Letter from the President

by Felipe Criado-Boado, EAA President (president@e-a-a.org)

This year the EAA celebrates its 25th year in existence. This occasion allows us to reflect on a very satisfactory achievement. Our founding Ljubljana meeting in 1994 had 150 attendees. This year 2018 we are 3300. The anniversary is also an occasion when we must reflect carefully on the history of the EAA, on its contribution to Archaeology and the contribution of Archaeology to our culture and our societies. We must also reflect on how we can develop and contribute in the near future, being aware of anything we do is “ancient to the future”, as stated the slogan of an important music ensemble that celebrates this year its 50 anniversary.

You are all aware, as I am, that many other organizations around are reaching similar milestone anniversaries. This simultaneity of anniversaries clearly demonstrates that many developing things formed within Europe at around the same time. It was a time of optimism when future planning and the rationale for formation of new projects and organisations seemed both logical and urgent. Many people relied on the idea of Europe, the project of a European Union, the post-Cold War world, the open market and its institutions, and harmonious economic and social development. We, as archaeologists, also relied on the development of Archaeology as a development-related activity and in its relationship with Cultural Heritage management to promote our social role and engagement.

But the future is not as expected. There are several grounds for saying this. A concrete example comes to mind: 25, 20, 15, 10 years ago, choosing a destination for our Annual Meeting did not involve risk. Today, with so many more members, we must be more careful in our review of the options. In fact, among EAA’s management innovations is now a compulsory risk assessment that accompanies the decision on future Annual Meeting locations.

It may seem trivial, but it reflects more uncertain politico-social circumstances around us. That bolster support for political options that are anti-liberal in terms of identity politics but linked ultimately to the spread of neo-liberal economic ideology and policies (to mention a definition that I recently co-authored together with Alfredo González-Ruibal and Pablo Alonso González), conceived by the wealthy and harmful to those who essentially support them; they are the losers of this history. The harm fuels the perfect circle of this political storm. The rise in many countries of different forms of reactionary populism in electoral politics, especially when not directly associated with the far right, is something that should concern us all.

In this context, Archaeology, we archaeologists, and EAA must act. In my view, there are two principle feasible things we can do:

  1. Archaeology and Heritage Studies are particularly well placed to define the dynamics and key relationships of the past, of cultural memory, tradition and identity. All these areas, familiar to us as archaeologists, are now informing the basic infrastructure of reactionary discourses and practices. In that field of game these are used to promote a growing and divisive form of historical revisionism that is not always easy to counter. In the near future we will have to pay more attention to all forms of manipulation of the past and the presentations of heritage that promote revisionist ideologies. This is a task that is not only logical for contemporary Archaeology, but is also logical (for instance) in DNA studies (that can so easily to be manipulated to justify identities in a bio-medical will-to-know), and material studies (which can compare the discourses with its effects and material footprints).
  2. Archaeology and Heritage specialists can use their capacity to analyse and scrutinize the output of revisionist political opinion and understand the motivations behind it. It is far too easy to identify and dismiss the current increased profile as the work of extreme right voters. It is intellectually lazy and self-indulgent. It does not explain or seek to understand why it is happening and how it affects society as a whole. If the public engagement of Archaeology is to mean something now and in the future, it must be reflected in our social commitment to socio-cultural understanding and dialog.

This is not a time for complaint, nostalgia or adhering to old and established formulas. It is a time for archaeology as a profession to consider what triggered the foundation of EAA and supported its steady development to its current position of strength in these past 25 years and to consider carefully what we as a professional and organization should will do in the next 25 years.

As president, and on behalf of the Executive Committee, I call on all EAA members everywhere to take advantage of the occasion of the 25th anniversary to make a reflection. The forthcoming Annual Meeting in Bern will be the perfect occasion to do this, with its motto of thinking beyond borders and paradigms. But the Annual Meeting it is not our only opportunity and mechanism for this important reflective task. We aim to create and use other methods and media, including of course TEA, to present and support our reflection and our proposed actions. The important point that remains is that every individual member and corporate member of the EAA must aim to contribute to this task.


Session plan of the 1st Annual Meeting of the EAA in Santiago de Compostela, September 1995 (Photo: Felipe Criado-Boado)

This was the program of the EAA AM in Santiago de Compostela in 1995. Four parallel sessions, 32 sessions altogether, about 550 attendees. Everything was already there. The basic spirit and soul of the EAA was established at that stage. It has continued to build on a synergetic interaction between the interpretation of archaeological record, the management of archaeological heritage and the politics of archaeological practice.

