MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University, representing the state of Tennessee, won national recognition for the Archaeology Awareness Month poster design contest held annually by the Society for American Archaeology, or SAA.

“Most states have a week or month dedicated to raising awareness about the need to protect and preserve archaeological sites. Tennessee’s is in September,” explained Phil Hodge, Tennessee state archaeologist and director of the Division of Archaeology. “Posters are submitted by each state and voted on by SAA members and online by the general public.”

The winning design of 2025 spotlights Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park, a large complex of prehistoric Native American monuments and earthworks — the largest in Tennessee and one of the most extensive in the United States — located in West Tennessee.

“We try to pick out topics that are interesting and pertinent in the world of archaeology. We chose Pinson Mounds because the park celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 2024, when the poster was created,” explained Paul Eubanks, associate professor of anthropology in the MTSU Department of Sociology and Anthropology. “It highlights the importance of Pinson Mounds itself, but also the state parks of Tennessee.”

Noel Lorson, MTSU associate professor in the Department of Art and Design, has been at the helm of the yearly design process since 2013 and now works closely with Eubanks to create the content.

“I do research and we have some back and forth to design the concept for the poster,” said Lorson, director of MTSU’s Graphic Design program. “I try to bring a sophisticated poster to their world every year.”

MTSU collaborated with Hodge’s office and prehistoric archaeologist Aaron Deter-Wolf, both in the state’s Division of Archaeology, along with Colorado State University associate professor of anthropology Edward Henry, who is conducting long-term research at Pinson Mounds. Funding was provided by the Tennessee Historical Commission, with additional support from the Tennessee Council for Professional Archaeology.

The winning poster backdrop is a photo Henry took of a summer solstice sunrise at Pinson Mounds taken from the summit of the 72-foot-tall Sauls Mound overlooking a fog-covered landscape that encompasses approximately 400 acres.

A column of information explains a brief history of Pinson Mounds and its layout with a collection of images representing some key elements of the park, including some restoration work and a view of one the 15 mounds. Read more and view the poster by visiting https://bit.ly/4jz7Ufw.

Hodge said the award is a timely and befitting tribute to two colleagues in the state archaeology world who died recently. Longtime MTSU archaeology professor Kevin Smith died in March and Pinson Mounds park manager Tim Poole died in April, less than a week before the award was announced.

The 2025 recognition isn’t the first time MTSU’s work has earned top honors for the contest. The late professor Smith’s design won the contest in 1997 for his poster design in 1996 that gave a broad overview of archaeology.

Lorson’s talents were recognized in 2022, when her design won second place in the same contest for the 2021 calendar year design, which focused on cave art.

While winning is a feather in the cap of contributing archaeologists, there is a greater purpose for the design beyond the contest and winning.

“It’s a good way to encourage stewardship and a sense of pride in Tennessee,” Eubanks said.

If you would like to receive a free copy of this year’s winning poster design, send an email to TDOA.Info@tn.gov.

— Nancy DeGennaro (Nancy.DeGennaro@mtsu.edu)