From our President

by Felipe Criado-Boado, EAA President, on the behalf of EAA Executive Board and Committees (felipe.criado-boado@incipit.csic.es)

Dear members,

On this particular occasion, I have adopted a personal “letter style” for this opening address in the new issue of TEA. I will talk below about Barcelona, but before I want to address some other issues starting for the most personal ones. I wish to warmly thank you all for your renewed confidence and the mandate that my re-election in Maastricht gives me to continue the on-going development of the EAA. We intend to serve EAA members better, both internally and externally, especially in relation to the political and practical challenges we are facing in our societies. I really appreciate your trust in me to act EAA as president and I will continue working in that capacity for the integration and engagement of Archaeology in the really big issues of society.

During the summer, I addressed a personal message to each member, enclosing my candidate statement. I had also the opportunity, by email or in person, for a further discussion about issues of common interest with many of you. I am clear about the direction I will take in the mid-term, together with the Executive Board, EAA Committees and Communities.

The sub-plans that develop the EAA Strategic Plan 2017-19 were approved in Maastricht. They are accessible at www.e-a-a.org/strategicplan (you have to be logged in). If you remember, their main intentions are to improve our services to members, and to increase horizontal relationships (i.e. activity that will build collective intelligence) within the EAA. We will continue to expand the website to this end, and provide a full range of virtual community functions. We continue to strengthen the EAA secretariat and expand the benefits of membership. Apart from the European Journal of Archaeology, there are appreciable discounts for the THEMES monographs (don't forget!). In addition, a new electronic series Elements will soon be launched jointly with CUP. We intend to create a new system to reinforce and foster links and actions among the members who share the same interests (through the constitution of Communities and Committees). We will empower these to be active agents in defining EAA policies. We have already extended our presence in social media and will continue to do so. We will continue to innovate and test formats for our Annual Meetings, being aware that these are the primary focus for many members, especially the youngest ones. We will refine a working agenda to implement these changes in the next couple of months.

The next Executive Board Meeting (scheduled for early March 2018) will see a substantial step forward in this implementation. Thereafter, the different Statutory Committees of the EAA will study the changes we have to do in the EAA Handbook and the proposed amendments to the Statutes.

All these steps will be announced through a systematic and continuous information campaign, which will also create room for members to engage with the process when needed.

I would like to call your attention on some specific issues: the report from the “Presidents working lunch” in Maastricht; the MoU's signing with CIfA and SAfA; the process of creating new committees and committees (any member can promote ideas in this regard); and in particular, the initiative to set up an EAA Committee on the Climate Change and Heritage, which is linked to the SAA. We are also encouraging the participation of other organizations in our Annual Meetings, probably through a system of sessions labelled under the umbrella of those organizations.

Maastricht 2017 was a wonderful experience and a very successful Annual Meeting. Now that the voices of those days are fading, it is time for us to thank the Scientific and Organizing Committees once again for all their hard work. I must mention here: Jos Bazelmans, Chair of the Scientific Committee, Gilbert Soeters, Cees van Rooijen, Karianne Winthagen, Barbara Dobbelmann, Joke Zaat, and the Klinkhamer Group (especially Janine Brüll and Marente Oelers). The Dutch authorities made a major effort in order to hold our Meeting (including the three levels of the Dutch administration: the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands - thanks to Susan Lammers, General Director; the Regional Minister of the Province of Limburg - special thanks to Hans Teunissen who deeply engaged with the Annual Meeting as a way to foster the Province's policies to promote archaeology and archaeological tourism; and the Municipality of Maastricht, “gracias” to Gert-Jan Krabbendam). I want to emphasize that without their contribution, the Annual Meeting fees would have been more than double of what they were. This data not only puts a figure to their support, but also provides a reference to the open debate we continue to have on the cost of the EAA’s Annual Meetings. Although we do everything to keep prices as inclusive as possible, we all have to recognize that large-scale congresses, with a high level of interaction, good quality and services, have inevitable costs.

As seen at Maastricht, the Annual Meetings of the EAA continue to retain their dynamic and critical organization, which encourages debate and interaction. This is what we want above all to preserve and enhance, because it is in this magma where the collective intelligence of EAA and its different communities and personal visions are formed.

I am convinced that the expectation surrounding the Annual Meeting in Barcelona will expand the success of EAA’s Annual Meetings. Emphasising a transnational perspective, this meeting will focus on the problems, practices and policies of archaeology and archaeological heritage. (please, do not miss the deadline of the call for sessions). We have chosen Barcelona for its personality as a laboratory city that has always experienced the present and explored the future. The current situation in Catalonia is well known, and serves as another example that challenges the historic origins of nation-states as the dominant form of statehood, but also challenges the European project based on current nations and difficulties with incorporating alternative political identities. Circumstances have anticipated my words in the invitation I wrote to convoke the Annual Meeting: “Barcelona offers a reflection of our future pasts, much in the way that archaeology does: our profession consists of the ability to reflect on how the future comes into existence. … Barcelona is thus a perfect location for holding our 24th Annual Meeting”. Right now there can be no better venue for the EAA to engage in reflecting futures. Now we can also rely on the setting being appropriate for hosting a big conference such as ours. But we will keep you all informed of how the registration process develops and of any relevant news that could affect the Annual Meeting.

I think the EAA is doing well but I cannot be complacent. There are too many problems in archaeology and society to be naively self-satisfied. That is why I urge you all to contribute with your ideas, to keep the pulse of EAA beating into the future. I list some open questions as examples for consideration: Should EAA do something about issues such as sexual harassment in Archaeology? Should EAA engage with the situation and problems of archaeologists in the archaeological labour market? Should EAA address the difficult situation of many young postdocs and researchers that are disrupted by required levels of high mobility and the temporary nature of their contracts?