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EAA and the aftermath of the European Year of Cultural Heritage

Statement of the EAA Executive Board, adopted in Barcelona in September 8, 2018

by Felipe Criado-Boado, EAA President, on behalf of the EAA Executive Board (president@e-a-a.org)

2018 has been the European Year of Cultural Heritage. With a motto “Past meets the Future”, it has been a year that has successfully acknowledged and reinforced that cultural heritage lies at the heart of European life, reflecting a Europe of multiple and diverse peoples, wonderful achievements in cultural heritage and a long and often troubled history.

It has been recognised that Cultural Heritage must now become a central part of European social and political policy and inform a strong and innovative agenda for the future.

The European Association of Archaeologists was proud to be chosen as a member of the Stakeholder Committee that partnered the European Commission in the planning, promotion and realisation of EYCH 2018. Our voice and contribution was recognized and it gave us the opportunity and responsibility to award events with the EYCH labels.

EAA has used this position, as a privilege and opportunity to vindicate Archaeology in the context of the EYCH and to promote Cultural Heritage generally at professional, social and political level. We advocate for heritage in all its myriad forms, from the intangible values of our vast variety of cultural traditions to our rich resources of architecture, monuments, landscapes and material cultural objects. Archaeology has the capacity to integrate them all in its study of their multiple material processes.

Archaeological understanding and practice can also demonstrate how Cultural Heritage mediates the passage of culture from the Past into the Future, how individuals meet communities, how communities meet societies, how societies meet together, and how Cultural Heritage helps to reconcile the many challenges of European modernity.

In this special year we have demonstrated the social, economic and political importance of Cultural Heritage. We have supported the dedicated programme for its promotion and the call for a central and embedded position for Cultural Heritage in social policy and political agendas, ranging from economic and social cohesion policy to spatial planning, structural development, education and science.

This must be the continuing legacy of the EYCH. It will also underpin the EAA’s future policy and work in the coming years.

The EYCH is not only about past cultural heritage and its legacies, but a Europe that is continually creating its heritage. There is a recognition now that Europe’s past and living cultural heritages underpin its future in a fundamental way. European policy now seeks to use this concept to create the foundations for setting a new and innovative long term agenda for Europe.

The year has had a high profile and has been a singular success. It has demonstrated how many Europeans care about Cultural Heritage. In the 2019 European Parliamentary elections, the European Association of Archaeologists together with National Partners will be is issuing benchmarks for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage during these elections.

The benchmarks will prompt politicians to position themselves in policies and political topics concerning Cultural Heritage; encourage and allow civil society to make informed decisions at the voting both; and hold politicians accountable for promises they make during elections.

We live in dynamic political times when new political developments in many European countries will fundamentally influence our lives as Europeans in the future, whatever our nationality. Our past assumptions are being disputed and challenged. Many of the established pillars of the European Union are being rocked. It will not only naive but irresponsible to deny that there are serious risks in the socio-political arena that challenge the standards of what is understood as the European social model. While this is a concern, we must embrace the future with confidence in our abilities.

Archaeology has got the capacity to reflect on how past futures came into existence. As archaeologists our task is to apply this principle in our daily work, and use it for the benefit of our profession and our societies.

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Calendar for EAA members January - May 2019

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Upcoming Events

2019
2020
2021
 

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Nomination for EAA election

As a current EAA Member you are eligible to nominate yourself or a colleague for one of the positions open for election in 2019.

The chart below shows the current composition of the EAA Executive Board and Nomination Committee – positions that will become vacant for the election in 2019 are highlighted in golden bold italics and include the Treasurer, two Ordinary Executive Board members, and a Nomination Committee member. Completed nominations must be received at the EAA Secretariat before 9 April 2019 in order to be considered in the nomination process.

