Claude Chapdelaine has over 40 years of experience in archaeology, including 27 of years as university professor. In that time, he trained an entire generation of Quebec archaeologists in the field and lab. He supervised more than 65 graduate students and four post-doctoral candidates. While considered a specialist in ceramic analysis, he has always welcomed new technologies, encouraging his graduate students and collaborators to apply the newest archaeometric techniques to analyzing archaeological materials.

Claude has maintained an impressive pace of research during his career, while publishing in three languages. It would be difficult to find an archaeologist in Eastern Canada that is not familiar with his work, since his publications cover the entire span of Indigenous history in the region. Claude has authored, co-authored, edited or co-edited 23 books, 89 book chapters and 49 refereed articles. In 1973, he published a landmark interdisciplinary publication on the Late Paleoindian site at Rimouski, and in 2012 he edited a highly-praised new synthesis of the Paleoindian period in northeastern North America. He also co-edited three major monographs on the Archaic Period and produced a series of monographs and articles on Iroquoian archaeology of southern Quebec. He recently edited, with Brad Loewen, a ground-breaking book on the Contact Period in the St. Lawrence Valley and Gulf. More recently, Claude turned his attention to the archaeological investigation of Moche and Wari political organization in Peru, where he continues to publish.

In his nomination letter, Adrian Burke stated that “I can think of few people who better embody the best qualities of Canadian professional archaeology than Claude Chapdelaine”. Brad Loewen adds that he “serves us all as a model by his productivity, his intellectual vision and his humanity throughout his career”. It is my sincere pleasure to present Claude Chapdelaine with the Smith-Wintemberg Award for 2019.