Executive News, News from WAC Members, News Items, Excerpts from Other Archaeological Associations' Newsletters

eNewsletters

Volume 40 May 2012

Click here to download PDF

Editors: Marcus Brittain (mb654@cam.ac.uk) and Marisol Rodriguez Miranda (marirodz@gmail.com)

1. Executive News

WAC Executive Meeting
The WAC Executive held a meeting during the Society for American Archaeology conference in Memphis, Tennessee. We also discussed the WAC book series, the journal Archaeologies, membership fees, the more effective use of multi-media to promote WAC activities, and procedures for the election of members to the WAC Council. During this meeting the Executive approved a proposal for an Inter-Congress on contract archaeology, to be held in Argentina, and an application for Archaeologists without Borders to run in Iran.

WAC Council Elections
There will be a call for the election of Council members in the near future. This call will go on the WAC list-serve and will be placed on the WAC website. We would like to encourage WAC members to consider standing for a position on the WAC Council. It is a wonderful to contribute to, and be part of, archaeology across the world.

WAC-7
The majority of our news at the moment is revolving around WAC-7, which will be held in Jordan 14th-18th January, 2011. Jordan is an exciting country and WAC-7 is going to be an exciting event for all who participate.

WAC-7 in Jordan is moving into full swing on several fronts. The information given below is just a précis and people who wish to find out more detailed information should go to the website at:

http://wac7.worldarchaeologicalcongress.org/

Patron
His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein has agreed to be Patron of the Congress. This is an Honour for WAC, and for the local organisers, particularly the Academic Secretary of WAC-7, Talal Akasheh.

Academic Program
The International Scientific Committee will be reviewing submissions over the next few months. Proposals for themes close on April 30th 2012. Notification of the acceptance of themes were given on May 15th, 2012. The deadline for proposals for sessions is July 30th, 2012, and for the proposal of papers and posters the deadline is September 30th, 2012.

Travel Grants
Applications for travel grants are now open. The Travel Funding Committee of WAC-7 invites students, scholars from low-income countries and Indigenous groups to apply for support to attend WAC-7 in Jordan.

Important Dates

Academic Program
Proposals for themes: April 30th, 2012
Proposals for sessions: July 30th, 2012
Proposals for papers: September 30th, 2012
Proposals for posters: September 30th, 2012

Notification of acceptance of themes: May 15th, 2012
Notification of acceptance of sessions: August 30th, 2012
Notification of acceptance of papers and posters: October 15th, 2012

Registration
Early registration: October 30th, 2012

Travel Support
Applications for travel support: August 30th, 2012
WAC Travel Grant Committee decisions: September 30th, 2012

Visas
Visa applications for those who cannot get a visa from embassies in their countries (needs a scan of the first two pages of the passport): September 1st, 2012

WAC Booth
WAC had a booth at the April meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, in Memphis, Tennessee. We also had a party to celebrate and promote WAC-7 in Jordan. The Executive would like to thank all of the people who spent time at the WAC booth, especially Dru McGill and Alicia Ebbitt McGill, who took responsibility for setting up the booth at the beginning of the conference and each day and breaking it down at the end of the conference.

Other people who assisted on the booth include Briece Edwards, Eirik Thorsgard, Arek Marciniak, Ines Domingo Sanz, Gary Jackson, Bayo Folorunso and Dorothy Lippert. We would also like to thank Springer and Left Coast Press for providing books for our stand. Thanks to all.

Regards,

Claire Smith, for the Executive

2. News Items

WINNER OF THE WAC STUDENT WRITING COMPETITION 2011-12
The WAC Student Committee (WACSC) is proud to announce that the winner of the *World Archaeology Congress Student Writing Competition 2011-12* is Goce Naumov (University of Skopje, Republic of Macedonia) with the paper “Together We Stand – Divided We Fall: representation and fragmentation among Govrlevo and Zelenikovo figurines”

The papers submitted were evaluated by the WACSC along with a distinguished archaeological scholar representing the Editorial Board of the WAC journal Archaeologies. The winner of the WAC Student Writing Competition will receive a citation from the WAC Executive, a 4-year membership to WAC, and guarantee of review for publication of the paper in a future edition of Archaeologies.

CALL FOR STUDENT VOLUNTEERS AT WAC-7
In collaboration with the WAC-7 Organising Committee, the WAC Student Committee (WACSC) would like to invite WAC student members to apply for the student volunteers scheme. The scheme is seeking student volunteers (either undergraduate or postgraduate) who can take up tasks related to various aspects of WAC-7 organisation, such as the setting up of meeting rooms, registration duties, and the provision of non-English language assistance to participants, during the Congress period (14th -18th January 2013).

The scheme will be run by the WAC-7 Organising Committee, and WACSC will provide assistance with its preparation and coordination. The applicants need to be paid-up WAC student members and registered for WAC-7. Applicants will be selected in consideration of their ability to provide assistance at WAC-7. A general priority of selection will be placed on applicants from economically disadvantaged countries and indigenous groups, but those not meeting these conditions will also be considered.

Volunteers will work for part of the WAC-7 Congress (maximum 2 days), and in return they will be provided with shared accommodation and be free to attend sessions and events when they are not scheduled to work. Further details of the scheme will be communicated to the successful applicants by mid June, 2012. All volunteers will need to attend a training session that will take place in Jordan prior WAC-7 opening.

