eNewsletters

Volume 24 October 2008

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1. Executive News

Andree Rosenfeld
We regret the passing of Dr Andree Rosenfeld last Thursday, at the age of 74 years.  Dr Rosenfeld was world renowned rock art researcher.

After a number of years at the Institute of Archaeology in London, Dr Rosenfeld moved to Australia, where she taught at the Australian National University for around 20 years. Her past students include Dr Jo MacDonald, Dr Kelvin Officer and Professor Paul Tacon.

Dr Rosenfeld’s publications include the seminal work Palaeolithic Cave Art (co-authored by Peter Ucko) and Early Man in North Queensland: art and archaeology in the Laura area (with David Horton and John Winter) and Rock Art Conservation in Australia (the book she enjoyed writing the most).  Her most recent research was on rock art in Central Australia.

Dr Rosenfeld moved to rural Queensland on her retirement, and became a skilled and productive artisan designing and producing woven textiles and needlework. She was active and respected in her new community and earlier this year she organised an exhibition of locally produced textiles.

Dr Rosenfeld was a rigorous and generous scholar, and a lovely, gentle person.  She will be much missed. To be advised of events and receive updates on functions in her honour, friends and well-wishers should email contact details to andree.rosenfeld@gmail.com

Dr Rosenfeld left one son, Bill and a brother, Jean.

WAC Website

There is a new section on the WAC website called ‘Jobs’.  We would like to encourage people to advertise archaeological employment on this site.  Job advertisements should be sent to the WAC Secretary, Ines Domingo Sanz (Ines.Domingo@uv.es).

WAC List

The WAC list has well over 2,000 members.  Up until very recently, this list was moderated only for SPAM, or emails that are clearly abusive.

Recently the Executive has received numerous complaints about the tone and content of some postings to the list. The Australian Archaeology list, which was sponsored by the Australian National University, was terminated on 24th September, 2008, after the threat of legal action concerning posts to the list.  This had been a major venue for the discussion of Australian archaeology, and the loss of this list is a blow to the Australian archaeological community.

We need to be careful that we do not allow WAC or Flinders University, which supports the WAC list, to be open to lawsuits by people or organizations who believe that WAC members are making libelous statements.  Since this is a moderated list, once such statements are published, either WAC  (or the University) becomes accountable for them. The Executive has been seeking legal advice on how to promote open discussion while avoiding becoming subject to libel laws. 

The Executive decided to move policy discussions to the WAC Forums, which are only open to members, and, as such, take place in an environment with a different legal status to that of the WAC list, which is open to both members and non-members. We also felt it was inappropriate for WAC policy to be shaped by the voices of people who are not members. The WAC list is a public list and includes several hundred people who are not current members of WAC, or even past members. Our reasoning behind this, and a number of position statements, will be posted on the WAC Policy Forum: ‘Use of the WAC List’.  Discussion threads to facilitate member comment will accompany these positions statements.

WAC Policy Forums

The Executive is in the process of establishing WAC Policy Forums to facilitate member discussion of key policy issues.  These forums will have a range of position statements on important policy issues, and will accompanied by discussion threads. The discussion threads will not be moderated, but there will be a limit to the number of posts by an individual member. After a suitable period, WAC members will be asked to give their opinions on key policy issues.  The WAC Executive and Council will use the results of these opinion polls to inform decision-making.

The Executive is currently soliciting expressions of interests for position statements on the following:

  • Use of the WAC List.
  • External Engagement (including sponsorship).
  • Archaeologists and Conflict.

If you are interested in preparing a position statement on any of the above issues, please send an abstract of between 100-250 words to the WAC Secretary, Ines Domingo Sanz (Ines.Domingo@uv.es).

The Executive hopes that the position statements, and associated background materials, on WAC Policy Fora will elicit robust discussions regarding key issues in WAC policy. Thread discussions, and an opinion poll taken on questions arising from these discussions, will be used to inform the development of WAC’s policies and processes on this matter.

The Executive would like to thank the various members of WAC who are contributing their time in a voluntary capacity to developing the different aspects of this process, especially the building of the members-only section of the WAC web site.  We would particularly like to thank Michael Ashley, Akira Matsuda, Timo Bishop, Paul Saeki and Ines Domingo Sanz.

The Executive hopes to have the first WAC Policy Forums up and running by early November. 

Regards,

Claire Smith, for the Executive

2. News from WAC Members

The Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site, Co. Meath, Ireland:
An emerging Research Framework

The Bend of the Boyne, or Brú na Bóinne, is internationally renowned for its elaborate Neolithic passage tombs, containing the largest assemblage of megalithic art in Europe. Its universal value was recognized in 1993 when it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, only one of three on the island of Ireland. A research framework is currently being drafted for the Brú na Bóinne WHS which aims to re-assess key priorities and examine where future research should be directed.

A significant amount of research has already been carried out in Brú na Bóinne and includes the large-scale excavation at the megalithic complexes of Newgrange and Knowth, field walking programmes, and a survey of the later, historic landscapes of the WHS. This rich tradition continues today, incorporating ever more sophisticated geophysical techniques and airborne laser scanning technology that can open up much larger areas for investigation. Given the huge potential of projects like these, the time has come to assess what the priorities should be for the next major phase of archaeological research within the World Heritage Site and how such information can be communicated to the public.