I finish this letter with my best wishes to you all for this new EAA year. I hope to see you all in Barcelona to continue moving forward together.

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Calendar for EAA members November 2017 – March 2018

  • 10 November - Deadline for session and round table proposals for the 2018 EAA Annual Meeting in Barcelona, Spain
  • 30 November - Announcement of session acceptance / rejection to session organizers
  • 15 December - Deadline for registration and membership payment for session organizers
  • 31 December - End of the 2017 EAA membership (log in the member's section valid till 31 January 2018)
  • 1 January - Beggining of the 2018 EAA membership (log in the members' section valid since 1 December 2017)
  • early February - Call for nominations to the EAA election circulated to the members
  • 15 January - Deadline for submissions to TEA winter issue (to be published in late January)
  • 15 February - Deadline for paper / poster submissions
  • 9-11 March - EAA Executive Board meeting, Prague
  • 15 March - Deadline for sessions organizers to evaluate papers / posters / other contributions
  • 25 March - Announcement of contributions acceptance / rejection to presenters
  • 31 March - Registration and membership payment deadline for presenters
  • 31 March - Deadline for early bird registration and early bird membership fee payment

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Upcoming Events

2017

2018

2019

2020

 

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EAA Annual Report

Minutes of the Annual Membership Business Meeting (AMBA) in Maastricht, September 1st, 2017

1. Opening and welcome
The EAA President Felipe Criado-Boado opened the meeting and asked members of the EAA Executive Board and staff to briefly introduce themselves; he regretted the absence of the EAA Treasurer, Margaret Gowen Larsen, who was unable to attend for health reasons. Felipe continued by thanking the local organisers and student helpers for having organised a very successful conference, and welcomed the 120 members attending the AMBM.

2. Minutes of the AMBM in Vilnius

The minutes of the AMBM in Vilnius 2016 were published in the TEA and there were no comments by members. The minutes were approved as correct record of the previous AMBM (0 against, 0 abstained).

3. Matters arising from the Minutes
There were no matters arising.

4. Strategic planning
The EAA strategic documents (Governance Plan, Action Plan, and Plan for the Development of the Secretariat) were circulated to members in advance of the AMBM. They set out the direction of EAA’s  Strategic Plan which was approved at the AMBM in Vilnius 2016.

The overarching goal of the plan is to use collective intelligence of EAA members to engage with the association. In practical terms, the strategic plan and its sub-plans define how future representation and reporting lines will be structured within the EAA.  This structure has been devised to engage members more actively and to ensure trust among all the constituent elements of EAA. It outlines those steps necessary to achieve it (e.g., enlargement of the Executive Board, AMBM format change, etc.). Since there were no questions from the floor, AMBM attendees proceeded to approve the EAA Action Plan (0 against, 2 abstained), Governance Plan (0 against, 2 abstained), and Plan for the Development of the Secretariat (0 against, 2 abstained). The approved documents will guide EAA’s next steps which will include further revision of the Statutes. These will be presented for the approval of members at 2018 AMBM.

5. Annual Report
The EAA Annual Report on membership figures was presented in written format, circulated to members in advance of the AMBM. EAA membership recovered from lower numbers in 2016 (1812 members in 2016 as compared to 2153 members as of 20 July 2017), and the difference between the number of current members per year and the number of Annual Meeting delegates increases constantly, indicating that members tend to renew their membership even if they cannot attend the Annual Meeting.


Chart 1: Number of members per year (* as of 20 July 2017)

The geographical bias towards membership from Western Europe and the rest of the world as compared to representation from Central and Eastern Europe continues to be considerable, but it is hoped that this may be addressed somewhat by redefinition of A and B categories.

Chart 1: Number of members per year (* as of 20 July 2017)
The geographical bias towards membership from Western Europe and the rest of the world as compared to representation from Central and Eastern Europe continues to be considerable, but it is hoped that this may be addressed somewhat by redefinition of A and B categories.


Chart 2: Proportion of membership categories A and B 2012 – 2017.

The average age of members since the foundation of EAA (data available for 3854 members) is 35 years of age. The average age of members currently (2016 and 2017) is 45 years old. This indicates that the EAA remains a relatively young organisation. The percentage of student members varies at around 20% of total members in a year.
The corporate members of EAA in 2017 are (in alphabetic order):
  • ASHA – Agjensia e Shërbimit Arkeologjik
  • Association of Lithuanian Archaeology
  • AÚ – Archeologický ústav AV ČR Praha, v. v. i.
  • Historic England
  • Historic Environment Scotland
  • INRAP – Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives
  • Institute of Archaeology RAS
  • Museum of Cultural History Oslo
  • NIKU – The Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research
  • OCenW - Rijksinspectie voor de Archeologie
  • Römisch-Germanische Kommission


Chart 3: Percentage of membership types 2010 – 2017


The trend towards early payment of membership fees for a given year indicates a tendency towards a more stable membership base over the year; early renewal not only offers the ‘early bird’ rate, but also ensures efficient management of the Journal that can be sent to members without delay.

Membership fees are paid by credit card on-line or by bank transfer; off-line credit card payments, payment in cash at the Annual Meeting or payment together with conference registration are no longer possible. This is due to the new membership database software (iMIS) and changes in EAA business model. Members now have to renew their membership through the EAA portal first, before registering for the conference in the year that the membership pertains to.

The EAA membership database, web and membership services have been running in the iMIS software since September 2016 without major problems.

