Welcome from President E. Bánffy
Dear EAA members,
As I look out of my window over the foggy and icy landscape of Frankfurt in January, I would like to
open this issue by extending my best wishes to you for 2022; I hope that this new year will be a good
one for you, my fellow EAA members! May it be spent in good health, may your archaeological work
as well as your social networks be filled with success and joy, and may you experience both of the
latter increasingly in person!
Once again, we have put a tough year behind us. If at all possible, lockdowns due to the pandemic
made it difficult to do fieldwork and made attendance at meetings, workshops and conferences
feasible only in a virtual format. In addition, though it was fortunately a success, this past year also
saw a second annual meeting which took place largely online. While I was personally present in Kiel,
ever since, our monthly management and board meetings have been carried out exclusively in a virtual
context. This has created a bizarre situation; although we work closely and intensively together,
several of us have never met in person. Nevertheless, it seems to me that Board Members’ strong
commitment and interest in serving the EAA community ensures a jolly atmosphere during meetings
which cheers up both the Board and Staff and further renews our determination to continue giving
our best to the association. Though we had hoped to organise an in-person Executive Board Meeting
in Prague in February, the current infection rates of the last virus variant make this plan unrealistic. At
present, we have pinned all our hopes and efforts on the 28th Annual meeting in Budapest; this time
we must be able to come together …
And speaking of preparations for the 28th Annual meeting, the Scientific Committee has decided upon
sessions and the Call for Papers is now open! Contracts with the exceptional venues at which the
Annual Party and the Dinner will take place are also in progress.
Meanwhile, in October 2021, some members expressed concerns on social media about attending the
EAA Meeting in a country that shows signals of an unfriendly attitude to LGBTQIA+ people and
communities. The Executive Board has taken these concerns very seriously and has discussed them
both internally as well as with the local organizing team members. As a result, we put together a series
of arrangements, including a webinar and Q & A with the Háttér Society (Hungary’s largest civilian
group working for LGBTQIA+ communities). This event was recorded, and is still available on our
YouTube channel as well as on the conference website, which further describes the measures taken
by the EAA to ensure that the Budapest meeting will be a safe place for everyone. Róbert Buzsáki (the
attending member from the Háttér Society) has also prepared a summary and discussion which is
included in the following pages of this issue of TEA.
I would like to take the occasion to thank the local organisers and the whole community of
archaeologists in Hungary for their many long years of tremendous effort to make a great Annual
meeting happen in 2022. The EAA stands with our colleagues in Hungary; rather than boycotting, we
express strong solidarity and our full support and appreciation for all the intense work which they
have put in for the conference in Budapest.
The positive and creative atmosphere mentioned within the Board seems also to be reflected in TEA.
Our new editors, Samantha S. Reiter and Matthew J. Walsh have jump-started the renewal of TEA
(soon to include COFFEE as well, through a new collaboration with the EAA’s Social Media team! )
with a series of nice and funny (but also interesting and important!) new sections, ideas, and pieces
of information. Dear EAA members, please take these innovations as further signs of the dynamism of
EAA life which binds us together across the many different countries, languages, interests or career
stages which characterize our many members. TEA is also introducing members’ faces and
personalities, and will help us to get closer to each other, in spite of the distance and lockdowns. It is
worth getting into the following pages, in order to experience a good contribution and a good
connection at the start to the year regardless of the foggy and icy winter and the difficult times.