Those WAC student members interested in the scheme are requested to fill the application form, which is located on the WAC-7 website.

Should you have any questions about the scheme, please contact
wac7.studentvolunteer@googlemail.com.

GLOBAL HERITAGE NETWORK CELEBRATES ONE YEAR OF ACTIVITY
Global Heritage Network (GHN) - an early warning/threat monitoring system and collaborative solutions platform for endangered cultural heritage sites in the developing world - has had a great first year: 100 countries are now represented by GHN members, and membership has reached nearly 1000, with the most common member professions being archaeology/anthropology, architecture/historic preservation, conservation, academic research/teaching and consulting.

Comprised of three integrated components - GHN Sites, Community and Library - GHN offers its members the opportunity to learn about sites in danger as well as those which have been successfully preserved for future generations to enjoy. More importantly, though, GHN provides a platform for groups of people to work together collaboratively to save threatened sites.

Built around Google Earth, GHN Sites contains over 650 sites in its database, while the social network GHN Community now features 80 site-based and thematic discussion groups, and the GHN Library contains more than 600 heritage preservation-related electronic documents.

To explore GHN, visit http://ghn.globalheritagefund.org

To join GHN, go to
http://globalheritagenetwork.ning.com/main/authorization/signUp?

Get involved today and help save our global heritage!

ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE EDUCATION EXPO
MAY 5, 2012, Chongokni, Korea

The 3rd Archaeological Heritage Education Expo took place at the Chongokni Palaeolithic Site in Korea on May 5th. About 15 prehistory museums of Europe and Asia participated in this Expo which is a part of the 20th Prehistoric Festival program. Last year, almost one million people enjoyed the festival for 5 days. The Expo is intended to share information and knowledge of prehistoric site preservation and use among concerned archaeologists over the World, and was co-hosted by the Youngchon County and the Institute of East Asian Archaeology. Further information is available at http://blog.naver.com/iyc21net

Prof. Kidong Bae

HWB & UCL Cultural Heritage Fellowships
Heritage Without Borders (HWB) and University College London (UCL) have teamed with the British Council to offer Cultural Heritage Fellowships to museum professionals in the Middle East and North Africa. Recognising the role cultural heritage can play in understanding the political, social and economic challenges we face today, this programme aims to provide museum professionals with the skills and knowledge to use collections to engage communities with contemporary issues.

We would like to spread the word about these Fellowships as far and wide as possible, so please forward the following email to any colleagues in the heritage field that you may have in the eligible countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Palestinian Territories and Syria. One Fellow will be selected from each of these areas.

About the programme:
The Cultural Heritage Fellowship is a fully funded one-year programme comprised of 2 residential group learning sessions, a museum placement and one-on-one mentoring. The programme will begin with a 1-week training session in London at UCL. During the training week, Fellows will be matched with a mentor who will support their learning and skill-building throughout the programme.

The training week will be immediately followed by a 1 week placement in a UK museum recognised for its community engagement work. Mentors will be on hand during the placement week to offer more individualised advice and support, and will keep in touch by phone, email or Skype once the fellows return home.

During the year, each Fellow will be visited by their mentor, who will spend a few days at their museum helping to develop the Fellow's project idea. At the end of the year, in September 2013, Fellows will return to London for a 3-day session that will allow them to reflect on their learning and share the results of their projects.

Visit this link to read the full advert for applications to the fellowship and for a UK-based volunteer co-ordinator on the UCL website: http://heritagewithoutborders.org/vacancies/

The MuA Project | MONUMENTS AT RISK
A project for the documentation & evaluation of the architectural heritage at risk

We are pleased to announce the launch of the MuA Project (Monuments at Risk): a participatory project of collective data processing, concerning the documentation of monuments at risk and their evaluation with criteria relative to risks that they encounter. The project aspires to document in detail monuments at risk throughout Greece, form an expanded data base, raise awareness, inform decisions on strategic and economic management and promote creative ways of protection. The ‘openness’ of the Project, compared to others, in technological and theoretical levels, forges
its dynamic and adaptable character.

The webpage www.mua.gr is an interactive, communication hub through which visitors could be informed about monuments and cultural landscapes at risk in Greece, but also participate in the scheme by submitting a monument at risk or relevant information.

The Project is supported by a network of partners and it is run by the NGO: Elliniki Etairia, Society for the preservation of the Environment and cultural heritage.

The 1st stage of the Project (June 2010-June 2011) was funded by The ‘A.G. Leventis Foundation’ & the ‘Stavros Niarchos Foundation’.

More info: www.mua.gr | info@mua.gr

PERSONAL HISTORIES PROJECT
The Personal Histories Project is an on-going, educational, volunteer-run, oral-history research initiative, spearheaded by Pamela Jane Smith in which archaeologists are invited to share their memories, life stories and past experiences. Through their personal recollections, we better understand the development of twentieth-century archaeology, anthropology and life. Featured in the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 films are, among others, Colin Renfrew, Mike Schiffer, Meg Conkey, Henrietta Moore, Richard Bradley, Chris Stringer, Meave Leakey, Jane Goodall and David Attenborough.