The EAA is implementing the Annual Meeting registration module in iMIS and will be used from October 2017; the abstract submission module has been outsourced to Klinkhamer Group and will be operational from September 2017. The new software will provide seamless membership services both in terms of EAA membership renewals, Annual Meeting registration and abstract submission. It will also allow increased interaction between members, their communities and the various boards and committees of EAA.

Chart 4: Date of membership fee payment 2010 – 2017

6. Financial Report
Krisztína Pavlíčková, EAA Financial Administrator, stepped in for Margaret Gowen Larsen, the EAA Treasurer, presenting the financial report for 2016 and budgets for 2017 – 2019. The Financial statement for 2016, Financial plan for 2017 – 2019 and budgets 2017 – 2019 were circulated to members in advance of the AMBM.

The difference of the 2016 budget result from the approved budget forecast is due to adjustments in the budget structure (depreciation of software over 3 years, regrouped costs for Executive Board meetings) and differences in EAA revenues and costs (EJA production costs in 2016 were less than budgeted, barred costs for THEMES volumes 1 and 2 production).

The 2017 budget will include less income on membership fees than estimated; EJA revenues contain a welcome bonus from CUP. A separate sub-budget for EAA’s organizational involvement in the Annual Meeting running has been created, including a fixed amount for services provided by EAA accounted for by the cost of the administrative activity undertaken by EAA staff.

The 2017-2019 budgets are necessarily conservative, reflecting the financial constraints under which EAA operates. In line with the EAA Action Plan 2017-2019, the Financial Plan 2017 - 2019 envisages carefully planned, incremental development of all the Association’s executive and administrative functions, while seeking to ensure that EAA members are well served and represented in Europe and further afield by the Association in line with the principles set out in its Governance plan. The EAA Financial Plan 2017-2019 is not static and will be reviewed actively.


Chart 5: Budgets 2016 - 2019.

Mark Pearce referred to the aim to increase the number of Annual Meeting participants and questioned how does this compare to the growth of registration fees envisaged for Barcelona 2018.

In EAA’s developed accounting structure, the Annual Meeting budget will be identified separately from the main administrative EAA budget, an apportionment of which will be allocated to time spent working on conference management.

EAA hopes to be better able to control the level of registration fees in the future, but much will continue to depend on the ability of the local hosts to generate sponsorship

The Annual Meeting budget accommodates all running costs and venue costs (not just the apportionment paid to the EAA Secretariat for services provided in relation to conference management (Abstract handing, Conference registration and payment, website management etc.). The Annual Meetings continue therefore to require significant local and institutional sponsorship if members’ registration fees are to be held at a reasonable level.

Adrian Olivier pointed out the financial risk involved in self-organisation of EAA Annual Meetings – the EAA needs professional risk assessment statement to establish reserves statement (running costs of the EAA as related to safety deposit in the bank).

While there was no response to this comment, it must be pointed out that this type of financial risk assessment formed part of the decision-making around the proposed new structure for conference organisation. A document clarifying the proposed structure will be prepared in the coming months by the Treasurer and Secretary. Kristian Kristiansen recommended identifying which parts of the Annual Meeting are attractive to local sponsors, e.g. the Annual Dinner; affordable price of the Annual Dinner is sought, but without sponsorship it must cover the actual (high) costs involved.

The 2016 Financial report was approved by members present (0 against, 1 abstained). The 2017 revised budget was approved by members present (0 against, 1 abstained). The 2018 - 2019 budgets were approved by members present (0 against, 0 abstained).

7. Redefinition of A and B membership categories
The economic situation in many countries has changed and there is more variety of EAA membership countries which automatically fall within A category of EAA membership. Based on the World Bank data on GDP values, the Executive Board therefore proposed to members in a document circulated in advance of the AMBM to list the below countries as belonging to A category, while any other country would automatically fall within the discounted B category. The suggested change will have minimum impact on EAA income from membership fees, and the list of A countries will be revised periodically.

Countries proposed to fall within the A category membership fees include (in alphabetical order): Andorra, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Cayman Islands, Channel Islands, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong SAR (China), Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea Rep., Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macao SAR (China), Monaco, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norway, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Singapore, Saint-Maarten (Dutch part), Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City.

Kenny Aitchison reminded the audience that the Disco project proved that archaeologists in some B countries earn more their fellows in some A countries, and the position of archaeology within the labour market in each country needs be taken into account.

However, the Disco project did not offer results for all countries in Europe, and the aim of the A and B membership categories revision is also to encourage colleagues from other continents to join the EAA. These rates are subject to review in any case every five years. At a later stage, individual criteria may be considered, but this step remains to be examined.

The redefinition of A and B membership categories has been approved as proposed for 5 years (0 against, 5 abstained).

8. Oscar Montelius Foundation report
The OMF report was circulated to membership in advance of the AMBM. OMF Trustees and Auditor confirmed that OMF is ready to disburse part of the OMF capital to provide grants to 2018 Annual Meeting participants. The conditions for grant application will be announced in early 2018. The grant provision will subsequently be evaluated and OMF will act in accordance with the results and EAA financial situation.

9. Statutes amendments
With regard to the new strategic developments of the EAA, and the legal – administrative harmonisation required to comply with the amended laws on membership associations in the Czech Republic (where the EAA has its registered office) the Executive Board proposed Statutes amendments for members’ consideration in advance of the AMBM.

The current update of the Statutes was discussed by the Executive Board and prepared by the Statutes Working Party.  This voluntary group of EAA members includes Elin Dalen, Thomas Meier, Mark Pearce, Axel Posluschny, Karen Waugh and is chaired by Executive Board member Alessandro Vanzetti. The proposed wording of the amendment to the Statutes in this regard was drafted by our Czech legal advisor and lawyer (Mgr. Jana Mojzišková) and the final draft was submitted to the EAA Statutes Committee (Kristian Kristiansen, Harald Hermansen and John Carman) to ensure that it is appropriate and correct.

