Congratulations to the 2026 Kiernam Award Winners!
We are very happy to announce that the 2026 kiernam award has been awarded to two young researchers, after a selection process conducted by our Jury members.
The Kiernan Experimental Archaeology Award, generously sponsored by EXARC member John Kiernan, is designed to help researchers overcome financial barriers. We understand that even the most promising projects may face funding challenges. To support innovation and creativity in the field, the award offers micro-grants of €500 to up to two experimental archaeology projects each year, providing the resources needed to bring new ideas to life.
Lets meet them and see what their project will be about!
Christina L. Youngpeter
Christina L. Youngpeter
Christina is researching the agricultural practices of farmers that supported the urban landscape of Cahokia, the first city in eastern North America.
During the city’s occupation, the climate began to change resulting in droughts and possible flooding. Although scholars have hypothesized that these events caused crop failure and thus the city’s depopulation, the actual effects of varying water management on the relevant crops have not yet been studied.
Christina is using experimental archaeology to fill this knowledge gap. She is growing native members of the Eastern Agricultural Complex (namely goosefoot (Chenopodium berlandieri), erect knotweed (Polygonum erectum), sumpweed (Iva annua), maygrass (Phalaris caroliniana), and little barley (Hordeum pusillum)) in local soil under differing water conditions to figure out in what conditions these plants can survive and thrive.
This is something with which ancient Indigenous agriculturalists would have been well acquainted. In addition to illuminating information about the past, Christina’s work has implications for our own food systems in our modern era of climate change.
Anne-Julie Robitaille
Anne-Julie Robitaille
Anne-Julie (she/her) completed a first Master’s degree in Anthropology at the University of Toronto in 2023 before returning to her hometown of Montreal, where she is now pursuing a second Master’s in Museum Studies. She is an anthropological archaeologist specializing in music archaeology, prehistoric East Asia, craft production, technology, and experimental archaeology. With twelve years of formal musical training, her research investigates how humans conceptualize and interact with sound, and how sound-making practices shaped social interactions, political authority, and cultural identity in early complex societies.
Tracing Ancient Music-Making: An Experimental Archaeology Study of the Bone Mouth Harps from Shimao (2300–1800 BCE), China
Music and musical practices have a long and rich history in China. The Neolithic site of Shimao (2300–1800 BCE) has recently revealed the world’s earliest known examples of mouth harps—a lamellar idiophone held between the teeth or lips that produces distinct droning sounds. The assemblage comprises 21 specimens crafted from cattle ribs (Bos taurus), all found in a sector associated with elite activities, suggesting that music may have been important in ritual activities. This exceptional discovery offers a unique opportunity to investigate the role of music-making in early complex societies.
This research builds on a long-term project initiated in 2022 that examines the production of sonorous instruments and the sociopolitics of music-making in Early China. Using a techno-functional framework, this next phase aims to establish relationships between instrument production and musical performance. Through controlled experiments with bone mouth harp replicas, collaborations with contemporary bone workers and mouth harp experts, and comparisons with previously observed use-wear patterns of the Shimao specimens, this project will shed light on an often-overlooked form of craft specialization and the sociopolitical significance of music-making in ancient societies.
The EXARC team wishes Christina and Anne-Julie the best of success with their research! We will keep you posted on the developments of these exciting projects.