Please let us know if you have ideas as to what group to interview next and here are our most recent web addresses.

http://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/personal-histories/2011-personal-histories-event-part-1.pdf

and

http://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/personal-histories/2011-personal-histories-event-part-2.pdf

and http://www.cu-tv.co.uk/node/141 and http://www.cu-tv.co.uk/node/142

Pamela Jane Smith
pjs1011@cam.ac.uk

CAMPAIGN: MONUMENTS HAVE NO VOICE, THEY MUST HAVE YOURS
Dear Friends, The Association of Greek Archaeologists which represents the Greek archaeologists who work for the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism launch a campaign, “Monuments have no voice, They must have yours” in order to make an urgent appeal to archaeologists and citizens all over the world to support the protection of cultural heritage and historical memory in Greece.

MOnuMENTA supports this initiative and urges that you spread the word. Support Greek Cultural Heritage against IMF Cuts International Appeal of the Association of Greek Archaeologists. If monuments had a voice of their own, they would tell us what has been going on in Greece in the past two years. In the name of the global economic crisis and with the IMF acting as a Trojan Horse, austerity measures have been undermining public services, welfare state and social cohesion. Democracy and national dignity are under attack. Monuments have no voice, they have us. We, the 950 Greek Archaeologists, civil servants working in the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, are fighting against the destruction of both our country and our cultural heritage, because of the policies dictated by the IMF and the Troika.

The Greek Archaeological Service is not overstuffed, nor are we being overpaid. We serve in order to protect our cultural heritage and monuments, all over Greece, facing constant lack of funding and personnel, dedicated to the pursuit of scientific knowledge and to access to culture as a public good. Our scientific work has won international recognition. For more than 170 years we have been organizing excavations, studying Greek civilization, organizing Museums not with stolen antiquities but with well-documented exhibits, restoring monuments, organizing educational programs and helping bringing together Ancient culture and modern art.

As civil servants we have neither sought after luxury or over-spending, nor have we been accused of corruption, in sharp contrast the practices of the government and the political system that today promises to “save our country”.

As archaeologists in the land that inherited democracy to the world we are perfectly aware of the dangers associated with the suppression of democracy. We are struggling to preserve the memory and the material traces of the past, because we know that a people without memory are condemned to repeat the same mistakes again and again.

Monuments have no voice. They must have yours! We are making an urgent appeal to our colleagues, to scholars and citizens all over Europe and the whole world, all the people expressing their solidarity and support to the Greek people, to defend cultural heritage and historical memory. The peoples of Europe share the same destiny. The same austerity packages and authoritarian measures, that are currently tearing apart Greece and its monuments, are going to be imposed across Europe. Culture is our common ground and our common destiny. Resist! Defend Greek Cultural Heritage and democracy. EUROPE without memory, EUROPE without future.

If you wish to receive our newsletter without any problems you could add the info@monumenta.com in the address book of the program you use. In case you don't wish to receive our newsletter click here to unsubscribe.

Αγαπητοί Φίλοι, Με το σύνθημα "Τα μνημεία δεν έχουν φωνή, έχουν εμάς" ο Σύλλογος Ελλήνων Αρχαιολόγων απευθύνει έκκληση στους αρχαιολόγους και στους πολίτες όλου του κόσμου για να υπερασπιστούν την πολιτιστική κληρονομιά και την ιστορική μνήμη, μέσω της διεθνούς εκστρατείας που ξεκίνησε για την προστασία της πολιτιστικής κληρονομιάς της Ελλάδας. Η ΜΟnuMENTA στηρίζει την πρωτοβουλία του ΣΕΑ.