Members present discussed and approved the proposed Statutes amendments by articles:
  • Art. II – Introduce new aim (one comma) in order to widen the activities of the Association in line with the Framework for the EAA’s Strategic Development, especially objective 4:
    5. To promote archaeology to the public, and to raise awareness of archaeology in Europe.
    = approved (0 against, 0 abstained)
  • Art. II – Introduce new aim (two commas) against commercialism and illegal detection and collection of artefacts in line with the Framework for the EAA’s Strategic Development, especially objective 3 and 4:
    7. To promote interest in archaeological remains as evidence of the human past and contributing to our knowledge of human culture and to discourage a focus upon any commercial value that may attach to such material.
    8. To work for the elimination of any form of illegal detection and collection and the damage it causes to the archaeological heritage.
    = approved (0 against, 0 abstained)
  • Art. III – Introduce new aim to enable the new business model for Annual Meeting organisation, whereby EAA staff will administer the registration and abstract handling software modules and be closely involved in Annual Meeting organisation, in cooperation with the local host:
    6. Provide technical and administrative assistance to the Annual Meeting Organiser.
    = approved (0 against, 0 abstained)
  • Art. V – Introduce new commas between present commas 9 and 10 listing membership rights and obligations, as required by Czech law on associations:
    10 Membership rights and obligations:
    10.1 Membership rights for all members:
    a) participate in cultural and social activities of the Association,
    b) being informed about the Association´s activities,
    c) participate in activities, training and seminars in the terms determined for individual events,
    d) freely declare their opinion on any matter of legitimate concern to the Association and to submit proposals for Association activities as provided in these Statutes,
    e) participate in meetings of the Association bodies, in the terms determined by the Statutes,
    f) change the type of their membership, provided that conditions for such change as provided in the Statutes are satisfied,
    g) terminate their membership anytime.
    10.2 Membership rights belonging to Full Individual Members only:
    a) participate in the Annual Membership Business Meeting and vote on its decisions,
    b) elect and get elected into all elected Association bodies on the terms and conditions hereof.
    11 Membership obligations that shall be complied with by all members:
    a) follow the Association Statutes and other internal regulations,
    b) perform resolutions and other decisions of the Association bodies,
    c) save, protect and magnify assets serving for the Association to safeguard its activities as well as strive for the Association´s good reputation.
    12 Membership obligations that shall be complied with by Full Members only:
    a) pay the respective membership fees as well as other fees related to proper membership and activities in the Association as decided upon by the respective Association body under the Statutes properly and in time,
    b) properly perform the positions and tasks they were elected into, or charged with, or accepted responsibility for.
    = approved (0 against, 0 abstained)
  • Art. VI – Present comma 5 to be modified to complete EAA administrative procedures and cater for irregular situations on elected EAA bodies, which may be addressed by co‐option:
    The Board shall be empowered to make co‐options to fill the places of elected members, including Officers, who do not complete their full three‐year terms of office, where there was no candidate for election or for other reasons that will assist the work of the Board. Such co‐options which shall not exceed three in any year shall be effective until the following Annual Membership Business Meeting, at which point the vacancy will be filled by election as described in Article VII.
    = approved (0 against, 0 abstained)
  • Art. VI ‐ Present comma 6 to be modified by adding new text to the end to complete administrative procedures, catering for the case that the President purposefully fails to convene the Board, and thus inhibits the decision making process within the Association:
    The Board shall hold at least two meetings each year. Dates, locations and formats of meetings ‐ including digitally assisted remote meetings ‐ shall be proposed by the President and approved by the Board or a majority of the Board. If the President fails to convene the Board, after 9 months have elapsed since the last Board Meeting, it may be convened by joint initiative of three Board members.
    = approved (0 against, 0 abstained)
  • Art. VI ‐ Present comma 8 to be modified to ease administrative procedures, enabling the President to sign on behalf of the EAA in legal acts, avoiding the need of certified signatures of all Board members, which otherwise are required:
    8. The President shall be the statutory body of the Association.
    = approved (1 against, 0 abstained)
  • Art. XII – New comma to be introduced to ease administrative procedures by delegation of specific legal and/or administrative acts through power of attorney on an EAA member or employee:
    11. The Board may appoint a member or an employee of the Association to act on behalf of the Association for any prescribed purpose, including to act on behalf of the entire Association, for such limited periods as it shall determine, but in no case for longer than a calendar year.
    = approved (0 against, 1 abstained)

10. Election results

According to the Statutes, the EAA Executive Board consists of (max.) 10 elected members: 3 Officers, an Incoming President elected one year before the term of office, and 6 Ordinary Members (one of them appointed as Vice-President). This year, the posts of Incoming President, Secretary, two Ordinary Executive Board members, and a Nomination Committee member become vacant. The period of service is 3 years and the elected candidates will serve from 2017 to 2020 with the exception of Incoming President who is elected one year before taking office, and will formally serve from 2017 to 2018.

Following the deadline for nominations by members on 4 April, one nomination was received for the position of Incoming President, three nominations for the position of Secretary, and 7 nominations were received for the positions of Ordinary Executive Board member. The Nomination Committee (composed of Arkadiusz Marciniak, Margarita Díaz-Andreu and Bettina Arnold) met on 20 April and scrutinised the nominations by members received and completed them with further nominations.

Personalised election materials were circulated via e-mail on 1 August when on-line election opened. The 479 valid votes (368 received on-line, 111 at the conference ballot box) were counted by EAA Secretary Marc Lodewijckx, Nomination Committee Members Margarita Díaz-Andreu and Arkadiusz Marciniak, and EAA Administrator Sylvie Květinová. The elected candidates are shown in bold below.