For more information contact Dr. Jessica Smyth (jsmyth@heritagecouncil.ie) or see www.heritagecouncil.ie/archaeology/bru_na_boinne/index.html.

Tom King has provided a summary of the court finding in Comanche Nation v. United States of America. The U.S. Army planned a project to be constructed within view of Medicine Bluffs, a site of considerable cultural and religious importance to the Comanche.  Although the Army knew that the Bluffs were culturally significant to the Comanche, they only did archaeological surve
ys and did not effectively consult the Comanche, assuming that there would be no problems as long as they didn’t build ON the Bluffs. The US District Court observed that the regulations implementing Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act require agencies to address all kinds of impacts, including visual ones, and to consult with tribes early in and throughout the planning process. All construction has been halted until further court notice. 

Obituary:  Georgi Pavlov Kitov

Lolita Nikolova from Rijeka, Croatia has advised of the untimely death of her friend and mentor, Bulgarian archaeologist Georgi Kitov, who passed away near Starosei in Bulgaria on 14 September, 2008. Georgi is best known for his research on Thracian tombs.

3. New publications by WAC members

Nancy White, from the University of South Florida (Tampa, USA), has just published Archaeology for Dummies, a popular book in the well-known “Dummies” series. Her goal was to bring the excitement of archaeology and its methods and findings to the public, as well as to demonstrate archaeology’s controversies and real relevance to modern world concerns, from heritage to environment. White says that attending four WAC meetings over the years helped immensely to broaden her perspectives. The book is useful as an introduction to our profession or to explain to non-professionals what archaeology is all about. It is widely available in book stores and online, including on the Wiley Publishing website, at:

http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesTitle/productCd-047033732X.html

Tom King has just submitted the manuscript entitled Unprotected Heritage to Left Coast Press for publication. The book investigates how the practices of environmental impact assessment (EIA) and cultural resource management (CRM) in the U.S. have become corrupted over the last several decades by conflicts of interest that make any sort of balanced assessment of development impacts on the natural and cultural environment virtually impossible. The last chapter proposes actions that a new administration in Washington DC could take to improve the situation.

4. News Items

Society for American Archaeology Heritage Values Interest Group Established

The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) has added Heritage Values to its Interest Group repertoire.  Interest Groups provide society members the opportunity to exchange information and ideas on specific topics within the field of archaeology.

The inaugural gathering of the Heritage Values Interest Group will be during the SAA 74th Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, USA from April 22-26, 2009.  The official ‘Call for Participation’ in addition to further information on the SAA Heritage Values Interest Group (objective, activities, membership, etc.) and the larger initiative from which it derives is printed in the September issue of ‘The SAA Archaeological Record.’  Some of this information already is included on the SAA website at:

The Heritage Values Interest Group Statement of Purpose follows:

The Heritage Values Interest Group is concerned with the ways in which the past is valued in, and by, contemporary society.  A principal objective is to advance understanding regarding the complex concept of heritage and its burgeoning and significant role in the current discipline and practice of archaeology.  As such, it endeavours to provide an open forum for exchange and dialogue that acknowledges the multiplicity of the past in contemporaneous representations of material cultures and landscapes.

The Heritage Values Interest Group seeks to provide an environment for SAA members to explore the ways in which heritage is constructed and construed and to what extent that composition coheres with or contradicts value systems ingrained in diverse discourses, such as national paradigms, international standards, codes of ethics, management schemes, collective memory, and shared or dissonant identities.  It therefore explores the multi-faceted meanings of the past, probes the ensuing derivation and ascription of value, and embraces international and interdisciplinary lines of inquiry.
 
Please send questions, queries, or requests for further information to the Heritage Values Interest Group Chair, Hilary Soderland, at hsoderland@cantab.net.

Early Man, Mexico

The controversial early man sites from the Valsequillo region, State of Puebla, east-central Mexico were discussed in a series of papers presented October 6 at the Harold E. Malde Memorial session, Geological Society of America Annual Meetings, Houston Texas.  Malde was geologist on the Valsequillo Project, and his involvement with it spanned 40 years (1964 – 2004). Virginia Steen-McIntyre gave the history of the project for that time, concentrating on the Hueyatlaco site, the youngest of four and the one with the thickest sedimentary cover. The sites could not be dated by 14C because all bones were permineralized and no datable carbon remained.

Uranium-series dates for two of the sites – a fragment of tooth from a butchered mastodon at El Horno, associated with unifacial tools (greater than 280,000 years), and an articulated camel pelvis associated with bifacial tools at Hueyatlaco (ca 245,000 years) were supplemented with fission-track dates on zircon phenocrysts from two overlying volcanic layers (Hueyatlaco ash, Tetela brown mud pumice) and tephra hydration dating (1969 – 1973). All agreed that the sites were roughly a quarter-million years old.

At the Houston session, Sam VanLandingham presented diatom evidence from close to 150 sediment samples, many collected at Hueyatlaco, indicating that the Hueyatlaco sedimentary section, from top to bottom, is Sangamon Interglacial and older in age (greater than 80,000 years). Bifacial tools from a series of buried stream channels are of Sangamon Interglacial age [bifacial tools have now been found in the African Middle Stone Age sediments (250,000 – 300,000 years) associated with archaic Homo sapiens].  Unifacial tools from older, relatively flat-lying sediments are Illinoian Glacial (220,000 – 430,000 years). Sterile Unit J at the base of the archaeological section is Yarmouthian Interglacial (greater than 430,000 years). Approximately two metres lower at the site, as determined by additional excavation in 2004, is the Xalnene tuff/Toluquilla ash of Silvia González’ “Footprints” site. It has reverse magnetic polarity and must be at least 790,000 years old (the Brunhes-Matuyama geomagnetic reversal).

