cambridge University Press

(Cambridge Core) should be cited in the text of the article and the reference provided in

the References Cited section. References must include the author or creator of the

document; the date of creation or last revision (if neither is available, use the access date);

title of the document or description of the database; name of the online repository; Digital

Object Identifier (DOI) and/or Uniform Resource Locator (URL); and date of access.

Examples:

McManamon, Francis P. 2011. The Archaeology of Kennewick Man. Electronic document,

The Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR), http://core.tdar.org/project/6325, accessed

August 30, 2013.

Engelbrecht, William. 2011. Whitford Site Ceramic Data. Electronic database, The Digital

Archaeological Record (tDAR), https://doi.org/10.6067/XCV81R6P16, accessed

August 27, 2012.

Palmisano, Alessio. 2012. Diachronic and Spatial Distribution of Khabur Ware in the Early

Second Millennium BC. Journal of Open Archaeology Data 1:e8.

https://doi.org/10.5334/4f8d6ed49bd54, accessed August 23, 2013.

Parker, Bradley, and Peter Cobb. 2012. Kenan Tepe: Digital Data and Media. Bradley Parker

and Peter Cobb (Eds.). Open Context, http://opencontext.org/projects/3DE4CD9C-

259E-4C14-9B03-8B10454BA66E. https://doi.org/10.6078/M7H41PBJ, accessed

August 23, 2013.

3.13.8 References Cited

Include relevant references within each supplemental file.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 47

3.14 Additional References for Authors

Larousse Editorial. 2008. Vox New College Spanish and English Dictionary. 2nd ed.

McGraw Hill, New York.

Merriam-Webster. 2001. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Rev.

ed. Merriam-Webster, Springfield, Massachusetts. (For word usage not found in the

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed.)

Merriam-Webster. 2014. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Merriam-

Webster, Springfield, Massachusetts. (The authority for spelling in the SAA’s journals.)

Real Academia Española. 1992. Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima primera

edición. 2 vols. Editorial Espasa Calpe, S.A., Madrid. [Also available online:

https://dle.rae.es/.]

University of Chicago Press. 2017. The Chicago Manual of Style. 17th ed. University of

Chicago Press, Chicago.

SAA Style Guide December 2023 48

4.0 SUMMARY OF FILE TYPES AND NAMES

Files Suggested File Names

Style Guide

Section Numbers

Advances in Archaeological Practice (AAP) Latin American Antiquity (LAQ) American Antiquity (AAQ)

Title Page

[title keyword] Title.doc)

3.2.1

For AAP should be submitted after paper

goes through first round of peer review.

Include in the manuscript body, upload directly into Editorial

Manager software.

Abstract and

Keywords (English)

3.2.2

Include in the manuscript body, upload directly into Editorial Manager software as well. Abstract must be 200

words or less.

Abstract and

Keywords

(Spanish, French,

or Portuguese)

[title keyword]

Spanish.doc)

3.2.2

Upload separately. Can be submitted after

paper goes through first round of peer

review.

Include in the manuscript body.

Can be submitted after paper

goes through first round of peer

review, unless Spanish or

Portuguese is the primary

language of the article.

Include in the manuscript body.

Can be submitted after paper

goes through first round of peer

review.

Data Availability

Statement and

Competing Interests

[title keyword] DAS.doc)

1.7, 3.9; 1.1.8

Upload separately. Prepare for double blind

peer review in first draft.

Include with manuscript body and included in word count.

Manuscript Body

[title keyword] text.doc)

1.0, 1.1, 3.3

10,000 words for research papers, 5,000

words for how-to articles, inclusive of

abstracts, required statements, notes, figure

captions, acknowledgments, table text, and

references cited .

10,000 words for articles, 3,000

words for reports, inclusive of

abstracts, required statements ,

notes, figure captions,

acknowledgments, table text, and

references cited.

10,000 words for articles, 3,000

words for reports, inclusive of

abstracts, required statements ,

notes, figure captions,

acknowledgments, table text,

and references cited.

List of Figures/

Captions

3.7.4

Include at the end of the manuscript body. This is included in the word count.

Figures

[title keyword] Fig1.tif)

1.1.2, 3.7

.tiff, .eps, .jpg preferred; .pdf accepted. Files must be at least 300 dpi. Maximum files size for upload in Editorial

Manger is 15 MB. If the file is larger, please contact the editor. See Cambridge University Press for more guidance:

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/stream?pageId=7848&level=2&menu=Authors&pageId=3608

Tables

[title keyword] Tab1.xls)

1.1.3, 3.6

.xls or .doc preferred. Submit each file individually with Table Number included. Include titles on tables.

Acknowledgments

and Funding

Statement

3.8

Include with manuscript body and included

in word count. This section should be

omitted until paper completes peer review.

Include in manuscript body and included in word count.

Notes

3.11

Endnotes format, included with the manuscript after body of text, and included in the set word count limits.

References Cited

[title keyword] Refs.doc)

3.12

Include in manuscript body and included in word count.

Supplemental

Material

[title keyword]

Supp1.mps)

3.13

Uploaded separately from manuscript body. Tables, Figures, and Text go in separate files. This material will go to

the peer reviewers but will not be formatted by production team. Review the style guide for commonly accepted file

types.

Note: Files are standard word processing types unless otherwise indicated.