PRESIDENT

Criado-Boado Felipe 

 (421 received votes, 58 abstained)

SECRETARY

 Waugh, Karen

 (240 received votes)

 

 Thomas, Roger

 (96 received votes)

 

 Wait, Gerry

 (91 received votes)

   

 52 abstained

EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER 1

 Hüglin, Sophie

 (160 received votes)

 

 Sánchez Romero, Margarita

 (129 received votes)

 

 Dietrich, Laura

 (90 received votes)

 

 Høst-Madsen, Lene

 (59 received votes)

   

 41 abstained

EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER 2

 Vanzetti, Alessandro

 (224 received votes)

 

 Riede, Felix

 (119 received votes)

 

 Spanjer, Mark

 (92 received votes)

   

 44 abstained

NOMINATION COMMITTEE MEMBER

 Robb, John

 (186 received votes)

 

 Karl, Ray

 (147 received votes)

 

 Ermischer, Gerhard

 (90 received votes)

   

 56 abstained


The EAA congratulates the successful candidates, and thanks those who were not elected for standing and for their continuing interest in the work of the Association.
The EAA thanked the outgoing Board and Committee members:
EAA Executive Board: Marc Lodewijckx
Nomination Committee: Arkadiusz Marciniak
EJA Editorial Board: Laurence Manolakakis, Hanna Stöger

11. New appointments

The following appointments were made in 2017:
EJA Editorial Board:  Cate Frieman (re-appointed)
Isabella Colpo (re-appointed)
Susanne E. Hakenbeck
John H. Jameson
Simon Malmberg
Oscar Montelius Foundation: Carsten Paludan-Müller (re-appointed)

12. Publication news

Reports on EAA publications (EJA, TEA, THEMES) were circulated to members in written in advance of the AMBM.

13. Reports from the Working Parties and Committees

Reports on EAA communities were circulated to members in written in advance of the AMBM.

14. Location of future Annual Meetings

The next conferences will be held in the following cities:
24th 2018 Barcelona, Spain
25th 2019 Bern, Switzerland
26th 2020 Budapest, Hungary

15. Announcement of the next Annual Meeting

Margarita Díaz-Andreu together with Raquel Piqué and Sandra Montón invited all EAA members to attend the 24th EAA Annual Meeting in Barcelona, Spain, to be held on 5 - 8 September 2018. The conference web page is live at https://www.e-a-a.org/eaa2018 and provides all necessary information. Call for session submissions will open in mid-September 2017.

The themes of the 2018 Annual Meeting will be:
  1. Theories and methods in archaeology
  2. The archaeology of material culture, bodies and landscapes
  3. Mediterranean seascapes
  4. Archaeology and the future of cities and urban landscapes
  5. Archaeology and the European Year of Cultural Heritage
  6. Museums and the challenges of archaeological heritage in 21st century

16. Any Other Business

Koji Mizoguchi expressed regret for the coincidence of dates of EAA and WAC in 2016 - the next WAC in Prague (6 – 10 July 2020) will avoid clash with EAA Budapest (26 - 30 August 2020).
Since there was no other business, the Meeting was closed.

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Memorandum of Understanding with SAfA

On 30 August 2017, at the Annual Meeting of the EAA at Maastricht, the European Association of Archaeologists and the Society of Africanist Archaeologists (SAfA), represented by their presidents, signed a Memorandum of Understanding, recognizing a mutual interest in the field of African and European archaeology and associated disciplines and the importance of archaeological professional associations in promoting international collaboration.

SAfA is an organization of archaeologists, researchers from associated disciplines and others who share an interest in African archaeology and African societies. SAfA and EAA share the following purposes and scope:
  • to promote the development of archaeological research and the exchange of archaeological information regarding Africa and Europe;
  • to promote proper ethical and scientific standards for archaeological work in Africa and Europe;
  • to promote the interests of professional archaeologists in Africa and Europe;
  • to publicize and increase interest in African and European archaeology in the respective continents and in the entire world;
  • to protect the archaeological heritage and fight for its preservation and integrity;
  • to further promote respect and appreciation of the archaeological heritage;
  • to promote co-operation with other organisations with similar aims.
Both organizations will share relevant information with each other, organize sessions at reciprocal conferences, promote European and African archaeology and work to address damage to archaeological heritage and the underlying processes that cause such devastation, both in war and in peacetime. Specifically, the Society of Africanist Archaeologists is organizing a “SAfA Day” in the forthcoming EAA Annual Meeting in Barcelona (5-9 Sept 2018) under the terms of this Memorandum.


Figure: SAfA President Eric Huysecom and EAA President Felipe Criado-Boado shaking hands (photo: Kateřina Kleinová)

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Memorandum of Understanding with CIfA

On 2 September 2017, the European Association of Archaeologists and the Chartered Institute of Archaeologists (CIfA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding, committing the two organisations to working together to promote the social importance of archaeology and the need to ensure robust professional values.

Felipe Criado-Boado, EAA President, who gave the keynote address to the CIfA 2017 conference, said
‘The EAA and CIfA share common values on professionalism, but their purposes and roles are different. We therefore welcome this opportunity to collaborate, each cooperating with the other on advocacy where policy or interests are common to both.’

Peter Hinton, CIfA Chief Executive, said
‘Our two organisations are distinct, but complementary, and will work together to help archaeologists to improve the quality of their work. We are profoundly grateful to the EAA for its commitment to encourage archaeologists to become accredited by CIfA or an organisation that recognises professionalism in archaeology in the same way.’