Joe Liddicoat presented evidence for the paleomagnetism of the Hueyatlaco ash, which overlies (is younger than) the artifact-bearing beds – normal polarity, placing it in the Brunhes Normal Chron (present to 780,000 years). Mike Waters asserted that all the Hueyatlaco artifacts occur in a much younger stream channel inset into the older, dated beds. This ignores the evidence that: (1) The quarter-million-year-old uranium-series dates were for butchered animals, especially evident for the El Horno site, where the mastodon skeleton itself becomes an artifact of sorts; (2) The same set of Sangamon-age diatoms occurs in samples on both sides of the “inset” contact and within a metre of each other; and (3) All the beds exposed at Hueyatlaco are Sangamon Interglacial in age or older (older than 80,000 years).

Silvia González’ “Footprint” site was also discussed.  Josh Feinberg po
inted out that the Xalnene tuff/Toluquilla ash (where the footprints are found) has reverse magnetic polarity and must be older than the last geomagnetic reversal (the Brunhes-Matuyama, approximately 790,000 years ago). Other evidence indicates that the marks were not made by human feet. Harald Böhnel, representing the González group, agreed that the tuff is reversely polarized. They believe the footprints are real and that the earlier reverse magnetism may be due to the Laschamp geomagnetic event approximately 42,000 years ago.

For more information visit Virginia Steen-McIntyre’s website
http://www.valsequilloclassic.net/nuke/

The Getty Conservation Institute is pleased to announce the launch of the GCI Bulletin, the Institute’s new electronic bulletin. It will complement the GCI’s print newsletter, Conservation. Published six times a year, the GCI Bulletin offers updates on our events, science and field projects, educational initiatives, and publications and videos.

Sign up for the GCI Bulletin now by going to: http://www.getty.edu/subscribe/gci_bulletin/index.html

New From Left Coast Press, Inc. WAC members receive a 20% discount on hardcovers and a 30% discount on paperbacks (insert discount code L187 at checkout)

Left Coast Press is pleased to announce that A Fearsome Heritage (in the WAC One World Archaeology series) has been shortlisted for the British Archaeological Awards Best Scholarly Archaeological Book!  The British Archaeological Awards are a showcase for the best in British archaeology and a central event in the archaeological calendar. Established in 1976, they have grown to encompass fourteen Awards, covering every aspect of British archaeology.

A Fearsome Heritage:  Diverse Legacies of the Cold War
John Schofield and Wayne Cocroft, eds
Published March 2007, 336 pages, $79.00 Hardcover
ISBN:  978-1-59874-258-9

From massive nuclear test sites to the more subtle material realities of everyday life, the influence of the Cold War on modern culture has been profound and global. Fearsome Legacies unites innovative work on the interpretation and management of Cold War heritage from fields including archaeology, history, art and architecture, and cultural studies.

From the Handbooks in Archaeology Series:
Handbook of Landscape Archaeology
Edited by Bruno David and Julian Thomas
JUST RELEASED! 800 Pages
In this volume, for the first time, over 80 archaeologists from three continents attempt a comprehensive definition of the ideas and practices of landscape archaeology, covering the theoretical and the practical, the research and conservation, and encasing the term in a global framework. As a basic reference volume for landscape archaeology, this volume will be the benchmark for decades to come.

From the Archaeology and Indigenous Peoples Series:
Kennewick Man: Perspectives on the Ancient One
Edited by Heather Burke, Claire Smith, Dorothy Lippert, Joe Watkins, and Larry Zimmerman
COMING SOON! 320 Pages
Kennewick Man, known as the Ancient One to Native Americans, has been the lightning rod for conflict between archaeologists and indigenous peoples in the United States. In this volume, we hear from the many sides of this issue—archaeologists, tribal leaders, and others—as well as views from the international community. The wider implications of the case and its resolution are explored. Comparisons are made to similar cases in other countries and how they have been handled.

From the One World Archaeology Series:
Landscapes of Clearance: Archaeological and Anthropological Perspectives
Edited by Angèle Smith and Amy Gazin-Schwartz
JUST RELEASED! 304 Pages
This volume examines landscapes that have been cleared of inhabitants—for economic, environmental, or socio-political reasons, by choice or by force– and the social impacts of clearance on their populations. Acts of resistance and revitalization are also explored, demonstrating the social and political meaning of specific landscapes to individuals, groups, and nations, and how they help shape cultural identity and ideology.

Managing Archaeological Resources: Global Context, National Programs, Local Actions
Edited by Francis P McManamon, Andrew Stout, and Jodi A Barnes
JUST RELEASED! 320 Pages
In a snapshot of 21st century archaeological resource management as a global enterprise, these 25 contributors show the range of activities, issues, and solutions undertaken by contemporary managers of heritage sites around the world. They show how the linkages between global archaeology and funding organizations, national policies, practices, and ideologies, and local populations and their cultural and economic interests foster complexity of the issues at all levels.

