Pamela B. Vandiver - 2006 Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology

The Archaeological Institute of America is pleased to name Pamela B. Vandiver as the recipient of the 2006 Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology. Professor Vandiver is a pioneer in the scientific study of archaeological ceramics, faience, and glass. Her work combines materials science, field archaeology of production sites and materials sources, ethnographic study of traditional crafters, and replication of traditional techniques. She has authored or coauthored eight books and more than 100 papers in refereed journals or edited volumes. Much of her work has been groundbreaking and of interest across a wide spectrum of archaeological professionals. For example, the book she coauthored with W. D. Kingery in 1986, Ceramic Masterpieces: Art, Structure and Technology, is considered a masterpiece itself, featuring scholarship that integrates materials science, art history, and archaeology. Reviewers have said of it “an epochal book that will be one of the standard manuals for the study of ceramics,” and “you might think an archaeologist who has handled over a million bits of ceramic in a short professional lifetime would know pottery. I have the feeling I did not start to learn until I read this book.” Full article.