It was founded in 1994 at an inaugural meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where its Statutes were formally approved,[1] and recognized by the Council of Europe in 1999.

[5] The EAA further promotes international cooperation though interactions with Affiliate Organizations.

[7] The EAA is governed by an Executive Board elected by full Members of the Association.

An independent committee awards the prize annually to an outstanding individual, institution, (local or regional) government or a (European or international) officer or body[11] A student award was instituted in 2002 and is awarded annually for the best paper presented at the EAA Annual Meeting by a student or an archaeologist working on a dissertation.

[17] EJA is currently co-edited by Catherine J. Frieman and Zena Kamash.