eNewsletters
Volume 27 April 2009
1. Executive News
WAC Website
The Executive is delighted to announce the launch of the new website of the World Archaeological Congress. This multifunctional, sleek website contains all the information that was on the old site, and has a number of additional features. The new WAC website is a result of the hard work and vision of Michael Ashley, Timo Bishop, Paul Saeki, Cinzia Perlingieri and Achille Felicetti. The Executive congratulates them on their efforts, and thanks them for their generosity with their time and diligence.
While the old WAC site has served us well since 2003, developments in the Internet presented an opportunity to develop new features. Consequently, the Internet and Global Communications Taskforce decided to completely update the site to take advantage of several ‘Web 2.0’ features, and to make the site a true hub of communication for the WAC community. The new site has a number of critical improvements, which include:
- A new server. The main site was moved to a major web hosting company that provides substantial speed improvements.
- Standardized and easy-to-use navigation. The content of every section and page of the WAC website is accessible using the navigation panel on the left side of each page.
- News updates. The top WAC news stories can be selected on every page in the site.
- Multi-lingual support. Due to a simplified and standardized code structure, the site can be easily translated into other languages. We are using Babelfish to offer translation in the initial stages.
The Executive encourages members to visit the new site, at:
www.worldarchaeologicalcongress.org.
WAC Policy Forums
The Executive is delighted to announce the launch of the first WAC Policy Forum, which is on the purpose and use of the WAC list. We invite members to log-on to the members section of the WAC website, read the position statements and participate in discussions. After a suitable period, an opinion poll will taken on questions arising from these discussions, and this poll will be used to inform the discussion of these issues by the WAC Executive and Council.
The Executive hopes that the WAC Policy Forums will elicit robust discussions regarding key policy issues. Thse forums will have a range of position statements on important policy issues, and are accompanied by discussion threads. In the first instance, the discussion threads will not be moderated. 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:
- 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 thanks those members who contributed their time and expertise to developing the various facets of the WAC Policy Forums, especially Michael Ashley, Akira Matsuda, Timo Bishop, Paul Saeki, Ines Domingo Sanz, Cinzia Perlingieri and Achille Felicetti.
WAC Inter-Congress in Ramallah
Members are reminded of the upcoming Inter-Congress on the topic of ‘Overcoming Structural Violence, which will be held in Ramallah from 8-13 August, 2009. The focus of this Inter-Congress is on the often hidden and insidious structures that perpetuate conflicts. It raises the following questions: what role does archaeological and cultural heritage research have in overcoming these ‘in-built’ obstacles? Does archaeological research have the ability to prevail against structural violence or must we engage against structural violence outside of archaeological practice? These are important issues in an increasing globalised world, and we encourage members to attend this Inter-Congress.
Program details, information on travel and accommodation, as well as registration forms are available at:
If you would like to submit a paper and session proposal, please send an email towacramcom@gmail.com.
In addition to the formal conference program, the planning committee for the Inter-Congress is coordinating with Palestinian heritage preservation organizations to facilitate workshops and ‘hands on’ opportunities for attendees. There will be excursions to local archaeological, cultural heritage, religious and historical sites. The principal contact person for this Inter-Congress is Reinhard Bernbeck (rbernbec@binghamton.edu).
Archaeologies
The WAC journal Archaeologies has received two important endorsements. First, it has been ranked as a ‘A’ journal on the Australian Excellence in Research Initiative. Second, it was recently accepted to the Arts and Humanities Citation Index, part of the Thomson/Reuters-ISI. The ISI decided to include the journal in the Arts and Humanities Citation Index, rather than the Social Science Citation Index. The difference between the two is that journals in the Arts and Humanities list do not receive an impact factor, having to do with the time the Arts and Humanities journals take to generate citations (which is usually much longer than science or social science journals).
These important tributes testify to the quality the Editors of Archaeologies have achieved over the last few years, ably supported by Springer staff, and to the willingness of WAC members to contribute high quality papers to the journal. The Executive thanks all of the people concerned, especially the Editors of Archaeologies, Anne Pyburn and Nick Shepherd.