Underwater and Maritime Archaeology in Latin America and the Caribbean
Edited by Margaret E. Leshikar-Denton and Pilar Luna Erreguerena
COMING in OCTOBER! 320 Pages
ISBN:  978-1-59874-262-6
The waters of Latin America and the Caribbean are rich with archaeological sites, including coastal settlements, defensive forts, freshwater sources, fishing-related activities, navigational aids, anchorages, harbours, ports, shipbuilding sites, shipwrecks and survivor camps.  This groundbreaking book documents the emerging research interests of maritime archaeologists in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Archaeologies of Placemaking: Monuments, Memories, and Engagement in Native North America
Edited by Patricia E. Rubertone
COMING in OCTOBER! 288 Pages
ISBN: 978-1-59874-155-1
This collection of original essays explores the tensions between prevailing regional and national versions of Indigenous pasts created, reified, and disseminated through monuments, and Indigenous peoples’ memories and experiences of place. The contributors ask critical questions about historic preservation and commemoration methods used by modern societies and their impact on the perception and identity of the people they supposedly remember, who are generally not consulted in the commemoration process. They discuss dichotomies of history and memory, place and displacement, public spectacle and private engagement, and reconciliation and re-appropriation of the heritage of indigenous people shown in these monuments.

This is a sampling of WAC-sponsored titles.  To order or for more information on additional WAC-sponsored titles, visit our website at:
http://www.lcoastpress.com
For more information, contact Caryn Berg at archaeology@LCoastPress.com

Join Left Coast Press online at:
http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Left-Coast-Press-Inc/26366019052?ref=ts 

5. Excerpts from other archaeological associations’ newsletters (used with
permission)

(a)  SALON

Salon 196: 15 September 2008
Editor: Christopher Catling

UNESCO threatens to put Stonehenge on its endangered list

UNESCO, the cultural agency that oversees World Heritage Sites, is calling on the UK Government to take urgent action to protect seven sites that it considers to be endangered by development, including Stonehenge, Edinburgh’s Old Town, Neolithic Orkney, Georgian Bath and the Tower of London. UNESCO inspectors are concerned about new buildings in London and Bath that are so tall and prominent that they will damage the appearance of the World Heritage Sites, at the decades-long failure to tackle the visitor centre and roads problems at Stonehenge, and at the proposed construction of a wind farm which threatens Neolithic sites on Orkney. UNESCO’s world heritage committee has also said that it ‘deeply regrets’ the decision by Edinburgh City Council to site a hotel, housing and offices next to the Royal Mile; in the newly released minutes of the committee’s annual meeting held in Quebec in July, it also accuses the UK of breaching world heritage site guidelines by failing to warn it in advance about the Edinburgh scheme.

Overall UNESCO is critical of the UK’s failure to put ‘buffer zones’ in place around World Heritage Sites to protect their character and restrict damaging development; in several cases it says the sites lack a ‘skyline study’ that would enable planners to assess development proposals and it accuses the UK of a ‘lack of clarity’ in managing the conflicts between conservation and development.

Comment on the UNESCO report

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which has lead responsibility for protecting the UK’s twenty-seven World Heritage Sites, says that work is under way to resolve a number of the problems highlighted in the UNESCO report and cites this autumn’s heritage protection bill as evidence of the Government’s intention to strengthen the conservation of World Heritage Sites by giving them the statutory status that they currently lack.

UNESCO calls on UK Government to ratify Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention

The UK National Commission for UNESCO has issued a statement calling on the UK Government to take a proactive and positive policy approach towards ratifying the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, saying that there are no legal grounds to the Government’s objections to the convention.

The Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage is a comprehensive international instrument for ensuring the protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage beyond territorial waters: ‘Underwater Cultural Heritage’ is defined as ‘all traces of human existence having a cultural, historical or archaeological character, which have been partially or totally underwater periodically or continuously for at least 100 years’.

The statement from the UNESCO committee says that ‘the seas from the limit of the UK’s territorial waters to the edge of its Continental Shelf contain some of the world’s richest underwater cultural heritage, including drowned prehistoric terrestrial landscapes, some of the oldest shipwreck losses in the world, vessels and aircraft from the wars of the 20th century and human remains of lost civilian and military personnel. Such heritage is subject to constant, and increasing, threat of loss and degradation, both natural and manmade.’

The committee accepts that the UK Government has made a commitment to respect the Convention’s principles and abide by the rules laid out in its Annex 2, which set internationally accepted standards for the management of the underwater cultural heritage but believes that Government should adopt ‘a more positive policy towards the Convention; and by so doing demonstrate international leadership, and to send a strong and positive signal to the international community of its commitment to concerted international effort to protect our rich, yet fragile, underwater patrimony for future generations’.

To promote the cause of the Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention, UNESCO has made a 12-minute documentary film, which can be viewed on the UNESCO website.

Salon 195: 1 September 2008
   
How many hands painted Lascaux caves?

Norman Hammond reports in The Times that research is under way to analyse the pigments used to create the Lascaux cave paintings to distinguish different combinations of minerals and ground bone and antler, and thus to try and work out how many painting episodes there were, and how many different artists might have been involved.

The project is described in detail in Archaeometry 50 (516—34), in which Céline Chadefaux and her colleagues describe the challenge of sorting out groupings of animals from the many overlapping images and of answering the questions of what was painted when and what was contemporary with what.

