Conference & Awards | Society for Museum Archaeology

SMA annual Awards for Excellence 2026

We are delighted to announce the nominations for the Society’s Annual Awards for Excellence will open on 1^st July 2026.

Download information on how to enter here

The SMA awards celebrate amazing curation, collection management and people across our membership however small or large your museum. This year we are especially keen to receive nominations for our Collections project category.

Often under the radar, sometimes mis-understood, the stewardship of our collections is the foundation of all display, access, conservation and engagement. What might your story be? What quietly effectual, focused and transformative work has your museum completed that the rest of the sector should know about?

It’s easy to apply with winners presented with their awards at the SMA AGM in late September.

Information for making an entry can be found by downloading this document, but here’s a quick overview:

SMA AWARDS 2025 – Winners

Congratulations also to our Annual Awards for Excellence winners:

Award for Engagement and Collaboration, dedicated in memory of Pieta Greaves

Runner up: York Museums Trust Medieval Ritual Landscape
(MeRit) is an AHRC-funded project that explores the archaeological evidence for lived religion in medieval England (AD 1000-1600). It is a collaboration between the University of Reading and the British Museum, working with partner organisations in England, Denmark and the Netherlands. Alongside other sources of evidence, key to the project are metal-detected finds recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), examples of which are highlighted by a display at The Yorkshire Museum

Winner: City of Edinburgh Council Archaeology Service: Edinburgh’s First Burghers: Revealing the Lives and Hidden Faces of Edinburgh’s Medieval Citizens
Celebrating the 900th anniversaries of both St Giles’ Cathedral and The City of Edinburgh, this project brought together new research by The City of Edinburgh Council Archaeology Service, and scientists and experts from The Francis Crick Institute (aDNA) in London, the University of Aberdeen (Isotopic analysis), and the Universities of Dundee and Edinburgh (Forensic Art and Facial Imaging) to reimagine the remains of medieval burials first excavated from around St Giles’ Cathedral in 1981. Craniofacial reconstructions of five early ‘Edinburghers’ were completed by Dr Maria Maclennan (The University of Edinburgh), showcased throughout the Cathedral using new visual projections and lighting designs by Mettje Hunneman (VideoLab Studio), along with a short documentary by Cinetopia featuring interviews with the project team and Cathedral staff, discussing the results and importance of the work to the heritage of the City and the Cathedral. The project culminated in a high-profile public exhibition in St Giles’ Cathedral, running for 6 months (5 June – 30 November 2025)

Award for Exhibitions Project

Runner up: Leicester Museums My Jewellery My Story
Inspired by the remarkable discovery of the 3,500-year-old Bronze Age necklace found in Cossington, Leicestershire, the exhibition My Jewellery, My Story, at Charnwood Museum bridged together the past and present showcasing artefacts alongside creative displays and stories from Leicestershire’s communities.

Winner: Museum of Liverpool “Treasure, History unearthed”.
This exhibition which runs until March 2026 features and variety of artefacts including Bronze Age hoards, Viking gold and silver, a ceremonial gold cape from Mold. It explores the largest collection of archaeological treasure ever shown in the region, with finds from the North-West and North Wales.

Watch our Conference 2019 videos online!

Keynote:The Telling of Human Stories

Archaeology for the People

Norwich Castle

Liverpool: Re-thinking Slums

Lost Landscapes

BC or not BC?

Presenting Prehistory

Beyond the Bling

Treasure

Graffiti

Waiting in the Wings (digital archaeological archives)