 

EAA Executive Board






President
  
    Felipe Criado-Boado
  
      2015-2021
  

Secretary

Karen Waugh


2017-2020

Treasurer

Margaret Gowen - Larsen


2014-2019
Vice-President
   		    Sophie Hüglin
   		      2014-2020
  

Ordinary Board Member

Manuel Fernández-Götz


2015-2021

Ordinary Board Member

Maria Gurova


2013-2019

Ordinary Board Member

Hrvoje Potrebica


2016-2019

Ordinary Board Member

Alessandro Vanzetti




2014-2020

Ordinary Board Member

Agne Zilinskaite


2018-2021








EAA Nomination Committee






Committee Member

Bettina Arnold


2016-2019

Committee Member

María Pia Guermandi


2018-2021

Commitee Member

John Robb


2017-2020


Election of Treasurer and Ordinary Executive Board members

Candidates for the post of Treasurer and Ordinary Executive Board member must be supported by 10 full individual current members of the EAA. Complete nominations received will be forwarded for consideration to the Nomination Committee which will then produce the lists of candidates to be included in the ballot. The ballot papers will be sent to all full members before 7 August 2019. You may then vote for your preferred candidates by post, fax, e-mail or on-line; alternatively, you may vote by ballot paper at the Annual Meeting in Bern. Elected candidates’ term of office will be 2019 – 2022.

Executive Board Members shall supervise, control, and direct the affairs of the Association, its communities, publications, etc. (Statutes Art. VI.1). In their responsibility to develop and improve the Association, Ordinary Executive Board Member shall, among other duties,
  • take part in drawing up the EAA Long-Term Plan and work in accordance with the current Long-Term Plan
  • assume responsibility for an assigned area of EAA activities
  • attend Executive Board meetings (normally February/March and August/September; travel costs can be reimbursed)
  • promote the EAA in any relationship with other organizations
  • assist Scientific Committees of the Annual Meetings.

Election of Nomination Committee member

Candidates running for a position on the Nomination Committee must be supported by 5 full individual current members of the EAA. Nominations received will obviously not be forwarded to the current Nomination Committee but will be directly included in the ballot. The ballot papers will be circulated to all full members before 7 August 2019. The new Nomination Committee member will then be elected through the normal election process as above, i.e. in a vote by post, fax, e-mail or on-line or at the Annual Meeting in Bern. Elected candidate’s term of office will be 2019 – 2022.

The Nomination Committee is responsible for nominating candidate(s) for vacant positions on the Executive Board, and ensure a broad geographical representation with respect to age, institutional affiliation and gender (Statutes Art. VII). Nomination Committee Members are expected to look for suitable candidates for election throughout the year and to communicate with fellow Committee members. Nomination Committee Members should have several years of experience as member of the Association and a good overview of their geographical area. Nomination Committee Members must be able to devote time to their task at certain times of the year, including a half-day meeting normally held in spring/early summer.

Appointment of Editorial Board members

A system of appointment rather than election was approved at the Annual Business Meeting in Riva del Garda in 2009. Therefore, members cannot put themselves forward for election to the Editorial Board, but can express their interest to work on this board to the EAA Secretariat, which will then communicate it to the Executive Board which is responsible for the appointment of new Editorial Board members. 

If you are interested in serving the EAA in any of the available positions or if you have any suggestions for candidates, please send the completed candidate form to the EAA Secretariat before 9 April 2019.

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EAA nomination form
(Microsoft Word Document)


The European Archaeological Heritage Prize 2019

Call for nominations

The European Association of Archaeologists instituted the European Archaeological Heritage Prize in 1999. An independent Committee awards the Prize annually for an outstanding contribution to the generation of archaeological heritage knowledge and its dissemination, and to the protection, presentation and enhancement of the European archaeological heritage.

As of 2018, nominations for the Prize are received in either of two categories:

  • Individual category for an outstanding scholarly contribution or personal involvement,
  • Institutional category for local, regional, national or international initiatives, long- or short-term, which contribute to the preservation and presentation of European archaeological heritage beyond the normal duties of the institution.

The same nomination form is used for both categories, with a different emphasis in the evaluated criteria.

The major evaluation criteria – recommended to be addressed in the application form – are as follows:

  1. Scholarly (academic contribution)
  2. Societal (contribution to generation of community values based on heritage)
  3. Heritage (achievements within heritage protection / management / conceptual development)
  4. Political (political level impact to further the standing of archaeological heritage)

The Committee will discuss all serious proposals for the Prize. No self-nominations are accepted. Nominations may be made by any of the following:

  • Members of the Association (all membership categories)
  • Professors and heads of departments of archaeology at European universities and institutes
  • Directors of governmental heritage management organisations and agencies in European countries (members of the Council of Europe)
  • Non-governmental archaeological, heritage, and professional organisations in European countries.

The 2019 European Archaeological Heritage Prize will be awarded during the Opening Ceremony of the 25th EAA Annual Meeting in Bern, Switzerland, on 4 September 2019. The awarded candidate(s) are expected to attend the Ceremony in person and to give a very brief presentation of their work.

