Call for Castleton Award Submissions

The American Rock Art Research Association sponsors an annual essay competition for excellence in rock art research, the Castleton Award. Named for the late Dr. Kenneth Castleton, the prize for the winning entry is $1,000.

The winner of the award is expected to make a personal 30-minute presentation of his or her entry during the annual conference. ARARA reserves first publication rights.

Entries are judged both on the originality and thoroughness of the investigative work and the literary quality of the essay. Rules and guidelines followed in accepting and judging entries for the Castleton Award are listed below.

  1. A panel of judges is selected by the ARARA Executive Board and Publications Committee. To insure fairness, entries are submitted anonymously to the judges, and the names of those serving on the panel are not be made public.
  2. Suggested length of essays is 3000 to 4000 words (12 to 16 double-spaced typed pages), although longer or shorter entries may qualify. ARARA follows the style guide published in American Antiquity 48:429-442 (April 1983). The essay may deal with any aspect of rock art research any place in the world. Examples of categories in which entries might be submitted include, but are not limited to the following: a final or summary report outlining the results of field work in rock art; a synthesis or regional overview; an interpretive study of rock art.
  3. Essays which have been previously published, either in their entirety or in substantial part, are not eligible. Essays which report on projects for which the author received funding through a contract or research grant are not eligible.
  4. There are no application forms, but each entrant is requested to include with the entry a separate letter of application briefly introducing himself or herself and summarizing previous work in rock art (a copy of a resume or curriculum vitae is acceptable). The letter should also state the reasons for applying for the award and give appropriate background information on the topic or project discussed in the essay. Such background material might include a summary of the objectives of the project, the methods used in achieving the objectives, a brief evaluation of the results, and information regarding expenses incurred in completing the work.
  5. Decision of the judges is final and only those entries accompanied by an appropriately stamped, self-addressed envelope will be returned.
  6. To enter the competition, send one letter of application and five copies of the essay (with photocopied illustrations) in time to be received by February 15 to:
Janet Lever-Wood, Awards Chair
608 Sunlit Lane
Santa Cruz, CA 95060-9304
blueglyph@jps.net

Past recipients include:

  • 1983: Paul Faulstich
    Spirits on the Rock: Symbol and Structure in North Queensland, Australia Rock Paintings.
  • 1984: no award
  • 1985: Judith S. and Jesse E. Warner
    To Slay a Dragon.
  • 1986: no award
  • 1987: no award
  • 1988: William Breen Murray
    Antlers and Counting in Northeast Mexican Rock Art.
    Special Recognition: Mary K. Allen
    New Frontiers in Rock Art: The Grand Canyon.
  • 1989: no award
  • 1990: no award
  • 1991: Ronald I. Dorn
    Paleoenvironmental Signals in Rock Varnish on Petroglyphs.
  • 1992: no award
  • 1993: no award
  • 1994: no award
  • 1995: no award
  • 1996: Marion Hyman and Marvin Rowe
    Plasma-Chemical Extraction and AMS Radiocarbon Dating of Pictographs
  • 1997: no award
  • 1998: no award
  • 1999: no award
  • 2000: no award
  • 2001: no award
  • 2002: Leigh Marymor
    Rock Art Studies: A Bibliographic Database
  • 2003: Reinaldo Morales, Jr.
    Nordeste Rock Art and the Ekwimyatipa
  • 2004: no award
  • 2005: no award
  • 2006: no award

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