The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), founded in Boston in 1879 by Charles Eliot Norton, is the oldest archaeological organization in North America, and with more than 11,000 members around the world, it is the largest. It is a non-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and dedicated to the encouragement and support of archaeological research and publication and to the protection of the world's cultural heritage. For more on the history of the AIA, click here.