Σας στέλνουμε το κείμενο και σας καλούμε να το διαδώσετε. Προστατέψτε την πολιτιστική κληρονομιά της Ελλάδας από τις περικοπές του ΔΝΤ Διεθνής Καμπάνια του Συλλόγου Ελλήνων Αρχαιολόγων Αν τα μνημεία είχαν φωνή, θα διηγούνταν… Θα περιέγραφαν όσα έχουν συμβεί στην Ελλάδα τα δύο τελευταία χρόνια, όπου με πρόσχημα την παγκόσμια οικονομική κρίση και με Δούρειο Ίππο το ΔΝΤ, ένα αυστηρό πακέτο λιτότητας √ διαλύει την κοινωνική συνοχή και το κράτος δικαίου, √ στραγγαλίζει την αξιοπρέπεια της Χώρας και την ίδια τη Δημοκρατία, √ απειλεί το φυσικό και πολιτιστικό περιβάλλον, ανεκτίμητη περιουσία του ελληνικού λαού, καθώς: σημαντικά μνημεία της κοινής ευρωπαϊκής και παγκόσμιας πολιτιστικής κληρονομιάς κινδυνεύουν να καταρρεύσουν αβοήθητα,οι λαθρανασκαφές και η κλοπή αρχαιοτήτων αυξάνονται επικίνδυνα, η επιστημονική έρευνα υποχρηματοδοτείται, η μνημειακή κληρονομιά αντιμετωπίζεται με εχθρότητα, ως εμπόδιο στις «επενδύσεις», οι αρχαιολόγοι απειλούνται με απόλυση. Τα μνημεία δεν έχουν φωνή, έχουν εμάς. Εμείς οι 950 Έλληνες αρχαιολόγοι δημόσιοι υπάλληλοι του Υπουργείου Πολιτισμού, αντιστεκόμαστε στο αδιέξοδο, στο οποίο βυθίζει τη χώρα μας και την πολιτιστική κληρονομιά το ΔΝΤ και η Τρόικα. Δεν είμαστε υπεράριθμοι, ούτε πληρωθήκαμε ποτέ με μεγάλους μισθούς. Υπηρετούμε τον πολιτισμό και τα μνημεία σε κάθε γωνιά της Ελλάδας, αντιμετωπίζοντας την έλλειψη προσωπικού και χρηματοδότησης με πολλή προσωπική δουλειά και μεράκι, με αφοσίωση στην επιστημονική γνώση και πίστη στον κοινωνικό ρόλο του πολιτισμού. Το επιστημονικό μας έργο είναι γνωστό διεθνώς: ανασκαφές και αναστηλώσεις μνημείων, οργάνωση μουσείων που δε φιλοξενούν κλεμμένες αρχαιότητες αλλά ευρήματα με τεκμηριωμένη προέλευση, εκπαιδευτικά προγράμματα, σύζευξη της αρχαίας τέχνης με τη σύγχρονη καλλιτεχνική δημιουργία. Η Αρχαιολογική Υπηρεσία δε λειτούργησε ποτέ με σπατάλες, πολυτέλειες ή μίζες, που χαρακτηρίζουν το ίδιο πολιτικό σύστημα, που σήμερα υπόσχεται ότι θα «σώσει» τη Χώρα. Εμείς που διδασκόμαστε και διδάσκουμε την άμεση δημοκρατία γνωρίζουμε σε τι είδους καθεστώτα οδηγεί ο στραγγαλισμός της. Προσπαθούμε να διατηρούμε ζωντανή την ιστορική μνήμη, γιατί γνωρίζουμε ότι λαός χωρίς μνήμη είναι λαός καταδικασμένος να κάνει τα ίδια λάθη. Τα μνημεία δεν έχουν φωνή. Εσύ έχεις! Κάνουμε έκκληση στους συναδέλφους μας σε όλες τις χώρες, στους διανοούμενους, στους πολίτες των χωρών της Ευρώπης και όλου του κόσμου που συμπαραστέκονται στον ελληνικό λαό, να υπερασπιστούν την πολιτιστική κληρονομιά και την ιστορική μνήμη. Η μοίρα των λαών της Ευρώπης είναι κοινή. Ηπολιτική των πακέτων λιτότητας και του αυταρχισμού, που διαλύει την Ελλάδα και τα μνημεία της, επιβάλλεται σταδιακά σε όλες τις χώρες της Ευρώπης. Ο πολιτισμός είναι ο κοινός μας τόπος και ο κοινός μας προορισμός. Αντισταθείτε! Υπερασπιστείτ την πολιτιστική κληρονομιά της Ελλάδας και τη δημοκρατία. ΕΥΡΩΠΗ χωρίς μνήμη, ΕΥΡΩΠΗ χωρίς μέλλον

Σας παρακαλούμε, εάν επιθυμείτε να λαμβάνετε χωρίς προβλήματα το newsletter του MOnuMENTA, να συμπληρώσετε τη διεύθυνσή info@monumenta.com στο βιβλίο
διευθύνσεων (address book) του προγράμματος που χρησιμοποιείτε. Στην περίπτωση που δεν επιθυμείτε να το λαμβάνετε μπορείτε να διαγραφείτε.

3. News from WAC Members

PROFESSOR CORNELIUS HOLTORF has been appointed to Professor at the Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden. His inaugural lecture entitled “Search the past – find the present. Qualities of archaeology and heritage in contemporary society”, is broadcast at the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKAa8hTd5H0

Full version published by Archaeopress, May 2012
http://www.archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/defaultAll.asp?series=Other+Books

THE AUSTRALIAN HISTORIC SHIPWRECK PROTECTION PROJECT
Six maritime archaeologists from Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Philippines New Zealand and the USA have been invited to participate in the Australian Historic Shipwreck Protection Project (AHSPP). Four are being supported to attend through sponsorship made available by the Archaeology Unit of the Nalanda Sriwijaya Centre in the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore.

A team of maritime archaeologists and others will excavate a significant colonial shipwreck Clarence, in Victoria's Port Phillip. The three-year Australian Historic Shipwreck Preservation Project (AHSPP) will investigate Australian wooden shipwrecks which have potential to tell us about historic connections, technological innovation and daily life in colonial Australia. This project is the first to have been endorsed by the Cooperative National Heritage Agenda (CNHA), the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) and the Heritage Chairs and Officials of Australia and New Zealand (HCOANZ).

Excavation work will start on the site on 16 April and continue for a month. It will involve maritime archaeologists and conservators from Monash University, UWA, the Australian National University, the Western Australia Museum, the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology, and many State and Territory museums and heritage authorities as well as students and volunteers.

The project is supported by the Australian Research Council.

The project website is available at: http://www.ahspp.org.au

Mark Staniforth, Chief Investigator
Adjunct Senior Research Fellow - Monash University
Mark.staniforth@monash.edu

PLEASE TELL US: WHAT ARE ARCHAEOLOGY'S BIGGEST SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGES?
This is posted on behalf of Keith Kintigh and others, listed below, working on a project to identify "Grand Challenges" in archaeology.

