1. Widening perspectives in material culture studies
The study of material remains is a cornerstone of archaeological research, constituting the very essence of the discipline. The style, function, and meaning of artefacts continue to be fundamental for understanding the values and identities of past populations and for reconstructing not only socio-political and economic organisation but also ideology and beliefs. This theme seeks to emphasise the insights that can be gained through exploring the production and consumption of artefacts, their biographies, and their role in a broad array of human activities, employing various methodological approaches, including experimental archaeology. This theme also draws attention to the intricate relationships between material objects and human expression while at the same time underscoring their role in defining cultural identities and social practices. Other key elements in this theme include cultural landscapes, culinary practices, the relationship between local and imported materials, gender roles embedded in artefacts, and the interplay between artefacts and ecofacts. Proposed sessions may be related, but not limited, to the following subjects:
1. Analyses of materiality through interdisciplinary research
2. Local versus imported: decoding producers, consumers and trade networks
3. Gender relations and material culture
4. Past lives and the taphonomy of artefacts
5. The relationship of artefacts with ecofacts (anthropological, zoological and botanical remains)
6. The life of things: object biographies and lifecycles
7. Material culture in ritual and funerary contexts
8. Interpreting the function of construction and its surrounding spaces
9. The style, function and meaning of things
10. Crafting artefacts: technology, chaîne opératoire and organisation of production
11. Cultural landscapes and material culture: a multifarious relationship
12. Material culture of culinary practices
13. Experimental Archaeology
14. Digital artefacts and metadata
15. Materiality and agency
2. Crossing the divide. Archaeology and the open world
Archaeological practices, in their many forms, engage important debates that concern the modern world. For the Italian politician and classicist Palmiro Togliatti, “every story is always and truly contemporary history” - but whose history? Are we incorporating all voices to produce nuanced understandings of the past? Do political and social changes bring new voices to the fore?
This theme also engages with ongoing social and political debates surrounding the wide archaeological sphere. The rapid changing political system of liberal to illiberal democracies, as well as the return of war to Europe, raises many challenges for the daily life of archaeologists, producing new problems while also raising new questions. At the same time as national challenges emerge, archaeologists look towards the internet to connect and learn, and to organise and gather data. Yet is the online world our saviour or our enemy, given that it is also a source of misinformation, trolls, distortion and propaganda? Proposed sessions may be related, but not limited, to the following subjects:
1. Labour rights in heritage and tourism sectors
2. Crossing the divide between scientific knowledge and the public
3. Actions against sexual harassment and racism in archaeology
4. Post-colonial and de-colonial research
5. The impact of current authoritarian politics on archaeological and heritage research and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies
6. Politics, heritage and archaeology in populist and illiberal democracies
7. Humanities in the world of technocrats
8. Teaching archaeology to an online public: tools, methods and practice
9. Archaeology and working with unsupportive local communities
10. Archaeology vs the trolls: fighting misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories online
11. Archaeology and social movements
12. Citizen science, crowdsourcing and communities
13. Archaeology in times of war and conflict
14. Women and archaeology: still fighting the patriarchy?
15. Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in archaeology
16. Who owns the past?
17. Precarity in the profession
3. Museums and cultural heritage in the era of ‘permacrisis’
In an earlier essay (2010), Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, noted that ‘... museums and curators must have the courage and vision to embrace controversy. [...] I would argue that the greatest danger is not from threats to funding sources or pressures from government officials, but from the profession's willingness to self-censor exhibitions, to smooth the rough edges of history, in order not to offend in this politically charged climate.’ Now more relevant than ever, this compels us to rethink the roles of museums and the significance of cultural heritage management in an era increasingly defined by ‘permacrisis’—a state of sustained instability across political, environmental, economic, and social spheres. In this theme we welcome sessions exploring how museums are adapting to ongoing disruptions while remaining custodians of memory, identity and public discourse. It examines the dual role that these institutions now play: safeguarding fragile cultural legacies amid intense ideological strife, global conflict, climate change and technological upheaval, while also serving as spaces for critical engagement, resilience and healing. Through the presentation of case studies and current theoretical frameworks, this theme aspires to highlight the necessity for museum and cultural heritage institutions to prioritise inclusivity, sustainability and responsiveness, in order to both withstand crises and contribute meaningfully to societal regeneration. In this way, these two interconnected institutional pillars can demonstrate that the relevance of cultural heritage lies not only in preservation but also in its capacity to stimulate social consciousness and inspire adaptation and continuity in uncertain times. Proposed sessions may be related, but not limited, to the following subjects:
1. Heritage management and cultural tourism
2. Cultural heritage conservation and management
3. Digital heritage
4. Endangered heritage: illegal trafficking, aggressive development and objects at risk
5. Representation of subcultures and minorities in museum narratives
6. Museums and identity building
7. Temporary exhibition strategies
8. New approaches to museums and education
9. The therapeutic museum: exploring the emotional power of material culture
10. Past material culture in visual, applied and performative arts
11. Museums as community builders: new strategies for public benefit
12. The role of museums in a world on the move
13. Cultural heritage management in zones of war and violent conflict
14. Museums and the colonial, anti-colonial, post-colonial discourse
15. The impact of natural disasters and environmental changes on cultural heritage
4. Transforming archaeology through interdisciplinarity
Archaeology is transforming through interdisciplinary collaboration, broadening its scope and enhancing its understanding of past human behaviours and environments. Interdisciplinarity enables archaeologists to approach ancient cultures, landscapes, and artefacts from diverse perspectives, yielding new insights into human behaviour, social structures and environmental interactions. The integration of techniques such as genetic analysis, remote sensing and 3D modelling are revolutionising fieldwork and interpretation, while collaborative research fosters a deeper, more nuanced understanding of archaeological sites, artefacts and ecofacts. The potential of artificial intelligence in interpreting archaeological data brings exciting opportunities and challenges for future thinking in the field. Furthermore, the emphasis on big data, open data, and digital archiving ensures the preservation and accessibility of archaeological evidence.
These shifts enhance the accuracy of archaeological reconstructions and promote a more inclusive, global perspective on the past. The growing embrace of interdisciplinarity signals a promising future for archaeology, fostering innovation and expanding the scope of research in previously unimaginable ways. Proposed sessions may be related but not limited to the following subjects:
1. Broadening perspectives in the archaeology of food
2. Exploring new horizons in geoarchaeology
3. Archaeology of life cycles and osteobiographies of humans and animals
4. Understanding kinship through genetics
5. Scientific analysis of archaeomaterials
6. Examining human-plant and human-animal relations
7. From field to laboratory: sampling strategies and data analysis
8. Recovering vanished pasts through biomolecules
9. AI in interdisciplinary archaeological research
10. Big Data, Open Data and Digital Archiving: Preserving and modelling archaeological evidence for future research through digital techniques ,FAIR principles
11. Digital epigraphy and 3D scanning for documents, inscriptions and reliefs
12. Natural language processing (NLP) for the analysis of ancient texts and inscriptions
13. Exploring buried landscapes and sites through interdisciplinarity (including remote sensing, 3D modelling, predictive modeling)
14. Reconstructing ancient environments for education and research (including Cyber-archaeology, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality)
5. Changing worlds and environments in the past, present and future
Environmental and climatic transformations have profound effects on human societies. The study of past human-environment interactions is essential for understanding past socio-ecological trajectories and informing contemporary responses to global challenges. Advancements in methodologies and increased interdisciplinary collaboration are yielding novel insights into human-plant and human-animal interactions, as well as resilience strategies and processes of transformation and adaptation.
Under this theme, we invite scholars to explore how innovative methodologies and enhanced interdisciplinary cooperation are shedding new light on human-environment interactions. We also encourage reflections on how archaeology can actively contribute to addressing the pressing challenges posed by global changes, whether political, social, economic, climatic or environmental. Proposed sessions may be related but not limited to the following subjects:
1. Human adaptations to climate change through foraging and agricultural practice: resilience, innovation and change
2. Lessons from the past: modelling the past to predict the future
3. Assessing environmental change through sedimentary archives
4. The role of sedimentary aDNA in Environmental Archaeology
5. Resilience, adaptation, mitigation in the past, present and future
6. Archaeology of the Anthropocene
7. Global challenges and an archaeology of the future: archaeological insights to short-term and long-term human adaptations to changing environments
8. Communicating/contributing archaeological and historical datasets to current discussions of environmental and climatic change
9. Archaeological heritage in times of climate change: what do we save and what do we let go? Where do we (and is it in our power to) draw the line?