Editorship of WAC e-Newsletter
In order to concentrate on her doctoral research Suzanne Nugent is resigning from her unpaid—but much appreciated—position of editor of the WAC e-newsletter. Consequently, the Executive is now calling for expressions from people interested in taking on responsibility for editing the newsletter.
The editor puts the newsletter together for circulation every two months. This position involves gathering and editing material representing the diverse interests of WAC members. Duties include inviting WAC members to submit items for the newsletter, selecting extracts from three other newsletters and liaising with the WAC Webmaster and the WAC Executive, particularly the President. Suzanne has kindly provided templates and other documents to facilitate the transition to the new editor, and has agreed to mentor that person for their first issue of the newsletter.
If you are interested being Editor of the WAC e-newsletter please contact the WAC Secretary, Ines Domingo Sanz (Ines.Domingo@uv.es). Finally, we wish Suzanne all the best with her studies, and thank her for her sustained efforts with the journal over the last couple of years.
Regards,
Claire Smith, for the Executive
2. News from WAC Members
Dr. Shahnaj Husne Jahan, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, has been undertaking research on the largest fortified settlement in Bangladesh locally known as Bhitargarh, located 16 kilometers northeast of Panchagarh district head quarter on the eastern bank of the river Talma. The importance of Bhitargarh primarily lay in trade because of its strategic position on the ancient trade route between Sikkim, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Assam, Coochbehar, the middle and lower Ganga valleys. The systematic archaeological investigation of the 2008-2009 season conducted by her revealed that the site was enclosed within three concentric quadrangles – the outer, the middle and the inner. Earthen ramparts of the outer enclosure were encircled with a moat. The ramparts of the Middle enclosure were also surrounded by a moat but constructed with brick. However, no moat was constructed outside the brick-built innermost enclosure. In the first season’s excavation she also discovered the structural remains of a crucified temple (roughly dated to the 6th/7th century AD) inside the innermost enclosure. In addition, she took up the responsibility of mobilizing the local inhabitants and the administration to prevent further destruction to the site because Bhitargarh lies outside of any form of governmental protection.
Excavations at the Cluny Site
The Cluny Site of southern Alberta, Canada is the only prehistoric fortified village site known on the Canadian Plains. It uniquely documents direct contacts between Canadian Plains communal bison hunters and horticultural village groups usually situated along the Missouri River in North Dakota, U.S.A. The site is located on the Siksika First Nation (Blackfoot) in proximity to the newly opened Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park (BCHP) Interpretive Centre, a facility developed and operated by the Siksika themselves. BCHP and the Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary have been conducting co–operative investigations as part of a developing ten–year agreement to carry out research and develop interpretive and educational programs at the interpretive centre.
Excavations conducted during 2007 and 2008 revealed new information with regard to village construction and established that the village was reoccupied several times, contra earlier suggestions that contact was a one–time event. Long distance contacts between northern hunter–gatherers and more southerly horticulturalists were ongoing and formed an important aspect of cultural relations and development. Excavations will continue during 2009 and beyond under the direction of Dale Walde to explore this relationship in greater detail and to develop further the cultural resources of the Siksika Nation.
Those interested in the project and the interpretive centre might also wish to find their way tohttp://www.blackfootcrossing.ca/toursite.html
Dr Bryan Gordon, Curator Emeritus Research, Canadian Museum of Civilization Quebec, has advised that he has four websites accessible via the url below that deal with:
- The Origin of Chinese Civilization Based on Paddy Rice Agriculture;
- The Movement of Canadian Subarctic Chipewyan a Millennium ago to Become the Southwest US Navajo-Apache;
- The Non-Invasive AMS and Radiocarbon Dating of Pictographs and Petroglyphs; and
- Wall Art Clarification and Enhancement.
http://http-server.carleton.ca/~bgordon/Journal/Web_Journal.htm
Lillian Azevedo-Grout, PhD candidate at the University of Southampton, has advised of her research in the Caribbean.