They have already worked out that the presence of ground antler in the paint mix is an indicator of one group of paintings that were created contemporaneously, and is thus ‘a tracer of a specific ornamentation phase of the cave’.

Green beads herald the agricultural revolution

A group of Israeli scientists is arguing that the fashion for jewellery made of green beads coincides with the beginning of agriculture. Archaeologist Daniella Bar-Yosef Mayer, of the University of Haifa in Israel, and geologist Naomi Porat, of the Geological Survey of Israel in Jerusalem, say that beads in white, red, yellow, brown and black colours had been used earlier by hunter-gatherers; the occurrence of green beads is directly related to the onset of agriculture in the region 11,000 years ago. These ancient farmers also travelled greater distances — sometimes to sources located more than 100 kilometres away — to obtain green stone for their beads.
 
Milk processing dated to 6000 BC

Cattle, sheep and goats had already been domesticated by the eighth millennium BC but the earliest evidence for milk processing to make butter, yogurt, ghee and cheese previously came from the fifth millennium. Now a team led by Richard Evershed, of the University of Bristol, has found evidence for milk processing as far back as the seventh millennium BC in pottery from the Near East and the Balkans, which have been tested for the presence of the characteristic lipids that result from milk processing and that survive because they are hydrophobic, and so do not dissolve in water. Different dairy substances leave a different lipid signature.

Evershed and his colleagues found the biggest concentration of residues in sites in Anatolia (modern Turkey), which lies outside the traditional Fertile Crescent region where agriculture first developed. The team also found a strong correlation between the number of cattle bones present at a site and the prevalence of milk residues. Writing in the 7 August issue of Nature, Evershed said that the Sea of Marmara region of Anatolia had conditions that were just right for grazing cattle.

Ships’ logs studied for climate data

Thousands of Royal Navy logbooks dating from the seventeenth century onwards are being studied as a source of data on long-term climate trends. Dr Sam Willis, a maritime historian affiliated to Exeter University’s Centre for Maritime Historical Studies, says that logs were carried by every ship and contain daily records of air pressure, wind strength, air and sea temperature and other weather observations. British archives contain more than 100,000 Royal Navy logbooks from the period 1670 to 1850 alone. Most of the earlier documents contain verbal descriptions of weather rather than numerical data, but Dr Dennis Wheeler, a Sunderland University geographer, has found from a preliminary survey of some 6,000 l
ogs that Royal Navy officers recorded weather in consistent language that can be turned into numerical values for wind strength and direction, temperature and rainfall. The information will ultimately contribute to the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set, a global database maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a US government agency.

(b)  ICOMOS Australia

Australia ICOMOS E-Mail News No. 359

FORUM UNESCO – UNIVERSITY AND HERITAGE – HANOI 2009

The World Heritage Centre of UNESCO, Hanoi People’s Committee, Hanoi University of Architecture (HAU), the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and the Organizing Committee are pleased to announce the forthcoming 12th FUUH International Seminar to be held from 5 to 10 April 2009 at the National Convention Center (NCC) in Hanoi, Republic of Viet Nam, on the following theme:

“HISTORIC URBAN LANDSCAPES: A NEW CONCEPT? A NEW CATEGORY OF WORLD HERITAGE SITES?”

The CALL FOR PAPERS and all relevant information is available on the seminar web:

http://universityandheritage.net/hanoi_seminar_2009

For further information, please contact with the seminar secretary:
2009seminar@fuuh.upv.es.

US/ICOMOS Press Release – US Preservationist Elected President of ICOMOS

October 4, 2008, Québec, Canada. Gustavo F. Araoz, AIA, was elected President of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) during the organization’s 16th General Assembly and International Scientific Colloquium, held in Quebec City, Canada, from September 29 to October 4, 2008. Mr. Araoz currently serves as Executive Director of the United States Committee for ICOMOS (US/ICOMOS), headquartered in Washington, DC. He is the seventh President of ICOMOS, and the first American ever elected to this office. ICOMOS was founded in 1965 to create an international network of professionals and supporters of heritage conservation and has grown to become the pre-eminent global historic preservation organization.

Mr. Araoz ran on a platform calling for broader and more active participation by the 120 national ICOMOS committees globally, greater engagement of young professionals, and improved institutional effectiveness, efficiency and transparency.  In sum, Mr. Araoz envisions an ICOMOS that is a universally accessible stage for the open exchange of ideas, a major source for the creation and spread of knowledge, a venue for cross-border cooperation, an alert steward of cultural heritage places everywhere, and, foremost, the undisputed world authority in heritage conservation.

Born in Cuba, Mr. Araoz is a preservation architect by training. His career combines professional practice, academia, and institutional management. He has served as Executive Director of the United StatesCommittee of ICOMOS since 1995. Since 2002, he has served as International Vice President of ICOMOS, spearheading organizational reforms and advocating greater engagement of ICOMOS members worldwide. He has taught at several universities in the US, including the University of Pennsylvania.  He has been visiting professor at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, the Catholic University of Salta in Argentina, and at CICOP in Tenerife and Buenos Aires.

 Australia ICOMOS E-Mail News No. 358

2009 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation – call for entries

Entries are now being accepted for the 2009 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation. The awards programme, in its tenth year, recognizes the achievement of individuals and organizations within the private sector, and public-private initiatives, in successfully restoring structures of heritage value in the Asia-Pacific region. The deadline for receipt of materials is 31 March 2009.

