In Memoriam: Dr. Maria C. Shaw

The Archaeological Institute of America Toronto Society wishes to commemorate Dr. Maria Coutroubaki Shaw, who passed away on December 7th, 2025. Maria’s accomplishments as a researcher, educator, and key figure in the AIA Toronto Society have had a profound and long-standing impact on the wider scholarly community to which this chapter belongs.

Maria’s publications on Bronze Age Crete are as prolific as they are diverse. Her foundational writings on Minoan wall painting and its influences address numerous important sites, such as Knossos and Hagia Triada. Simultaneously, her work on the representation of textiles in wall painting became a touchstone for the study of Aegean Bronze Age textiles, which have otherwise not survived. The knowledge gained from the excavations of Kommos, on the southern coast of Crete, which Maria co-directed in collaboration with her husband, Professor Joseph W. Shaw, was diligently recorded over three decades of fieldwork at the site (1976-2006) and published in six critical volumes (KOMMOS I, pts. 1,2-V) which remain an unparalleled resource in Bronze Age Aegean scholarship. Maria’s significant contributions to archaeological scholarship were honoured by the Archaeological Institute of America in 2006, when Maria and Joseph were jointly awarded the AIA’s highest distinction: the Gold Medal for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement.

As a professor, Maria guided generations of University of Toronto students in Classics, Art History, and Archaeology, beginning in 1971 at what was then known as Scarborough College. This guidance extended beyond the traditional bounds of the classroom, with the Shaws' excavations at Kommos serving as a site fieldwork training ground for students across three decades, and launching the careers of many eminent archaeologists. Furthermore, the Joseph and Maria Shaw Student Summer Travel Fellowship and the Joseph W. and Maria C. Shaw Graduate Scholarship in Archaeology (through the AIA Toronto Society and the University of Toronto Archaeology Center, respectively) have both been crucial in providing students the opportunity to participate in archaeological fieldwork.

Dr. Shaw’s passion for archaeological scholarship, coupled with her commitment to archaeological education, have fundamentally shaped the AIA Toronto Society. Maria served as both an Officer and Patron of the AIA Toronto Society for many years, helping to build our local chapter into the organization that it is today. Her expertise and generosity have been essential to our mission of nurturing interest in archaeology and sharing research with a diverse community of students, scholars, and members of the public.

We are proud to have worked alongside Maria, whose contributions to our shared discipline have touched the lives of countless colleagues and students. By the community of the AIA Toronto Society, Dr. Maria C. Shaw will be deeply missed and forever remembered.

If you wish to express your condolences and fond memories of Maria to her husband Joseph, their son Alexander, their daughter Robin, and their grandchildren, please write to Dr. SeungJung Kim, president of the AIA Toronto Society directly (seungjung.kim@utoronto.ca), and Dr. Kim will pass your messages on to the family.