Anguilla, in the Caribbean’s Lesser Antilles is an island with around 14,000 inhabitants. Recently, the Anguilla National Trust announced that the Island was at a crossroads. In the past, treasure hunters, developers, and non-vocational collectors threatened to remove and effectively erase the island’s heritage. Now, many Anguillians are beginning to recognize the importance of protecting this resource.
The 2009 Anguilla Survey is a groundbreaking effort to locate and document the island’s earliest shipwrecks including a Spanish merchant ship lost off the island in 1628. Students, divers, and remote sensing equipment will be brought from the Maritime Archaeological and Historical Society (MAHS) in Maryland and the University of Southampton in England to Anguilla for the survey.
This will be Anguilla’s first pro-active (rather than a response to looting) underwater archaeological survey and the first collaborative effort by the University of Southampton and the Anguilla Archaeological and Historical Society to raise community awareness of the island’s maritime history.
The proposed project’s main objectives are two-fold. First, by finding and recording the island’s earliest recorded wreck and other archaeological features, a baseline of data will be created to demonstrate the need for improved protection. Second, through public demonstrations and education, the project will encourage Anguillians to become stewards of their island’s heritage. In turn, this will increase the island’s research capacity to document, promote, and protect the island’s underwater heritage.
3. News Items
LUMINESCENCE IN ARCHAEOLOGY INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
The 1st L.A.I.S. Symposium will take place in Greece and symbolically be hosted at the European Cultural Centre of Delphi (www.eccd.gr), Greece in September 9-12, 2009.
REGISTRATION FEES
| Specialty Early Late | ||
|
All Specialists |
€ 220,00 |
€ 250,00 |
|
Accompanying Persons |
€ 100,00 |
€ 130,00 |
|
Students |
€ 100,00 |
€ 130,00 |
DEADLINES
Early Registration: June 30, 2009
Abstract submissions: May 31, 2009
Paper Submissions deadline: September 12, 2009
PROGRAMME AT A GLANCE
Wednesday Sept 9th 2009
Welcome Cocktail – Registration (16:00 – 20:00)
Thursday Sept 10th 2009
10:00 – 11:30 Session I: ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATING
12:00 – 14:00 Session II: ARCHAEOSEDIMENT DATING
16:00 – 18:00 Session III: INFRASTRUCTURES IN LUMINESCENCE
Friday Sept 11th 2009
09:00 – 11:00 Session I: LUMINESCENCE DOSIMETRY
12:00 – 13:30 Session II: INNOVATIVE APPLICATIONS
14:30 – 16:00 Session II: DATING PROTOCOLS
17:00 – 18:00 Session III: DATING PROTOCOLS
18:00 – 19:00 Round Table Discussion
KEY ΝΟΤΕ SPEAKERS
Prof. M. Martini, University of Milano Bicocca, Italy
Prof. I. Bailiff, Durham University, U.K.
Prof. G. Wagner, Heidelberg University, Germany
Prof. A.K. Singhvi, Phys. Research Laboratory, Navarangpura, India
Prof. Shengua Li, Hong Kong University, China
More information can be found on
http://kalamata.uop.gr/~LAIS2009
http://www.zita-congress.gr/49/article/greek/49/4/index.htm
http://www.rhodes.aegean.gr/tms/index_eng.htm
Obituary: Leonard R. Bruguier
WAC has been informed by his partner, Louisa Greathouse Amador, that Dr. Leonard Bruguier died in Cholula, Mexico, on March 23, 2009. Many WAC members will remember Leonard as an active participant in the 1989 Vermillion Inter-Congress on Archaeological Ethics and the Treatment of the Dead as well as for his service as an Indigenous delegate to WAC 2 in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, in 1990. He was part of a group of Indigenous delegates who at WAC 2 crafted what became the WAC First Code of Ethics. He discussed that experience with Larry Zimmerman in the article ‘Indigenous Peoples and the World Archaeological Congress Code of Ethics’, published in 1994 in Public Archaeology Review [2(1):5-8].