For further information, visit http://www.unescobkk.org/index.php?id=8111.

Call for Submissions – UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions

In its 2007 policy New Directions for the Arts, the Australian Government committed to ratify and give effect to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (the Convention).

The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (the Department) is the lead agency in the ratification process for the Convention. The Department is seeking views from arts, culture, Indigenous, education and heritage organisations and other relevant stakeholders on the likely implications of Australia’s accession to the Convention. Your written submission is invited, in relation to –

1.      Significant policy, resourcing or infrastructure implications that would affect your activities under the Convention

2.      Opportunities created, or constraints imposed by, the Convention on your organisation’s (or your individual) ability to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions, and

3.      Any other significant implications of Australia’s accession to the Convention.

Please see the attached Call for Submissions paper for further details. A copy of the Convention is also attached for your reference.

Wherever possible, submissions should be sent by email to jane.carter@environment.gov.au by 3 November 2008.

Expressions of Interest sought for inclusion of original work in the journal CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship

US/ICOMOS, in partnership with the United States National Park Service is seeking expressions of interest from members of ICOMOS, who may wish to have innovative and original work considered for publication in CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship, which is published both in hard copy and electronically available at http://crmjournal.cr.nps.gov/Journal_Index.cfm. The objective of this initiative is to increase the dissemination among the readers in the United States and overseas of important ideas and experiences in cultural heritage management from all over the world. Note that ten percent of the readership is from outside the United States, and rising. Because the circulation is so large, this is a great way for selected authors to receive broad international exposure.

CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship addresses the history of, development of, trends and emerging issues in cultural resource management in the United States and abroad. Its purpose is to broaden the intellectual foundation of the management of cultural resources. CRM Journal is written for practitioners in the cultural resources fields, including history, architecture, curation, ethnography, archaeology, cultural landscapes, folklore and related areas; scholars on colleges and universities who teach, study and interpret cultural resources and other members of the heritage community.
 
Three types of submissions are being sought: viewpoint essays, full scholarly articles and research reports. In expressing their interest to contribute to CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship, potential authors should be aware of the following guidelines for authors:
 
Generally manuscripts must not exceed 6,000 words, exclusive of endnotes and illustrations. Articles must be based on substantive research. They should provide a hypothesis, description of previo
us work, methodology, results, conclusions and bibliography. Articles include historical perspectives on important cultural resource programs, examples of cultural resource investigations, studies, research projects, and activities that would interest the field as a whole. Articles will be published in English, and should be submitted in English. Special individual exceptions may be made to accept articles in Spanish or French for later translation into English before publishing. Many examples of viewpoint essays, scholarly articles and research reports, as well as the broad range of topics covered, may be found in the CRM website listed above, as are more detailed guidelines and regulations concerning submissions. To obtain a complete vision, consult the website.
 
If you are interested in having your work considered for publication in CRM, please respond by sending the following information to garaoz@usicomos.org:
 
a. Name, postal and electronic address information, institutional affiliation and title; phones and fax
b. Tentative title(s) or topic(s) of intended contributions, with a sort description of the proposal (maximum 250 words)
c. Curriculum Vitae, including a list of your previous publications
 
The selection of authors and articles for CRM is a highly competitive and scholarly rigorous process led by the editor, Martin Perschler. Authors selected to be invited to submit their work will be notified individually and directly by either US/ICOMOS or by Mr Perschler and the CRM editorial staff. At that time, full details on the process and the product, as well as deadlines will be provided.

Australia ICOMOS E-Mail News No. 357

Institute for Citizenship & Globalisation (ICG) at Deakin University

The Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation (ICG) is a key Research Institute at Deakin University, with a history of ten years of research collaboration. The ICG is based on wide networks of research affiliations and operates at the cutting edge of international research. The ICG comprises of 46 researchers; 10 Professors, 9 Associate Professors, and 27 Senior Lecturers and Lectures. Sustainability and succession are ensured through systematic mentoring of mid career research staff and ECRs in collaborative hybrid research programs.

Web address: http://www.deakin.edu.au/arts-ed/icg/

ICG researchers work within and across six interrelated themes:

  • Civil society and Community
  • Conflict, Peace and Development
  • Transnational Public Spheres
  • Migration and Intercultural Relations
  • Cultural Diversity, Heritage Identity
  • Governance and Democracy

The nature of globalisation and its impact on the relationship between nation states and their citizens is one of the key issues confronting contemporary societies and polities. New global forces challenge traditional ideas of citizenship and democracy that are primarily based on rights and institutions within the nation state. These tendencies call for more complex understandings of how individuals, political groups and corporations interact with, and claim membership of, social, economic, political and cultural organisations within and beyond the nation. As traditional forms of social, political and cultural infrastructure are eroded and superseded, innovative ways of thinking about belonging, participation and accountability are urgently called for. Such thinking needs to accommodate new configurations of global, regional and local forces and allow for the impact of new technologies of communication. These ideas and practices call for distinctive concepts, methodologies and different research paradigms that cut across disciplinary as well as national boundaries.

The Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation (ICG) responds to these imperatives and investigates the above issues, in contemporary and historical contexts, from a multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural, international perspective while giving attention to issues of gender, ethnicity and religion.