We invite your participation in an effort to identify "grand challenge" problems in archaeology. This confidential survey is a key component of a research project that will compile and publish a list of "grand challenge" problems in archaeology and develop an associated plan that would justify major US National Science Foundation (NSF) investments in computational infrastructure for archaeology. To participate, please go to:

http://tinyurl.com/ArchaeologyGrandChallenge

Professional archaeologists and archaeology graduate students are invited to contribute. The important questions don't have national boundaries and we want to include a broad spectrum of professional voices, including those outside the US. Please feel free to forward this request to other interested individuals. Participation is voluntary but you must be at least 18. The survey takes only 2-10 minutes. For additional information you may follow the link or contact Keith Kintigh (principal investigator; kintigh@asu.edu). We thank you in advance for your assistance.

Keith Kintigh, Arizona State University
Jeffrey Altschul, Statistical Research, Inc. & SRI Foundation
Ann Kinzig, Arizona State University
W. Fredrick Limp, University of Arkansas
William Michener, University of New Mexico
Jeremy Sabloff, Santa Fe Institute

4. New publications by WAC members

Erzsébet Jerem, Ferenc Redő and Vajk Szeverényi (eds): On the Road to Reconstructing the Past. Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. Proceedings of the 36th International Conference. Budapest 2008. (Archaeolingua 2011)

The volume comprises 54 papers, while the attached CD contains the full material (84 contributions) presented at the 2008 CAA conference in Budapest. The studies are grouped around four large topics: Remote Sensing and Arial Photography; Data Acquisition and Management; GIS and Intrasite Analysis and finally Virtual Reconstruction and Visualisation.

This collection, along with the framework in which it was produced, offers an image of the present relationship between archaeology and computer science. After the political transitions of the late 20th century, the main topic of Hungarian and, in general, Eastern European archaeology has been the gigantic task resulting from overdue infrastructural development: organizing large-scale preventive excavations, their implementation, documentation and presentation. The tasks could only be solved by means of recent advances in information technology. The organizers of the Budapest conference believed that this theme would draw attention to other more basic problems of archaeology, not only in Hungary, but in neighbouring and more easterly countries as well.

Language: English
Publication date: December 2011
Paperback
Extent: 428 pp with BW images
ISBN: 978-963-9911-30-7
Price: EUR 36

Large-scale excavations in Europe: Fieldwork strategies and scientific outcome. Proceedings of the International Conference, Esslingen am Neckar, Germany, 7th – 8th October 2008. Edited by Jorg Bofinger and Dirk Krausse. EAC Occasional Paper No. 6

During the last decades, the number of large-scale excavations has increased significantly. Such excavations became an important element of archaeological cultural heritage management. This kind of large-area fieldwork offers not only new data, finds and additional archaeological sites, but also gives new insights into the interpretation of archaeological landscapes as a whole. Our view of the results of older excavations and our ideas on settlement structures and land use in the past has changed ramatically. New patterns concerning human“off site activities”, e.g. field systems, or types of sites which were previously underrepresented, can only be detected by large-scale excavations. Linear projects especially, such as pipelines and motorways, offer the possibility to extrapolate and propose models of land use and environment on the regional and macro-regional scale.

Language: English, French and German
Publication date: March 2012
hardback
Extent: 208 pp + 185 illustrations
ISBN: 978-963-9911-29-1
Price: EUR 35

The Levantine Question: Post-Palaeolithic rock art in the Iberian Peninsula (bilingual). Edited by: José Julio García Arranz, Hipólito Collado Giraldo and George Nash

This volume draws together many of the World’s leading experts on this assemblage to answer some of the fundamental questions that this enigmatic art and its ancient people have left behind. The book is organized into sixteen thought-provoking chapters; each published in both English and Spanish and skillfully-crafted by the editors to produce an important bi-lingual statement on Levantine Rock Art.

Language: English and Spanish
Publication date: March 2012
Hardback
Extent: 428 pp with predominantly colour images
ISBN: 978-963-9911-31-4
Price: EUR 74.

5. Opportunities

5 (a) Calls for Papers

JOURNAL OF OPEN ARCHAEOLOGY DATA (JOAD)
JOAD was officially launched in March at the CAA conference in Southampton. The journal features peer reviewed data papers describing openly available archaeology datasets with high reuse potential. We are working with a number of specialist and institutional data repositories to ensure that the associated data are professionally archived, preserved, and openly available. Equally importantly, the data and the papers are citable, and reuse will be tracked.

JOAD is fully open access - the data papers and the data they describe are available free of charge to anyone anywhere in the world with an internet connection. Data papers are shorter than research articles, and typically quite quick to produce. The journal also operates a rapid publishing model - once your paper is through peer review it will be published immediately.

For more information, please visit the journal website:
http://openarchaeologydata.metajnl.com

5 (b) Forthcoming conferences and sessions

Call for sessions and papers for WAC-7 — ETHICS THEME
From its very beginnings, archaeology has been entangled in ethical dilemmas, fraught as it has been with nationalism, the expansion of capitalism, scientism, expert authority and Otherness at multiple scales of time and place. The ethically precarious position of archaeology has become ever more apparent as questions of accountability and social justice are raised by archaeologists and social scientists, as well as by those affected by archaeology.