Leonard, whose Inhanktonwan (Yankton Sioux) name translates as “Buckskin Horse,” was born in 1944 in Wagner, South Dakota, USA, and was a descendant of the Inhanktonwan chiefs War Eagle and Struck by the Ree. A U.S. Marine, Leonard served in Vietnam from 1963-1970 and received numerous citations and service medals. He earned his Ph.D in Latin American history from the Oklahoma State University in 1989. During the 1990s, he served as Director of the Institute of American Indian Studies and the South Dakota Oral History center at the University of South Dakota.
Training Opportunity
NAGPRA: Writing and Managing a Successful Grant
Seattle, Washington
May 20-21, 2009
Purpose of the Seminar:
The National NAGPRA Program offers grants to assist museums, Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations and Alaska Native villages and corporations with the NAGPRA process. Review practical tools and case studies of successful grant applications and projects. Learn how to assess the needs of a NAGPRA program, identify fundable projects, and write and manage a successful grant.
The seminar instructors are Sangita Chari, Grants Coordinator, National NAGPRA Program, and Jan I. Bernstein, Director, Bernstein & Associates.
Who May Attend:
The seminar is open to participants from Native American tribes, Alaska Native villages and corporations, Native Hawaiian organizations, museums, and individuals interested in NAGPRA grants.
How to Register:
Download and complete the registration form available at www.npi.org.
Cost and Funding Sources:
The cost of registration for the seminar is $375 before April 8, $425 regular rate, $175 student.
If you are a representative of a Native American tribe, Alaska Native village or corporation, or Native Hawaiian organization, the National NAGPRA Program has scholarships available for registration. The scholarship application form is available at www.npi.org.
SEASREP-Sephis Workshop on Alternative Research Methodologies
In the Philippines on 19-30 October 2009
The workshop aims to provide PhD students from the South in the field of Social Sciences or History an opportunity to strengthen the theoretical and methodological quality of their work under the guidance of experienced researchers from the South.
The workshop will focus on two parts: the lecture and discussion portion, and the revision of research proposals. The workshop will conclude with a presentation by the participants of their revised proposals.
For further details visit www.seasrepfoundation.org.
Inquiries:
SEASREP Foundaton
Unit612/613 Residencia de Regina
94 Xavierville Avenue
Loyola Heights, Quezon City 1108
Philippines
Tel: 63 2 7090854
Fax: 63 2 7090891
Email: methods@seasrepfoundation.org
Bournemouth University is MAD About the Swash Channel Wreck
The mysteries of one of Britain’s most endangered shipwrecks, the Swash Channel Wreck, will be revealed at a unique Maritime Archaeological Day (MAD), hosted by Bournemouth University (BU). University experts Paola Palma and Dave Parham, researchers and students in marine and maritime archaeology will share their findings from the 17th century ship discovered in the Swash Channel off the Dorset coast.
Artefacts raised from the Wreck will be on display, as well as replicas to allow visitors a hands-on experience. Prospective students are particularly welcome to attend together with anyone interested in archaeology, diving and maritime history.
When: Saturday, 2nd May
Where: BU’s Talbot Campus.
Anyone wishing to attend or needing further information can contact Paola Palma via email at:ppalma@bournemouth.ac.uk
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)
Handbook of Forensic Anthropology and Archaeology
Soren Blau and Douglas H. Ubelaker, eds
Recently Released! 800 pages, $129.00 Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-59874-074-5
Over the last 10 years interest in the disciplines of forensic anthropology and archaeology has exploded. In order to provide archaeologists and their students with a reliable understanding of these disciplines, this authoritative volume draws contributions from fifty experienced practitioners from around the world to offer a solid foundation in both the practical and ethical components of forensic work. Over 40 chapters weave together historical development, current field methods in analyzing crime, natural disasters and human atrocities, an array of laboratory techniques, key case studies, legal, professional, and ethical issues, and promising future directions, all from a global perspective. This volume will be the benchmark for the understanding of anthropological and archaeological forensics for years to come.