Since the inception, the institute has released ICG Bulletin on a bi-monthly basis. The bulletins are available as pdf files for viewing on-line:
http://www.deakin.edu.au/arts-ed/icg/bulletin.php

To receive regular updates on events, publications and other news on our Institute subscribe to ICG Mailing list email citglob@deakin.edu.au

Institute for Citizenship & Globalisation
Faculty of Arts & Education
Deakin University
Phone:03 9244 6658
http://www.deakin.edu.au/arts-ed/icg/

New PDF: Risk Preparedness: A Management Manual for World Cultural Heritage
The second in the series of management guidelines and manuals for World Cultural Heritage, this volume addresses the issue of risk preparedness in both general and specific terms.
http://www.iccrom.org/eng/02info_en/02_04pdf-pubs_en.shtml 

Australia ICOMOS E-Mail News No. 356

12th US/ICOMOS INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
11-15 March, 2009, New Orleans, Louisiana
Call for abstracts

PRESERVATION IN PERIL
Disaster Preparedness, Rapid Response,
and Sustainable Recovery in the 21st Century

Deadline for abstract submittal is 31 October 2008
(please read all information below carefully before submitting an abstract)

Theme of the 2009 US/ICOMOS International Symposium

The 2009 US/ICOMOS International Symposium will address recurrent issues of disaster preparedness, rapid response, and sustainable recovery utilizing examples from across the U.S. and around the world that have dealt with flood, fire, earthquake, and other natural and human-induced threats to heritage sites. Presentations will highlight critically-assessed lessons learned. Specifically, the symposium will include:

  • A pre-conference mobile workshop on the Mississippi Gulf Coast;
  • Presentations by invited speakers with experience in heritage management in times of disaster; and
  • Field sessions throughout New Orleans neighbourhoods during the conference.

Through symposium activities, participants will gain first-hand exposure to the range of issues and the challenges for preparedness and response. By assessing existing models and through dialogue with presenters, participants will have the opportunity to compare and evaluate practices to find effective and sustainable strategies for use in the U.S. and abroad.

US/ICOMOS is confident that the symposium exchanges and its results will promote national, regional and local models of preparedness, response and recovery for heritage sites. The resulting plan toward developing a model will better protect the cultural heritage of the U.S. and also play a significant role in fostering international cooperation in heritage recovery efforts throughout the world. A final report to be prepared upon completion of the symposium will provide a framework for a disaster preparedness, rapid response, and sustainable recovery model that can be built upon and implemented within in the U.S and elsewhere. It will also help shape U.S. assistance provided overseas.

Call for Abstracts (due 31 October 2008)

Therefore, US
/ICOMOS seeks abstracts that discuss innovative, successful programs and partnerships involving collaboration in international preservation within these three broad areas:

  • Disaster preparedness and planning;
  • Rapid response by preservation/conservation professionals; and
  • Sustainable recovery efforts following damage by disasters to heritage sites.

US/ICOMOS is particularly interested in receiving abstracts from ICOMOS members overseas and from the international community at large.

Instructions for Submitting an Abstract (please read carefully)

  • Abstracts must be received in US/ICOMOS by 31 October 2008;
  • Maximum text of 250 words in English;
  • US/ICOMOS will accept electronic (Microsoft Word or Adobe pdf files only) or hard copy abstracts;
  • Abstracts may be accompanied by one (1) illustration only; and
  • The page with the abstracts must contain AT THE TOP the title of the proposed paper, the name of the author(s), and contact information (institutional affiliate, mailing address, phone number and email address).

A committee of distinguished preservationists will evaluate all abstracts. Authors selected for paper presentations will be notified by 10 December 2008. Non-complying abstracts may not be considered.

Send Abstracts To:

  • by e-mail to: don.jones@usicomos.org
  • by fax to 1-202-842-1861; or
  • by courier/regular air mail (please, no return mail signature requests nor registered mail) to:

US/ICOMOS
Attn: 12th Symposium Abstracts
401 F Street NW, Suite 331
Washington DC 20001-2728

Note:  Each year, US/ICOMOS has made every effort to secure grants and monetary contributions to help defray travel, lodging, and registration costs for international speakers selected to present papers. While US/ICOMOS cannot guarantee that such funding will be available in 2009, we will try once again to secure such support.

Australia ICOMOS E-Mail News No. 355

Jewish Heritage E-Report – subscription details

The Jewish Heritage E-Report contains world news about Jewish art, architecture and historic sites from the International Survey of Jewish Monuments (ISJM), and is edited by Samuel D. Gruber.

Individuals wishing to subscribe directly to the Jewish Heritage E-Report please contact samuelgruber@gmail.com with “subscribe to ISJM” in subject line.

Australia ICOMOS E-Mail News No. 353

The VM Romano Foundation PhD Scholarship in Architectural History and Conservation – applications now invited

The VM Romano Foundation
PhD Scholarship in Architectural History and Conservation

Melbourne School of Design
Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning
University of Melbourne

Applications are now invited for this generous scholarship for study commencing in 2009. The scholarship is valued at $26,500 p.a. for up to 3.5 years and is available to graduates in architecture, history, heritage studies or a related field, who wish to undertake research into an aspect of architectural history and conservation.

For more information on entry requirements and how to apply, please visit www.abp.unimelb.edu.au or email lwilks@unimelb.edu.au.

The closing date for applications is Friday 31 October 2008.