The Memorandum recognises that the EAA is an association for all archaeologists in Europe and beyond: it is a community which helps to improve archaeological method, practice and understanding by discussion with EAA members through its Annual Meetings and publications. The Memorandum also identifies CIfA as the leading professional body representing archaeologists, open to applicants from anywhere in the world and from any archaeological discipline: it accredits archaeologists as professionals, promoting high standards and strong ethics.

Both organisations have a commitment to professionalism and good practice in archaeology, and to promoting the social value of archaeology.
  • The EAA encourages the adoption of professional and ethical standards for archaeological work, and demands its members to agree to adhere to Association’s Codes of Practice and Code of Conduct. It is an association that any archaeologist and other related or interested individuals or bodies in Europe and beyond may join, providing a forum for pan-European debate on archaeology and fostering collaboration between archaeologists in Europe and beyond.
  • CIfA requires the archaeologists it accredits to continuously demonstrate competence and to comply with its Code of conduct and standards. It facilitates the discussion and dissemination of good practice.

Figure: CIfA Director Peter Hinton and EAA President Felipe Criado-Boado shaking hands (photo: Kateřina Kleinová)

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Some proposals for ever closer and organic collaboration between world archaeological communities

by Koji Mizoguchi (President of the World Archaeological Congress, mizog@scs.kyushu-u.ac.jp)

Various archaeologies are practiced in an increasingly globalised world, in which reactions to on-going problems and risks themselves generate new problems and risks. Our realisation of the relativity of our value systems and our embrace of multi-vocality are empowering us in a fundamental way. At the same time, they inevitably make it difficult to sustain constructive dialogues by referring to sharable, stable referential frameworks. There exists chronic danger that the amalgamation of the stress and dismay of these challenging conditions will lead us to take extreme positions and make short-sighted decisions.

In order to prevent such chronic risk of doing and living archaeologies in today’s world from materialising and resulting in concrete, harmful consequences, we archaeologists need to create a system to ensure sustainable information exchange and dialogue. World archaeological communities, such as the European Association of Archaeologists and World Archaeological Congress, can, and actually begin to, function as such systems by regularly organising their meetings in which the participants are encouraged to strive to create an ideal speech situation, by which I mean all of those who are involved in a dialogue respect mutual differences and exchange opinions by consciously reducing and eliminating, as much as possible, biases deriving from different biographical experiences and different socio-cultural, political and economic backgrounds (see Mizoguchi 2015).

Naturally, each such community has its own unique composition of membership and representation of different groups. In order for us to create a genuinely global system to ensuring global information exchange and the sustainability of global dialogues, we need ever closer and increasingly organic collaborations between them. With such recognition in mind, I proposed the following at the Presidents’ lunch meeting during the European Association of Archaeologists 2017 annual meeting in Maastricht.

A) Necessity of ever closer and organic collaboration between world archaeological communities (that WAC-8 Resolution 11 binds the current WAC Executive ad Council to strive to achieve), and
B) Reinforcement of the existing mechanism of information sharing and discussion for organizing collective responses to various issues and contingencies such as imminent threats to archaeological heritage.

To achieve those, I specifically proposed the following.

A) To increase the range of information exchange through the Presidents’ mailing list, which WAC is hosting,
B) Sharing platforms for promoting one another by mutually linking each other’s website, offering free booths for promotion at the full meetings of respective organizations/communities,
C) To organize ‘sponsored sessions’ at the full meetings of respective organizations/communities in which specific concerns and important agendas of respective organizations/communities are presented and discussed, and
D) To organize round tables of the presidents and/or representatives of respective organizations at the full meetings of respective organizations/communities to promote wider exposure of how we are trying to work in collaboration and obtain feedback from ever wider audiences.

I am currently seeking a formal approval from the council for those proposals, but am allowed to share them with wider audiences on TEA, a newsletter of our de facto sister organisation for seeking wider opinions and commentaries.

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Kyoto Statement of the Future Collaboration of International Archaeological Communities

proposed at WAC-8 by Koji Mizoguchi, Mónica Berón, Felipe Criado Boado
finalised by Koji Mizoguchi (President of the World Archaeological Congress, mizog@scs.kyushu-u.ac.jp)

WAC 30th Anniversary Plenary at WAC-8 Kyoto 2016 Statement on the Future Collaboration of International Archaeological Communities (Reworded Resolution 11)

Archaeology has matured as a result of confronting a range of social issues, sometimes reactively without much reflection or intent, but other times consciously and proactively. Change in our field has been accelerated by a number of historic events, including the foundation of the World Archaeological Congress thirty years ago, created specifically as a commitment to uphold the UN’s total cultural and academic boycott of the racist Apartheid regime in South Africa, and explicitly in recognition of the historical and social role, and the political context, of archaeological enquiry, of archaeological organisations, and of archaeological interpretation. This commitment is as relevant today as it was in 1986.

We gather today to reflect upon what has happened to archaeology since then and to consider and discuss what we should build upon our achievements and how we can learn from our failures.

Those thirty years brought us some crucial realizations: what we are doing in the name of archaeology inevitably yields unintended consequences, and we archaeologists are accountable for them; but we have also realized that we can do a lot more than we ever imagined to make the world a better place. We have begun to understand the vital importance of using the past to support and maintain basic human rights, and to aid in the development of practices that respect many stakeholders and mitigate our impact on the environment. The practice of archaeology affects local, national, regional and global arenas.

Our world has many deepening problems: economic gaps at local, national and global levels, destruction of both intellectual and cultural heritages and traditions, and abuse of our natural environment. These tragedies ultimately lead to the destabilization and fragmentation of our identities and heightened fear and anxiety, and culminate in the proliferation of discrimination, fundamentalism, violence, conflicts and all sorts of human sufferings.

