Dear EAA Members, dear
European Archaeologists!
The EAA needs you.
In the coming months critical decisions will be made that will shape this
organisation for a generation — and the large majority of our most recent and
current membership has not yet shared their voice.
The decisions
(directions, Statutes and Handbook revisions) made at the end of this process
are far-reaching and will determine the EAA ethos and future. They will affect
the participation and support of corporate members, institutions and individual
members. They will determine whether some future Annual Meeting venues will be
able to host the EAA. They may also influence where the EAA Secretariat can be
hosted. Put simply, the decisions made will influence the future and the
financial health of the EAA.
As per our
Statutes, we focus on promoting archaeology and safeguarding our archaeological
heritage. As per our Handbook, we stand for EAA as an organisation where
members can express diverse and balanced opinions, including those on political
themes, as and when they are directly related to archaeology.
Summary of
Situation
In late August
2025, a group with unnamed leaders (Archaeologists Against Apartheid — AAA)
approached the Executive Board, with a list of demands related to the
Israel-Gaza conflict. When these remained unfulfilled, the group called to
disrupt our Belgrade Annual Meeting.
Meantime, in
January 2026, a group of EAA members named ‘Concernedeaa’ initiated a Special
Meeting with support from 10% of our membership, as specified in the EAA
Statutes. As required, the Executive Board prepared and facilitated this
meeting and the subsequent January 2026 per rollam vote.
With the per
rollam voting following the Belgrade September 2025 AMBM, the voting
membership agreed to the establishment of a Task Force to review and advise the
Executive Board on the EAA’s future directions — its roadmap. That Task Force
first met in March 2026 and is now considering how to bridge both the roadmap
and the implementation of the motions put to the EAA in January
2026.
As per the roadmap,
the ultimate decisions are not primarily related to Israel or Palestine, but to
the EAA’s overarching position on the place of political activism within the
organisation.
To allow for the
Task Force and Executive Board to make a decision we are extending the deadline
for cancellations with full refund to the upcoming Annual Meeting to the 15th
of May.
The Task Force is
currently reviewing the EAA's policy on institutional affiliations as part of
its broader mandate to develop a comprehensive and consistent framework for the
Association's governance and Statutes. This work is proceeding carefully, because
decisions made in this area will set precedents that apply to all comparable
situations - not only the current one - and must therefore rest on solid,
coherent foundations. We will communicate the decision on the EAA affiliations
policy to the membership as soon as possible.
Call to Members
In this situation,
we ask for your continued support. In the September per rollam vote,
18 % of the 2025 membership expressed an opinion. In the January per
rollam vote, 22 % of the 2025 and 2026 membership who were eligible to
vote expressed an opinion. We also appreciate that not everyone who respects
and values the EAA joins each year. Please, help the EAA by renewing your
membership, remaining a voting member, and voting. The Executive Board is
responsible for representing the entire and wholly diverse membership.
This is a decisive moment that calls for the broader membership to make
itself heard.
Please join us in
attending the Annual Meeting in Athens, and its AMBM, where we look forward to
conversing in the spirit and manner for which the EAA was founded.
We look forward to
seeing you in Athens.