Previously known as ‘The British Archaeological Awards’, the Awards were launched in 1976, with a focus on celebrating community archaeology. The Awards have evolved since then, with a changing cast of sponsors and a changing set of categories, but always with the aim of promoting archaeology to a wider audience.

The Awards were previously biennial, with a ceremony every two years, and were run for many years by an independent charity. In 2019, the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) agreed to take on the running of the Awards, with the support of a steering group representing the breadth of the archaeological sector. Relaunched in 2021, as the Archaeological Achievement Awards (AAA), the Awards have a new set of categories and cover the whole of the UK and Republic of Ireland.