However, we also have acquired new resources to better organize ourselves to confront these issues. Wise use of digital communication tools and social media can allow us to rapidly share ideas, information and experience across cultural boundaries and physical space to find globally informed but still locally specific ways to tackle problems. Already these new platforms of communication have given us new intellectual tools and new coalitions such as WAC’s “Archaeologists without Borders” and “Global Libraries.”

Drawing upon our achievements and strengths, without forgetting the troubling heritage of our discipline, inspired by the presentations made by those who gather here on the 29th day of August 2016 to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the World Archaeological congress, I propose that we, the archaeological communities of the world, strive to achieve the following:

  • Work together to promote and protect vitally important traditions and heritages – tangible, intangible, intellectual, and material – for the well-being of diverse communities across the world.
  • Work together to promote and enhance the value of the material traces of human existence as a vital resource for the peaceful co-existence of human groups and sustainable harmony between humanity and the environment.
  • Work together to maximize the value of the material traces of the human past to provide examples, both good and bad to help us eliminate discrimination, violence and conflicts.
  • Work together at local, national, regional and global scales to sustain the natural environment which made human existence possible in the past, and the present and upon which our future depends.
  • Work together to reduce the economic gaps within and between our nations and within and between the regions of the world that are a significant cause of the aforementioned issues and problems, by utilizing all means available to the discipline of archaeology.
  • Work together to overcome language barriers to enhance our ability to communicate, share ideas and discuss solutions for the problems we must try confront without socio-economic, political, historical, ethnic and gender biases.
  • Work together to achieve ever closer collaboration for sharing information, thoughts and ideas in order to better organise ourselves to achieve these 21st Century objectives. They are lofty but we believe they are within our reach.
Signatories:
Koji Mizoguchi (President, World Archaeological Congress)
Mónica Berón (President, Society of Argentinian Anthropology)
Felipe Criado Boado (President, European Association of Archaeologists)

*Contents inspired by the panelists of WAC 30th Anniversary Plenary at WAC-8 Kyoto 2016: ‘WAC at 30: Give the Past a Future’ (29 August, 2016). The panelists are as follows:
  • Mónica Berón (President, Society of Argentinian Anthropology)
  • Jean Bourgeois (President, The International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences)
  • Catherine Frieman (European Association of Archaeologists)
  • Diane Gifford-Gonzalez (President, Society for American Archaeology)
  • Ndukuyakhe Ndlovu (Representative, Pan-African Archaeological Association)
  • Glenn Summerhayes (Representative, Indo-Pacific Prehistoric Association)
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Notes of the EAA Presidential Lunch Discussion

Maastricht, 30 August 2017

The EAA President, Felipe Criado-Boado, welcomed the guests and thanked them for attending the 2017 edition of the EAA Presidential Lunch. He also thanked Hans Teunissen, Gilbert Soeters, and the Jan van Eyck Academie for hosting the Presidential lunch. This was followed by a welcome from Hans Teunissen, Regional Minister of Archaeology, Province of Limburg.

The topic for the 2017 EAA Presidential Lunch was How to make Archaeology political again?

Felipe Criado-Boado began the discussion by calling for Archaeology, in particular EAA, to be political. This is needed in light of the current challenges facing the EU, the idea of Europe, and the prospect future of a Europe of Regions. Archaeology and archaeologists must occupy the frontline of the political debate with regard to Heritage, memory, identity, the past, and other issues relevant to Archaeology and archaeologists. If we do not do so, either politicians will forget about these issues, or other social agents with particular agendas will fill our absence. In order to identify practical ways how to enter politics, it must be ascertained which problems related to Archaeology and Heritage concern the society and how best to address these.

Sophie Hüglin, the EAA Vice-President, referred to the Political Strategies for EAA Committee Round table (European Elections 2019), held that same morning, as a case study. In cooperation with DGUF, questionnaires and texts will be prepared on topics relevant to Archaeology and Heritage, and politicians’ answers evaluated from the perspective of Archaeology. The resulting report will be made available to public before the 2019 European elections to inform their voting.

Koji Mizoguchi appreciated the Political Strategies project and referred to the WAC reworded resolution no. 11 Kyoto Statement on the Future Collaboration of International Archaeological Communities, approved at WAC-8 Kyoto 2016, for some goals that Archaeology should aim for. In practical terms, WAC endorsed further development of the EAA web page listing upcoming events and urged all archaeological organizations to contribute. Sharing promotional platforms by providing free booths at meetings of respective organizations and exchange of links might help to enhance the activities of each organization. Koji proposed holding presidential round tables at meetings of respective organizations as means to work together and reach out to the general public, and called for sharing information and exchanging ideas on virtual platforms (Presidential email list, Skype meetings).

Felipe Criado-Boado pointed out the world-wide trend to minimize Heritage legislation and protection, and the subsequent impact on work and labour conditions of archaeologists and Heritage workers, and asked about the effects of the steps of the Trump administration on the position of Archaeology and archaeologists in the USA.

Susanne Chandler highlighted that the SAA has had an existing Government Affairs programme in place to respond to the Trump administration, in particular challenges to environmental laws that include Heritage. An employee is in place, and meetings are scheduled with legislators. Multiple North American archaeological bodies joined their effort in forming the Coalition for American Heritage to actively monitor, communicate and engage with Congressional and agency representation, protect cultural resources in the USA and Canada and make clear to the politicians and public that Archaeology is not against development, but both can cooperate in Heritage and environmental considerations.