Please fill in the form below, print it as a pdf file and send it with relevant appendices to EAA Secretariat, c/o Institute of Archaeology CAS, Letenská 4, 118 01 Praha 1, Czech Republic, or by email to administrator@e-a-a.org before 1 June 2019.

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Heritage Prize form
(Microsoft Word Document)


EAA Community: Integrating the Management of Archaeological Heritage and Tourism

by Annemarie Willems (annemarie@awheritageconsultancy.org) and Margaret Gowen (mmgowen@live.com)

The EAA Community on Integrating the Management of Archaeological Heritage and Tourism met for the fourth time at the EAA Annual Meeting in Barcelona. At this meeting it was decided to vote Margaret Gowen-Larsen in as co-chair together with Annemarie Willems.

The Community currently has 58 members, was established following a Round Table session at the EAA Annual Meeting in Glasgow 2015, entitled ‘ArchaeoTourism on the Move: Developing Guidelines for Europe’. The round table was designed to bring together those EAA members that are working in a variety of ways with the management of archaeological heritage in a tourism context. The Round Table sought to identify common themes of interest and common issues, especially within Europe and resolved to commence work on addressing these as a group. The Community was established as a result.

The specific aims of our Community are to:

  • Facilitate dialogue between archaeologists and tourism specialists and work towards establishing common ground and a common vocabulary.
  • Establish partnerships with specialist organisations and groups working on similar issues (other relevant EAA Working parties, The European Archaeological Council (EAC), UNESCO + UNESCO World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS + its International Scientific Committees - on Cultural Tourism (ICTC) Archaeological Heritage Management (ICAHM) and Interpretation and Presentation (ICIP), Cultural Landscapes (CSCCL) and Cultural Routes (CIIC).
  • Advocate archaeological representation in heritage decision-making concerning interpretation and help archaeologists to tell their stories considering the social, economic, and political environment.
  • Develop helpful strategies for managing archaeological heritage for tourism considering the risks and opportunities of archaeological tourism.
  • Invite participation and input from all stakeholders: archaeologists, tourism specialists, local communities and other civic partners on these topics.
  • Encourage research on archaeological tourism.
  • Propose practical instruments such as:
    • Guidelines for sustainable archaeological tourism.
    • A platform aggregating existing resources and information.
    • Network of stakeholders including specialists and civil society.

Since our establishment, Community members have organised sessions and roundtables annually. Members edited the publication ‘Feasible Management of Archaeological Heritage Sites Open to Tourism’, containing a selection of papers presented at EAA sessions held in Istanbul 2014, Glasgow 2015 and Vilnius 2016. The Community also provided analytical commentary on the Barcelona Declaration of Tourism and Cultural Heritage: “Better Places to Live Better Places to Visit”.

This year, 6-11 May 2019, the EAA together with Archaeological Museum in Zagreb will hold the ‘’Sense and Sustainability” International Conference on Archaeology and Tourism in Zagreb, Croatia (https://zagrebarchaeologytourism.com/). This conference, initiated by the Community, is being co-organized by the EAA with the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb in the lead.

The Conference seeks to bring together experts and practitioners from tourism and archaeology alike from all over the world and session proposals have already been submitted, while the call for papers is open.

The conference will provide a lively forum for the discussion of topics related to the sustainable use and management of archaeological heritage in heritage tourism. The conference opens the door to a variety of perspectives that will reflect current theoretical and practical, case study experiences from across the stakeholder spectrum.

The Conference is centred on four main themes:

  1. Heritage in tourism destination management
  2. Sustainable development, archaeology and tourism
  3. Tourism and archaeological heritage management in Protected areas, World heritage sites and National parks
  4. Cultural routes

For more information about the Community and to join, please visit our EAA Community page on the EAA website. We invite all EAA members to consider joining and contributing to the work of the Community and encourage all curious or interested current members to attend our business meeting in Bern later this year. In 2016 we decided to invite a local tourism expert to our Community business meeting each year to give a presentation at the end of our official meeting. In Maastricht someone from ViaStory gave a very interesting presentation about storytelling and the Via Belgica Project and in Barcelona the manager of the interpretation centre and Rock art WH site "Abric de l'Ermita" talked to us about his work. We are confident that we will find an excellent speaker again this year.

We hope to welcome you in Zagreb this May, or at the in EAA Annual Meeting in Bern in September!

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