WAC’s Committee on Ethics (CoE) invites proposals for sessions at WAC-7 on any of a broad range of ethics-related topics—whether these are issues confronting archaeology as a discipline, experienced by those affected by archaeology, or emerging within WAC as an organization. We encourage sessions that promote discussion or action on: the ethics of particular archaeological practices; problems of professionalism; or issues related to interpretation, access to data, or the democratization of archaeology, as a discipline, profession or craft.

Session topics might focus on relationships between archaeology and knowledge production or archaeology and transnational corporations; the ethics of CRM, cultural tourism, or underwater archaeology; the disjuncture between “world heritage” and local benefits; or connections between archaeology, human rights, social movements, and/or alternative political and economic models. What ethical issues are raised when we act as advocates for others? What does an archaeology that takes social justice as a core value look like? We also encourage topics that explore WAC as an organization—its role, structure, and claims of representation or advocacy.

In sum, the Committee on Ethics invites sessions and presentations that delve into a broad range of ethics-related issues facing WAC members and constituents. Since these sessions are likely to touch upon many WAC-7 themes, they may be cross-listed under more than one theme.

We especially encourage contributions to WAC-7 that represent diverse and interactive formats. These could be in the form of academic or grassroots sessions, whose participants describe and analyze approaches to ethical issues in particular locations and situations with the aim of locating good practices; forums, where the ethical implications of case studies are discussed; roundtable discussions on different philosophical or practical frameworks that might guide ethical action by WAC and its members; exhibitions, or other exploratory formats.

Please submit session or paper abstracts through the WAC-7 website. Once your abstract is accepted and you have registered for WAC-7, the Program Chair will forward this information to the appropriate theme organizers.

We welcome your ideas, questions, and/or feedback.

With thanks,
Alex and Julie

Alexander Herrera (Colombia) alherrer@uniandes.edu.co
Julie Hollowell (USA) jjh@indiana.edu
Theme Co-organisers and CoE co-chairs

ARCHAEOLOGY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
21-22 September 2012, Institute of Archaeology, UCL, London

Throughout the world, archaeological sites and associated museums and heritage parks have become essential economic engines. In the developing world archaeologists are often required by government mandate or indigenous political considerations to support and engage in development-oriented activities. Funding and permission to excavate are increasingly dependent on economic impact. However, there is currently little in the way of conceptual direction or best-practice research to guide practitioners on the best way to use archaeological resources for development and ensure that non-archaeologists recognise this potential value. This conference brings together experts of the highest level from archaeology, development and economics to address from a theoretical, ethical and practical point of view the increasing involvement of archaeologists in economic development.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/aed2012/

ICAHM international conference on archaeological heritage management
27-30 November 2012, Cuzco, Peru.

ICAHM (ICOMOS' International Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management) is pleased to announce its international conference on archaeological heritage management, to be held in historic Cuzco, Peru on November 27-30 of this year. Registration is now open. Abstracts should be submitted via the website.

http://www.icomos.org/icahm/cuzco_home.html

Among the worldwide issues for consideration at this meeting are local stakeholder claims on archaeological heritage; sustainable development and community sustainability; tourism pressures and site preservation; heritage and rights; challenges to the validity and value of the World Heritage List as it quickly approaches 1,000 inscribed sites; the World Heritage List decision-making process; impacts of war, civil disorder, and natural disasters on archaeological sites; technical advances in archaeological heritage management.

ICAHM will publish the best papers from this annual meeting in its publication series with Springer Press, “Multidisciplinary Perspectives in Archaeological Heritage Management”

SOCIETY FOR HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY ANNUAL CONFERENCE
9-10 January 2013, University of Leicester, UK

The Society for Historical Archaeology's next annual conference will be held outside North America for only the second time, at the University of Leicester, between 9th and 12th January 2013. The conference theme is 'globalization, immigration, transformation'.

The full Call for Papers (including information on paper and symposium submission) is now available for download at:
http://www.sha.org/documents/SHA2013ConferenceCallforPapers.pdf

Information about the conference may also be found at the official conference website: http://www.sha.org/meetings/annual_meetings.cfm

The SHA and the local conference organising committee here in Leicester are making full use of social media in the run up to, and during, the conference in January 2013.

As well as the conference website, you will be able to follow the latest news on the SHA blog: http://www.sha.org/blog

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SHA_org (#SHA2013)

and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SocietyforHistoricalArchaeology especially the conference event page: http://facebook.com/events/317346474993090

RISK MANAGEMENT IN MUSEUMS
25-26 June 2012, Ankara, Turkey

The Museum of Anatolian Civilisations (MAC) announces the International Conference on Risk Management in Museums. In recent years, natural and human-made disasters all over the world have had a devastating impact. Earthquakes, floods, fires, armed conflicts and civil unrests increasingly cause the loss of human lives and the destruction of infrastructure. Heritage protection in such emergency situations constitutes a great challenge. In Turkey, museum professionals are frequently confronted with floods and earthquakes, putting the country¹s cultural heritage at risk. As another rising threat, illicit traffic in art and archaeological objects constantly endangers museums¹ collections and activities, while depriving communities of their heritage and history.

