He has made major contributions in the archaeology of Southeast Asia and the Pacific and is particularly well known for his work investigating the Lapita culture cemetery at Teouma in Vanuatu.
[4] He is a member of the editorial board of World Archaeology journal.
[5] Spriggs was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1998.
[7] He received the Rhys Jones Medal, the highest honour awarded by the Australian Archaeological Association, in 2022.
[8] He was awarded a research fellowship by the National Library of Australia in 2025.