25 Years of TEA – The European Archaeologist: December 1993 – December 2018
2019 is the 25 year anniversary of the European Association of Archaeologists, and 25 years of your newsletter, The European Archaeologist! The very first issue of TEA was published in December 1993, edited by Henry Cleere, with Assistant Editors Tina Wiberg and Ross Samson. That issue was eight pages long, and included an essay entitled “The European heritage protected?” about the revised European Convention on the Protection of Archaeological Heritage (the Valletta Convention), announcements of the Inaugural EAA meeting (Ljubljana 1994) and the Journal of European Archaeology (now EJA), reports on the Council of Europe’s involvement in archaeology and Documentation standards for European archaeology, the text of the Valletta Convention, and short reports on three UK conferences.
Henry Cleere was Editor of TEA from the first issue, Winter 1993, through Issue 15, Summer 2001. Henry was key contributor to EAA in its inaugural year and first Annual Meeting, and was awarded the European Archaeological Heritage Prize in 2002. Unfortunately, Henry Cleere is no longer with us, and therefore cannot provide us with his thoughts on 25 years of EAA and TEA. As TEA Editors, we wish to take this opportunity to express our admiration and thanks for his work in producing the first Issue of TEA, and developing the newsletter over eight years before passing off to a new Editor, Karen Waugh, in 2001. All past issues of TEA are now available to download from our archive.
The Inaugural Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 22-26 September 1994.
Following the opening business session, at which the draft Statutes were adopted – formally bringing the EAA into existence – there was a series of sessions. Themes proposed by the founding Officers and Committee, as listed in the first issue of TEA (Winter 1993, p. 4), were:
- Nationalism and ethnicity in archaeology
- Archaeological landscapes
- The commercialization of archaeology in Europe
- The concept of Europe in archaeological terms
- Reuniting archaeology
These themes resonate today, as almost timeless questions for the EAA, and Cultural Heritage more broadly, because they encourage us to confront questions such as how we should negotiate nationalism, ethnicity, and culture, or how we fund the preservation and presentation of archaeological heritage without monetizing the physical heritage. Can we manage these? Can we finally reunite European Archaeologists under a single umbrella, to provide a human foundation for our efforts to protect archaeological heritage, in Europe and world-wide? Are we able to conceive of Europe in archaeological, rather than geopolitical, terms? After 25 years, we certainly do not have all the answers, and this fact points to the foresight of the founding officers and membership of the EAA.
After the 1994 founding meeting in Ljubljana, marking the formal beginnings of the EAA, the first Annual Meeting took place in Santiago de Compostela, in September 1995. We dedicate the last pages of this TEA issue to remembering that event with photos from EAA’s archives. In the coming issues, we would like to re-print your memories of EAA events. If you have any fun and interesting pictures from past events, e-mail us at tea@e-a-a.org.
The Barcelona Statement, adopted by the EAA in the aftermath of the European Year of Cultural Heritage and recognizing cultural heritage as an essential aspect of building a strong and integrated future, is presented here. This issue of TEA also includes information about the upcoming EAA Annual Meeting in Bern, conference reports on "Genes, Isotopes and Artefacts" and the EYCH closing conference in Vienna, a report from the EAA Community on Integrating the Management of Archaeological Heritage and Tourism, a session report from EAA 2018 Barcelona; Hashtag Scicomm, and several announcements, including conferences and a new Cultural Heritage web app.
The debate section includes a report with links to popular archaeology journals in Europe, and the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists’ briefing on Brexit. It provides a summary of how archaeology will be affected if/when the UK leaves the European Union. We decided to include the briefing in full in this newsletter for information, as we are all watching how Brexit unfolds.
In this issue, you will also find calls for nominating officers for the EAA election 2019 and The European Archaeological Heritage Prize 2019. Please do consider running to serve the archaeology community in Europe.
We close with this paragraph from the TEA No. 1. Our message has not changed much over 25 years.
“It’s YOUR newsletter! It is intended that The European Archaeologist should become a central forum for news and views about archaeology in Europe. Members and non-members of the EAA are therefore urged to use it to advertise their conferences and air their views on all matters related to the archaeology of Europe and the protection of Europe’s archaeological heritage. […]. Remember that The European Archaeologist will be published twice a year, so give us plenty of advanced warning of conferences and other events.”
We now publish four times a year, our next issue, Spring 2019, has a deadline of 15 April 2019, and we look forward to hearing from you at tea@e-a-a.org.
Katharina Rebay-Salisbury and Roderick B. Salisbury