In order to promote cross-sector exchanges in this regard, heritage and other professionals from Turkey and the European Union will come together to discuss the following topics: Museum security, risk management in museums, seismic protection of museums and their collections, protection of movable heritage in the case of natural and human-made disaster, and fight against illicit traffic in cultural goods.

The International Conference will be followed by a three-day Training programme on risk management in museums organised by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), MAC, and FOCUH. The training aims to instruct eighteen selected museum professionals from Ankara, Istanbul and several European countries in the field of risk preparedness and prevention against disasters and illicit traffic.

For more information about the conference, and for registration, please contact:
riskmanagement.mac@gmail.com

5 (c) Jobs

KIMBERLEY FOUNDATION IAN POTTER CHAIR IN ROCK ART (REF: 4013)
School Of Social And Cultural Studies (Archaeology) And Centre For Rock Art Research And Management

Closing date: Friday, 29 June 2012

Applications are invited for a tenurable appointment to the newly created Kimberley Foundation Ian Potter Chair in Rock Art in the School of Social and Cultural Studies and the Centre for Rock Art Research and Management within the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at The University of Western Australia.

The University is seeking to appoint a senior scholar to lead and develop rock art research in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The position is primarily a research role and the person will be responsible for developing integrated research programs in the Centre for Rock Art Research and Management, and for ensuring appropriate participation and collaboration with traditional owners. The principal focus of this research will advance understanding of the duration, nature and context of Indigenous cultural heritage in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

For further information regarding the position please contact Professor Jane Balme, Associate Dean (Research), Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences on (08) 6488 3825 or email jane.balme@uwa.edu.au. Alternatively contact Professor Ian Saunders, Head of the School of Social and Cultural Studies, on (08) 6488 7248 or email ian.saunders@uwa.edu.au.

An attractive remuneration package that includes a Winthrop Professorial (Level E) salary is offered. Benefits include generous leave provisions, superannuation and relocation assistance (if applicable) for the appointee and dependants.

The Information for Candidates brochure which includes details to lodge your application may be found via a link at http://jobs.uwa.edu.au/ or at
https://www.his.admin.uwa.edu.au/Advertising/4013CandidateInformation.pdf or by contacting Ms Toni Pilgrim, Human Resources, email toni.pilgrim@uwa.edu.au.

6. Obituaries

ARIEL WALTER GONZÁLEZ (1965- 2011)
Ariel González was a specialist in international law who joined Argentina’s Foreign Service in 1994 and later became a member of the nation’s Permanent Delegation before UNESCO. In this context he provided extraordinary contributions to the negotiation and ratification of many international conventions and declarations, such as the Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights (1997), the Declaration on Cultural Diversity (2001), the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (2001), the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003), and the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005).

Ariel´s latest positions were at the Office of the Legal Advisor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Argentinean Embassy in Vienna, but he continued collaborating with UNESCO on many fronts. One of the most challenging concerned the complex legal aspects associated with the nomination of the Qhapaq Ñan, the Inca road network, for the World Heritage list. The Qhapaq Ñan stretches along the Andes Mountains of Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, and the nomination is being presented jointly by all those nations.

I met and worked with Ariel in the context of the negotiations of the UNESCO Underwater Cultural Heritage convention. Besides his professional brilliance, he always had the most generous disposition to assist and collaborate with whoever sought his advice. After exhausting working days Ariel was still prepared to continue thinking, writing, providing a constructive idea, negotiating, or do whatever was necessary in search of a consensus for the protection of the heritage.

Ariel´s mother recently reminded us that we all die, but not all of us live, and that Ariel was not afraid of dying but instead was afraid of living without making a difference. Well Ariel, dear friend, you can certainly rest in peace. Your short life has been absolutely extraordinary and you will always be remembered for an amazing number of contributions to cultural heritage protection and to many other fields. It has been a great privilege to know you.

Dolores Elkin
CONICET and Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano
Argentina

7. News from other archaeological associations         
    (used with permission)

7 (a)  SALON

Issue 274, March 2012

Huge slave cemetery found on St Helena
A team of archaeologists from Bristol University has found a huge burial ground containing the remains of an estimated 5,000 slaves on the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena.

The excavation is taking place in advance of the construction of a new airport on the island, which lies 1,168 miles (1,870km) off the coast of south-west Africa and is only accessible by sea for the time being. The island’s isolation was the reason why it was chosen for the exile of Napoleon Bonaparte after he was captured in July 1815. He died there in 1821, and St Helena was subsequently used as a landing place for slaves rescued from the ships of slave traders during the Royal Navy’s efforts to suppress the illegal slave trade between 1840 and 1872. Records show that some 26,000 freed slaves were brought to hospitals and refugee camps on the island, but the size of the newly discovered cemetery indicates the high mortality rate amongst those who had been held captive in appalling conditions before they were rescued.

