Opening comments for the 75th anniversary of Antiquity, SAA meeting, Denver (CO) 2002. (Special section).

Kelly, Robert L.

It is indeed an honour to be here today on this auspicious occasion, the 75th anniversary of one of the world's premier publications in archaeology.

Most of you, and perhaps all of you, are aware that the names of SAA's journals, American Antiquity and Latin American Antiquity derive from your journal, ANTIQUITY. We are indeed fortunate that in 1935 there were no Uriah Heep-type lawyers around to rub their hands, smack their lips and oh-so-'umbly murmur `trademark infringement'.

Carl Guthe, the driving force behind the formation of SAA, wrote in 1967 that the organizers of SAA had considered several names for our journal, such as the `Journal of the Society for American Archaeology' or `The American Archaeological Quarterly'--both descriptive, but dull. Guthe said that he liked the simplicity of `Antiquity', the name that Crawford had settled on for his publication. And so, in 1935, American Antiquity was born.

I spent a very pleasurable afternoon this winter perusing the indices of ANTIQUITY, searching for recognition of the formation of SAA and the borrowing of the name ANTIQUITY. I was surprised to find not a single mention of SAA until 1985, when ANTIQUITY reported on SAA's 50th anniversary conference! Well, I suppose ANTIQUITY wished to make sure that SAA was not simply a flash in the pan. Americans, of course, were never completely ignored. From nearly its inception, New World archaeology has found its way to ANTIQUITY's pages (see Elizabeth DeMarrais' contribution in this issue). But I also found, in one of Crawford's 1934 editorials, the following intriguing remark: `A reader of ANTIQUITY suggested recently that we should start a "comic section"; and a reference to this in our last number has prompted an American reader to send a friendly protest'. All right, so we have no sense of humour. (And this is still an issue, as Paul Bahn pointed out in the January 2002 issue of The SAA Archaeological Record.)

I also found in a 1935 number a more mysterious mention of Americans. Crawford wrote `With the publication of this number we welcome the accession of a group of new readers in the United States of America. We welcome them most heartily'. I wondered if this was somehow recognition of SAA--perhaps the new journal's name encouraged some American archaeologists to check out ANTIQUITY who, liking what they saw, subscribed. I tested this hypothesis on several individuals, who all agreed that it is most likely that Crawford was simply happy to have more subscribers and their cash.

In a 1936 number, I learned that it was not Crawford who suggested the name ANTIQUITY, but his associate, Roland Austin. Crawford selected this name over `Origins' and `The Archaeological Review'. For this, we are thankful. `American Origins' would be a politically difficult name to live with today, and `The American Archaeological Review', while politically correct, is, like all things politically correct, boring.

From the first issue of American Antiquity I learned that McKern, the editor, had chosen to use a format that would include ideas from the American Anthropologist, and also ANTIQUITY. McKern's objective was to make American Antiquity 'a publication of outstanding interest and sterling scientific worth'--ANTIQUITY's goal as well. So, we owe even more than a name to Osbert Guy Stanhope Crawford. (How come Americans don't have names with panache?)

Yes, SAA owes much to ANTIQUITY--a model for a name, for a journal's structure, and for an attitude of excellence. And so I am here today, as President of SAA, to say, belatedly but nonetheless sincerely, to Mr Crawford and to Mr Austin, who gave your journal a wonderfully simple name, and who carried that journal through its formation and especially the difficult years of World War II, and to Mr Crawford especially, who continued to edit ANTIQUITY and hold it to high standards until almost literally his final breath, thank you.

ROBERT L. KELLY, Department of Anthropology, PO Box 3431, University of Wyoming, Laramie WY 82071, USA. rlkelly@uwyo.edu