Terri Majewski stressed the importance of good information flow, and the importance of having people with the skills and credentials to get into the offices of government officials. Heritage must be politicized, but should not be political in itself. Repeated the observation that archaeologists do not do a good enough job of talking to the public about why Archaeology and Heritage are important.

Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović concurred that Archaeology is connected to politics. The Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 is a window of opportunity. In view of the recent political and economic crisis, Europe has the opportunity to put culture in general in a much more central place. Since European political parties do not even have the word “culture” in their programmes, the questions posed in the Political Strategies project must not be too specific. However, Archaeology must articulate its message, concepts and questions, bearing in mind what type of society, life, etc. we want for the next generations, while maintaining an upper-level focus. We also must all fight for facts.

Leonard de Wit commended the way Europa Nostra is using a celebrity – Placido Domingo – to act as its President and therefore attract attention to EN’s activities. Reminded that there is no problem recognized in government until someone says “Hey – this is a problem!”. NGOs should approach politicians either directly or through lobbyers to provide learning experiences – in other words, when disasters happen, NGOs must help seize the moment and insist on a solution to prevent similar disasters from happening again. Further, we need a simple, clear message when the opportunity arises. Observed that archaeologists are often quarrelling amongst themselves, instead of standing together.

Pete Hinton argued that archaeological organizations must define and focus on clear policy objectives and explain them to politicians. We must communicate to all audiences, not just politicians or other academics.

Diane Scherzler remembered that election benchmarks, an initiative that DGUF has developed in recent years, were not invented by DGUF, but adjusted to Archaeology and Heritage, which must highlight the benefits they bring for public, so that politicians readily provide support and funding for archaeological projects. Scherzler also called for having a real argument for “Why Archaeology?” Nothing esoteric or tautological, but having concrete and pragmatic reasons why Archaeology and Heritage must be funded.

Since the situation is different in each European state, María Gurova stressed the importance of stipulating common EU legislation and its implementation. Bulgarian Presidency of EU in 2018 coincides with the European Year of Cultural Heritage, an opportunity not to be lost. Repeated the absence of dialogue between politicians and scientists.

Fiona Hook commented on the effects of the benchmarking process on legislation in Australia, where each state has its own legislation.

Timo Ylimaunu on behalf of Joe Joseph, SHA President, alluded to the leading role of SHA in the Coalition for American Heritage, and described the SHA project on recognition and documentation of abandoned African American burial grounds as means to make people aware of their cultural Heritage.

Hrvoje Potrebica reasoned that if we want to change politics, we have to change the public first, to make people aware that the Heritage is theirs, and archaeologists are just helping to preserve it for their kids. If archaeologists do not make decisions and pursue action, someone else will make them instead.

Fiona Haarer argued for wider spread of interest in Archaeology and raising its profile.

Eric Huysecom pointed out that in Europe, there is a ministry and mechanisms in place for Heritage protection, whereas in Africa, scientific research is not applied systematically.
Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović recommended to enhance allying with cities, talking to their mayors, whereby bigger impact can often be achieved than by approaching politicians at the highest levels.

Gilbert Soeters, speaking in the behalf of Maastricht Service of Archaeology, encouraged archaeologists to go beyond academic discussions, as politicians are only interested in what the public thinks. When there is a disaster in development / archaeological excavation, the local public becomes aware and engaged, and this is when one has to apply the principle of “never lose a good crisis” because these are where both economic and political support can be sought.

Felipe Criado-Boado concluded that Archaeology must go beyond intellectualism, addressing the general public and politicians directly – speaking their language and talking about topics of their interest. Archaeologists do not own Heritage – it speaks by itself and archaeologists must translate the message to the public. No longer can archaeologists be the “No” people; we must learn to guide people in their interactions with Heritage.

Attendance:
  • Teresita Majewski, American Cultural Resources Association (ACRA)
  • Ben Gearey, Association for Environmental Archaeology
  • Fiona Hook, Australian Archaeological Association (AAAA)
  • Diane Scherzler, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte (DGUF)
  • Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović, Europa Nostra (EN)
  • Leonard de Wit, European Archaeological Council (EAC)
  • Peter Hinton, Chartered Institute of Archaeologists (CIfA)
  • Immo Trinks, International Society for Archaeological Prospection (ISAP)
  • Susan Chandler, Society for American Archaeology (SAA)
  • Tobi Brimsek, Society for American Archaeology (SAA)
  • Timo Ylimaunu, Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA)
  • Fiona Haarer, Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
  • Eric Huysecom, Society of Africanist Archaeologists (SAfA)
  • Koji Mizoguchi, World Archaeological Congress (WAC)
  • Jos Bazelmans, EAA 2017 conference organiser
  • Gilbert Soeters, EAA 2017 conference organiser
  • Hans Teunisen, EAA 2017 conference organiser
  • Felipe Criado-Boado, EAA President
  • Sophie Hüglin, EAA Vice-President
  • Marc Lodewijckx, EAA Secretary
  • Alessandro Vanzetti, EAA Executive Board Member
  • Manuel Fernández-Götz, EAA Executive Board Member
  • Esa Mikkola, EAA Executive Board Member
  • Hrvoje Potrebica, EAA Executive Board Member
  • Maria Gurova,, EAA Executive Board Member
  • Robin Skeates, EAA EJA Editor
  • Katharina Rebay-Salisbury, EAA TEA Editor
  • Roderick Salisbury, EAA TEA Editor
  • Sylvie Květinová, EAA Administrator
  • Kateřina Kleinová, EAA Assistant Administrator


Felipe Criado-Boado (EAA President) welcomes the guests and thanks them for attending the EAA Presidential Lunch (photo: Kateřina Kleinová)


Discussion during the Presidential Lunch (photo: Kateřina Kleinová)

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