6. Transient theories
This theme poses the question: is it time to ask what the purpose of archaeological theory is? We invite critical discussions and appraisals of the rapid changes that characterise archaeological theory. By contemplating whether or not the constant desire to be ‘cutting edge’ in theoretical applications means we risk weakening archaeological theory as a result, we can bring important discussions about the importance of archaeological theory. In this lies opportunities for critical reflection and examinations of the limits and possibilities within theory. Are new theoretical platforms trialled, discarded or replaced before their full potential can be realised? And why might this have arisen?
Asking the question of what theory is for, if not to help us better understand the past, can unlock discussions of how archaeological theory forms part of an ongoing evolutionary-driven belief in constant improvement through renewal. Juxtaposing this with established critiques of a Eurocentric, androcentric and ethnocentric belief in progress as positive, we can open discussion of what we believe archaeological theory ought to contribute. Proposed sessions may be related but not limited to the following subjects:
1. Critical appraisals of rapid changes in theory
2. For whom do we create archaeological knowledge?
3. Theoretical influences, sub-disciplines and in-groups
4. Questioning the roots of archaeology: how colonialism shaped archaeological theory and narratives about the past
5. Androcentrism and archaeological theory
6. Do we still need archaeological theories?
7. Archaeological theories for the future
8. Archaeological theories in an age of multi-omics, multi-species, and multi-perspectives
9. Transferability and applicability of extra-disciplinary theories to archaeological data
10. Theory-driven and atheoretical archaeological traditions across Europe
11. AI and the archaeology of the future: Endless possibilities or the end of archaeological thinking?
7. Interaction, connectivity and mobility
Interaction and connectivity are inextricably bound up in human history. Mobility and transformation are also inherent in people’s actions and the passage of time. Humans move in search of food and partners, establishing social and economic networks in this process. By consequence, knowledge, ideas and stories move with artefacts and people, and transform along the way. Archaeology, with the materiality, spatiality and temporality of its data, can discern links between people, place, practices, things and time. It is these links that create and give meaning to people’s actions and interactions at multiple scales and in diverse settings. Proposed sessions may be related but not limited to the following subjects:
1. Ways of relatedness and interconnection between cultures, societies and people
2. Forms and degrees of mobility
3. Gendered mobility
4. Entanglements of social and material networks
5. Settlements in motion: continuity, discontinuity, seasonality, abandonment
6. Connectivity through landscapes, seascapes and skyscapes
7. Ways and forms of communication – circulation of people, material and ideas
8. Cultural diversity, homogeneity and difference
9. Mobile economies
10. Integration and disconnection
11. Exploring the interplay between the individual and the communal
12. Intersection of traditionally different units of analysis
13. The contribution of scientific methods (strontium isotopes, aDNA) for understanding human mobility
8. Beyond the Middle Sea: rethinking the Mediterranean in motion
From prehistory to the present, the Mediterranean has been conceptualised as a trade arena, an empire nexus, a cultural crossroad and a catalyst for technological innovation. This session invites fresh perspectives that reimagine the region as a dynamic constellation of interwoven places and peoples, extending beyond its bounds. We welcome archaeological, historical and interdisciplinary work that positions the Mediterranean at the centre of broader inquiries into environment, identity, connectivity, technology and heritage. We encourage diverse approaches – whether theoretical, methodological, or comparative – that harness the Mediterranean as a lens to illuminate global dynamics, fostering dialogue across regional specialisations. We also aim to forge fresh insights by engaging colleagues from diverse backgrounds and regions. Ultimately, we envision the Mediterranean not as a self-contained ‘middle sea,’ but as a generative meeting ground whose significance resonates far beyond its shores. Proposed sessions may be related but not limited to the following subjects:
1. Α ‘bounded’ Mediterranean world
2. Archaeological sites and their significance for contemporary local and global communities
3. The Mediterranean and other maritime zones worldwide: comparative analyses
4. Reconstructing past scapes of the Mediterranean
5. Sustainability and resilience strategies in coastal or insular communities
6. Interactions between coastal and inland areas
7. ‘Continental islands’: peninsular dynamics and their role in broader connectivity
8. Archaeology of harbours and ships
9. Underwater archaeology
10. Insular identities: marginality vs. connectivity
11. Migration, colonisation and population movements in the Mediterranean
12. States and empires in a maritime world
13. East and West: isolation and connectivity between the two parts of the Mediterranean
14. Archaeology of conflicts in the Mediterranean ‘longue durée’
15. Interconnections between the European and African shores of the Mediterranean
16. The resonance of the Mediterranean beyond its shores