Sign up for the new GCI Bulletin

Dear Colleague,

The GCI Bulletin, the Getty Conservation Institute’s new electronic bulletin, will be launched in October 2008. It will complement the GCI’s print newsletter, Conservation. Published six times a year, the GCI Bulletin offers updates on our events, science and field projects, educational initiatives, and publications and videos.

To sign up, visit http://www.getty.edu/subscribe/gci_bulletin/index.html?cid=gci001

(c)  Prehistory Society of Zimbabwe

Newsletter 138

The first 50 years of the Prehistory Society of Zimbabwe: A Personal Reminiscence

JOHN FORD
7 Marston Close, Greystone Park, Harare

Salisbury’s expansion for light industry in 1958 exposed a lot of pottery in Graniteside trench diggings, which was drawn to the attention of the then Director of the Queen Victoria Museum, Lt Col. Boultbee. Mrs Elizabeth Goodall, an ethnologist on the Museum staff who was the only person experienced in Archaeology, gathered a group of interested “diggers” to carry out the rescue operation. This site is now under the OK Bazaars Warehouse.

This group formed the nucleus from which The Salisbury Prehistoric Society was created with Lt Col. Boultbee as Chairman. The Society was constituted on 30 May 1958. Later it became the Mashonaland Prehistory Society. Later again, it was deemed that a wider sphere was necessary from which members could to be attracted and so it was renamed The Prehistory Society of Rhodesia. In April 1981 the title was finally altered to The Prehistory of Zimbabwe to align with current political change. The membership has been active all that time, covering a wide variety of the prehistory in Zimbabwe and surrounds whilst providing much membership interest with a variety of activities.

The Prehistory Society publications began as Newsletters, then as the Journal of the Salisbury Prehistoric Society in 1959 with James Crawford as Editor. This journal lapsed but in February 1969 the Society began publishing Rhodesian Prehistory that is now Zimbabwean Prehistory.

Many people have served the Society over the years. Chairpersons who spring to mind include Doug Morley, Peter Garlake, Leighton Gale and Peggy Izzett. Activities included a five-year archaeological ground survey of the Darwendale Dam basin prior inundation that was led by Peggy Izzett with a band of enthusiasts and revealed 81 sites. Mozambique was visited in 1973 by a group of nine members led by Doug Morley in a chartered plane. A group in convoy led by myself drove to Mapungubwe in the Northern Transvaal to work alongside professor Eloff and his students from Wits University. The digs at the Coronation Park Campsite were undertaken by Mrs Goodall and aided by members, including Mitch Stirling who later wrote about the history of civil aviation in Central Africa.

The Society members promoted young people’s interest as well. Mrs Goodall encouraged Senior Scouts of the 2nd Salisbury Senior Troop to record and report any Rock Art and historic sites they came across in their journeys; likewise she encouraged members of the Mountain club in their expeditions.

Rock Art recordings, photography and site surveys were carried out by Bert Petie and also by Elda Coretti. Excavations were undertaken at Mbagazewa (Monk’s Kop Ossuary) by James Crawford and Doug Norley. The Ranche House Schools of Archaeology gave members an introduction or extension to their amateur or professional experience at places like Zimbabwe Ruins and Zombepata. Some partook in Dambarare and Zwongombe digs. Outings were taken to all manner of sites: Stone Age, Iron Age, Rock Art, mines and yes, even to the earliest Harare refuse dumps near Chapman Golf Course in Eastlea.

Close liaison has been maintained between museums and the Society that has been beneficial to both amateur and professional people alike. Largely encouraging in these directions have been such wonderful people as Elizabeth Goodall, Cran Cooke, Mike Raath, Tom Huf
fman, Hillary Summers, Bob Brain, Josiah Moyo, Robert Soper and Dave Beach. Subjects of every aspect of our interests have been covered in lectures, talks, discussions and outings. Young member participation was greatly encouraged by such people as Paddy Hobley, Barry Gardener, Neil Jack, Lyn Hitzeroth, Caroline Thorpe, Rob Plowes and members of the Umtali High Schools History Societies, Rob Burrett and Paul Hubbard and Sinclair Knopf for “From Little Acorns, Mighty Oaks Do Grow”!

Scientists Study Gold-Laden 16th-Century Shipwreck in Namibia

A treasure-laden 16th-century Portuguese vessel that ran aground off Namibia’s Atlantic coast was hailed by archaeologists as providing a rare insight into the heyday of seafaring explorations between Europe and the Orient. “This is a cultural treasure of immense importance,” Bruno Werz told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa when offering journalists a first glimpse at the excavation site, located near Oranjemund, around 160 kilometres south of the town of Luederitz.

The shipwreck, which was discovered by geologists dredging the seabed for diamonds in April is believed to be the oldest yet found in sub-Saharan Africa. Werz is leading a team of archeologists and geologists from Namibia, the United States, Portugal, South Africa and Zimbabwe in excavating the ship.

A Portuguese archaeologist described the wreck as the best-preserved example of a Portuguese seafaring craft found outside Portugal. He attributed its good preservation to its long burial in sand. Apart from the gold, the ship’s rich bounty includes 1.4 kilograms of silver coins, copper ingots, cannons and navigational instruments. A trident indented on the ingots shows them to have been supplied by the German merchant house Jakob Fugger – a known supplier of ingots to the Portuguese crown in the era of the Habsburg dynasty.

Next issue: December 2008
Sue Nugent
s.nugent@uq.edu.au