Archaeology Scotland’s Student Awards, established in 2021, celebrate excellence in written work on Scottish archaeology by matriculated students studying part- or full-time at Scottish universities. Each year, awards are given for the best undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations, recognising outstanding research across all aspects of Scottish archaeology – excluding management and presentation – up to the cut-off date of AD 1707. Universities nominate up to two entries per category, with winners receiving a medal, a £150 book token, a certificate, and a year’s free membership of Archaeology Scotland. Runners-up are also awarded a certificate and a year’s free membership, ensuring their achievements are recognised within Scotland’s archaeological community.
“The Archaeology Scotland Prize for Best Undergraduate Dissertation was really beneficial for applications and making my c.v. stand out. It gave me the confidence to pursue further academic study. It is a really nice way for young archaeologists to get a confidence boost at the start of their careers.” – John Strachan, Undergraduate prize winner 2022-23.
2025 Student Awards
Submissions for Archaeology Scotland’s 2025 Student Awards, celebrating outstanding dissertations from the 2024–25 academic year are now open! The ceremony will take place during the Scottish Student Archaeology Conference in spring 2026.
- Deadline for submissions:
UG Dissertation Prizes: 9 January 2026 – award will be in Spring 2026
PGT Dissertation Prize: 9 January 2026 – award will be in Spring 2026
For more information and full details on how to submit, please click here.
Past Winners
It’s always fantastic to celebrate the achievements of students within Scotland’s archaeology community. Discover more about our past winners and their outstanding research below:
2023–2024 academic year (presented February 2025):
Undergraduate prize winner: Maja Bergman, for her dissertation, ‘The Ulva Cave shell midden: investigating the mollusc remains from a Mesolithic site in the Inner Hebrides’ (University of Edinburgh).
Undergraduate runner-up: Tracy Brook, for her dissertation, ‘The archaeology of whin mills in post-medieval northeast Scotland’ (University of Aberdeen).
Postgraduate prize winner: Calum Muir, for his dissertation, ‘Crafts and kilns in sacred places: a study of the production zones associated with Scotland’s early medieval monastic sites’ (University of Edinburgh).
Postgraduate runner-up: Thomas Macmillan, for his dissertation, ‘From sediments to sequences: a sedaDNA metabarcoding approach in Mesolithic Rubha Port an t’Seilich’ (University of Aberdeen).
From left to right: Tracy Brook, Calum Muir, Alison Sheridan of Archaeology Scotland, Maja Bergman and Thomas Macmillan
2022–2023 academic year (presented February 2024):
Undergraduate prize winner: John Strachan, for his dissertation, ‘Bog standard practice? An evaluation of photogrammetry as an aid to record and interpret use-wear patterns on a selection of tools from the Late Bronze Age hoard from Adabroc, Lewis’ (University of Edinburgh).
Undergraduate runner-up: Maddie Broad for her dissertation on the crannogs of Assynt (University of Edinburgh).
(No postgraduate award was presented for the 2022–2023 academic year).
John Strachan with Archaeology Scotland’s Rebecca Barclay
2021–2022 academic year (presented February 2023):
Undergraduate prize winner: Karena Wollesen for her dissertation, ‘Echoes of power: combining material culture and GIS mapping to identify power centers and political polities in Dál Riatic early medieval Atlantic Scotland’ (University of Aberdeen). Karena graduated with First Class Honours, and since winning she has joined AOC Archaeology Ltd in Inverness, and is hoping to publish her dissertation.
Postgraduate prize winner: Georgina Moore for her dissertation ‘The Land of Always Winter: an examination into the impact of the AD 536 climatic downturn in early medieval Scotland‘ (University of Aberdeen). Since graduating Georgina returned to the University of Aberdeen where she is working on her AHRC-funded Doctoral dissertation on ‘Climate Crisis in the Frist Millennium AD of Britain and Ireland’
“I am determined to continue this research and I’m hoping that as we apply for funding this prize will strengthen my position.” – Georgina Moore
Karena Wollesen (second from left) and Georgina Moore (second from right), with Beverley Ballin Smith (far left) and Alison Sheridan (far right) of Archaeology Scotland
2020–2021 academic year (presented February 2022):
Undergraduate prize winner: Ken McElroy, for his dissertation, ‘Choost an’ owld pile of ston’? The Value of Archaeology to Caithness’ (University of Glasgow). Since winning, Ken continued to work as Education and Outreach Officer for Kilmartin Museum until September 2022, when he left to take up the post of John o’Groats Trail Manager.
“My dad cried when I told him about this! He’s a big softie.” – Ken McElroy
Postgraduate prize winner: Annika E. Mazzarella, for her dissertation ‘Creating synergy within the nature/culture dichotomy: an interpretivist introduction to ‘museum ecology’ and the ‘spiritual’ materiality of marine mollusc shells in Scottish museums through a Scandinavian lens’ (University of Glasgow). Since winning, Annika has gone on to become an Ocean Activist and Museum Studies PhD candidate at the University of Leicester, supported by ECOP (Early Career Ocean Professionals) Canada.
“My dissertation, although written during a virtual year, included fieldwork travel to: Edinburgh; Isle of Bute; and Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland, respectively. As such, to me, this prize represents the dedication, forward-thinking and resilience of the Department of Archaeology, University of Glasgow and more broadly, of the archaeological communities across Scotland.” – Annika E. Mazzarella