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Mike Parker Pearson invited to judge AIA Build a Monument competition
27 May 2020
Mike Parker Pearson was recently invited to be a celebrity judge on the 'IAD Build Your Own Monument' challenge organised by the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA).
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of International Archaeology Day, and in light of lockdown conditions, the AIA invited members of the public to try to replicate some of the most iconic archaeological sites of all time. Participants were challenged to reconstruct Stonehenge, El Castillo at Chichén Itzá, the Colosseum, and the pyramids of Giza at home.
There were separate competitions in youth, families and adult categories and considerations were made for the sites that were the most realistic and/or used the most original materials. Edible submissions were actively encouraged!
Mike was invited to be celebrity judge for the Stonehenge submissions. At the conclusion of the competition earlier this month, 320 entries had been received from 14 countries and 30 U.S. states. The judges and participating voters from around the world selected 24 winning entries (gallery available via the AIA links below).
The AIA is North America's largest and oldest nonprofit organization dedicated to archaeology and aims to advance awareness, education, fieldwork, preservation, publication, and research of archaeological sites and cultural heritage throughout the world.