Most of those who died were buried in shallow graves. Bristol University’s Andrew Pearson, the Director of the project, said that 83 per cent of the burials excavated so far were of children, teenagers or young adults; most will have died of dehydration, dysentery and smallpox, which leave no pathological trace, but bone evidence suggests that scurvy was widespread, while some of the victims had suffered traumatic violence and two adolescents appear to have been shot. Despite being stripped of possessions at the time of their enslavement, a few had managed to retain beads and bracelets, and a number had metal tags identifying the slaves by name or number. The human remains are to be re-interred on St Helena, but some of the artefacts will be exhibited at Liverpool’s International Slavery Museum in 2013.

Issue 279, June 2012-06-06

Earliest musical instruments in Europe
Recently we learned about the oldest stringed instrument yet found in western Europe — in the form of a 2,300-year-old lyre bridge from Skye’s High Pasture Cave — and now we have a new date for Europe’s earliest surviving musical instruments. Teams from Oxford and Tübingen universities have used new carbon-dating techniques to produce dates of around 40,000 BC for flutes made from bird bones and mammoth ivory excavated at Geißenklösterle Cave, in the Swabian Jura region of southern Germany. This key site is widely believed to have been occupied by some of the first modern humans to arrive in Europe, around 42,000 to 43,000 years ago.

In a paper published in the Journal of Human Evolution, Professor Tom Higham and his team at Oxford University describe the use of an improved ultrafiltration method designed to remove contamination from collagen preserved in the bones and thus provide a more accurate date. The new dates are the earliest so far for the Aurignacian, pre-dating equivalent sites in Italy and France and suggesting that the Danube Valley is a plausible homeland for the Aurignacian, with the Swabian caves producing the earliest record of technological and artistic innovations that are characteristic of this period. The results also indicate that modern humans entered the Upper Danube region before the extremely cold climatic phase of around 39,000 to 40,000 years ago. Previously, researchers had argued that modern humans initially migrated up the Danube immediately after this event.

Lead author Professor Higham from Oxford University said: ‘High-resolution dating of this kind is essential for establishing a reliable chronology for testing ideas to help explain the expansion of modern humans into Europe, and the processes that led to the wide range of cultural innovations, including the advent of figurative art and music.’

Professor Nick Conard, of Tübingen University and excavator at the site, said: ‘These results are consistent with a hypothesis we made several years ago that the Danube River was a key corridor for the movement of humans and technological innovations into central Europe between 40,000 and 45,000 years ago. Geißenklösterle is one of several caves in the region that has produced important examples of personal ornaments, figurative art, mythical imagery and musical instruments.’

7 (b) Prehistoric Society of Zimbabwe Newsletter

Issue 147, April 2012

Zimbabwe's sacred 'Hanging Tree' is felled

Witnesses said the 200-year-old Msasa tree, declared a historic site and national monument, fell after it was hit by a workers' truck and collapsed onto one of its strong branches in the middle of the street. Some of those workers then fled, believing it a sacred omen of “bad things to come.”

A n'anga, known in the West as a witchdoctor, performed rites over the split trunk and gnarled branches the next day demanding homage be paid and forgiveness sought at Nehanda's grave site north of Harare for the destruction of the tree. Crowds gathered at the felled tree to take pieces of its billowing green leaves, splinters and bark.

The fall of the tree came on the same day that President Robert Mugabe marked the country's national tree planting and reforestation campaign by planting a tree in the second city of Bulawayo. It also coincided with the annual congress of Zanu-PF. “It's got to be a sign something big is going to happen,” street vendor Mathias Vinyu told The Associated Press of the tree fall. The Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association said the tree represented “powerful forces” in the nation's social and political life. Its toppling over is believed to signal the dawn of a new era of truth on past injustices, including Nehanda's execution, the group said. The indigenous African tree, or Brachystegia speciformis, was commemorated on a Zimbabwe postage stamp in 1996 and political rallies have often been held there. Historians, however, have cast doubt it was ever used for hangings.

Nehanda was a tribal spirit medium believed to have had immense powers. She is upheld by highly superstitious Zimbabweans as the country's greatest symbol of black resistance to colonial rule. Since independence in 1980, Nehanda has been revered with statues erected in the parliament house and main government buildings, and streets have been named after her in all of Zimbabwe's cities and towns. Colonial records show she was executed for the 1897 killing of administrator Henry Pollard, known for his brutality toward blacks.

Zimbabwe historian Rob Burrett told The Associated Press that records indicated she was actually hanged on gallows at a prison where the main Harare Central Police Station stands today. But a myth built up before independence and persisted that the colonial court presided over by “Hanging Judge” John Watermeyer sent Nehanda and those he condemned to death to the distinctive tree, Burrett said. At that time the tree was on the outskirts of the small colonial settlement known as Salisbury in the British territory of Rhodesia that later became Harare, Zimbabwe's sprawling capital of two million inhabitants.

“It is a great urban myth that has grown over time. The Zimbabwean nationalist version has been superimposed on earlier white stories,” he said. Successive city authorities resisted calls for the tree - seen as a traffic hazard - to be removed from a central island in the boulevard leading past the colonial style Harare Sports Club and the State House used as offices by Mugabe. The tree came down as workers were repaving the boulevard and a vehicle bumped into the base. Burrett said the tree was scarred at the base by traffic accidents and became diseased and rotten. “But it is really sad it has now gone,” he said.

Next Issue: TBA

Marcus Brittain (mb654@cam.ac.uk) and Marisol Rodriguez Miranda (marirodz@gmail.com)