EAA 2018 Barcelona was an incredibly successful conference in several respects. First, this was the largest EAA Annual Meeting (hereafter AM) to date. With 3400 EAA members in 2018, Barcelona saw 2987 delegates, 260 sessions, 3004 presentations, and 59 student volunteers. Second, we thank the EAA Secretariat for the successful organisation of memberships, registration, attendance, abstracts, and sessions. This was the first time that this aspect of an AM was run directly by the EAA Secretariat, and large size was an added challenge for the new system. Three people did it all! Moreover, the scientific and logistical organisation was well executed. We are pleased to report that many delegates told us how happy they were with the organisation and functioning of the Barcelona AM, and how easy it all was. This was managed despite the large number of delegates, and the fact that a powerful thunderstorm with heavy rains flooded the exhibitor’s hall on the first evening (among other, more common, challenges). We thank the Organising Committee of Margarita Díaz-Andreu, Sandra Montón-Subías, and Raquel Piqué, and the members of the Scientific Committee, for their efforts, and we thank Antoni Nicolau, María José Gállego and Mónica Mackay for their leadership in the logistical operations.
With the 2018 EAA Annual Meetings in Barcelona now past, we can look to how they reflect the future of EAA. The Association continues to grow, with more members participating in different ways in addition to participation in the AM, for example through EAA Communities and through increasing use of social media. Look for the EAA Help Desk at future meetings, as well as the EAA stand where you can meet members of the Executive Board, TEA Editors, and the EAA Secretariat. Although the numbers of delegates will continue to vary from year to year, we expect to see the continued growth of EAA as a central part of the intellectual, social and political life of European archaeologists.
This year, the EAA signed Memoranda of Understanding with CAA International (Computer Applications & Quantitative Methods in Archaeology) and DGUF (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte), to foster special cooperation between our organisations. We anticipate that this practice will continue, as archaeological associations across Europe and around the world recognise the need to cooperate in the preservation of archaeological heritage.
This issue of TEA has several important reports from the AM, including the President’s opening speech, a report about the conference itself, the role of the press and social media in the success of 2018 Barcelona, the Minutes of the Annual Membership Business Meeting, the EAA President's Working Lunch, the World Bank forum, and reports from EAA Communities on Gender in Europe (AGE) and Public Archaeology. We also have several announcements and reports of conferences and new research projects. Finally, this issue includes tributes to three former EAA members, including the founding member Henry Cleere.
Please – if you forget your EAA login details, do contact the Secretariat. They will help you recover your details and log in, so please do not create a duplicate members profile! The EAA has a new email address to help answer your general questions about the Association: helpdesk@e-a-a.org will ensure prompt replies to your queries regarding EAA membership, login details, Annual Meetings or anything related to EAA.
Our next issue, Winter 2019, has a deadline of 15 January 2019, and will include early information about the upcoming Bern 2019 Meeting. Send your reports from the meetings in Barcelona on sessions, round tables, committees, or the AMBM, on the state of archaeology in your country or region, reports on important threats to European archaeological heritage, research updates and announcements to us at tea@e-a-a.org. We look forward to hearing from you!
Katharina Rebay-Salisbury and Roderick B. Salisbury