For the first time in Paperback:
Archaeology and Capitalism: From Ethics to Politics
Yannis Hamilakis and Philip Duke, eds
http://lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=94
Envisioning Landscape: Situations and Standpoints in Archaeology and Heritage
Dan Hicks, Laura McAtackney, and Graham Fairclough, eds
http://lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=93
Rethinking Agriculture:Archaeological and Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives
Timothy P. Denham, Jose Iriarte, and Luc Vrydaghs
http://lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=47
A Fearsome Heritage: Diverse Legacies of the Cold War
John Schofield and Wayne Cocroft, eds
http://lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=45
We have New Distributors!
UK, Europe, the Middle East and Africa
Left Coast books in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Africa will be distributed by Eurospan, based in London. Eurospan is a dedicated marketing organization for with over 100 publishing clients in the academic, university press, science/technology, and professional realm. We are delighted that we will be working with such an experienced, efficient, professionalized organization. You can order from Eurospan at: www.EurospanBookstore.com
Australia/New Zealand customers order from Footprint Books
While Left Coast customers in Australia and New Zealand have been able to obtain our books from the good folks at Footprint Books in Sydney for several years, it has been through an intermediary so there was a substantial time lag in receiving new titles from us. As of September 1, 2008, we have established a direct relationship with Footprint, so that books will get to you much quicker than in the past. They are now air-shipped biweekly from our American warehouse to Australia. Contact Information: http://www.footprint.com.au/
Customers in Asia
Customers in Asia will now order from the University of Arizona Press. They are accessed best through our website.
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
4. Excerpts from other archaeological associations’ newsletters (used with permission)
4 (a) SALON
Salon 210: 30 March 2009
SALON Editor: Christopher Catling
Horse domestication in Kazakhstan c 3000 BC
A multi-national team of archaeologists has uncovered evidence that the domestication of horses, both for their milk and for riding, developed some 5,500 years ago with the Botai Culture of Kazakhstan, a country in which horse-rearing traditions run deep and where mare’s milk is still drunk, usually fermented into a slightly alcoholic drink called koumiss.
The team followed three independent lines of evidence for early horse domestication. Analysis of ancient bone remains showed that the horses were similar in shape to Bronze Age domestic horses and different from wild horses from the same region. This suggests that people were selecting wild horses for their physical attributes, which were then exaggerated through breeding. The team also used a new technique to search for ‘bit damage’ caused by horses being harnessed or bridled. Finally, lipid residue analysis was used to find traces of fats from horse milk in Botai pottery.
Alan Outram, of the University of Exeter, is the lead author of the paper published in the journal Science announcing the discoveries. He said: ‘the domestication of horses is known to have had immense social and economic significance, advancing communications, transport, food production and warfare. Our findings indicate that horses were being domesticated about 1,000 years earlier than previously thought. This is significant because it changes our understanding of how these early societies developed.’
Salon 209: 2 March 2009
Collapse of Cologne archive
The Cologne Historical City Archive, collapsed on Tuesday 3 March 2009. Staff and visitors who were in the 1970s building at the time were able to escape when the building began to shake and make unusual sounds; even so, two bodies have now been found in the ruins of the building, whose destruction is being blamed on tunneling work to construct a new underground train system.
Local historians and academics estimate that the damage to the archives will exceed that caused by the fire at the Anna Amalia Library in Weimar of 2 September 2004, when 50,000 volumes were destroyed and another 62,000 were damaged by the water used to extinguish the fire. The Cologne archive contains historical, archaeological and architectural records, as well as half a million photographs chronicling life in the city over the last 150 years.
Appeal for volunteers from the Director of the Cologne archives
1) Offers for shelving and storage units: please contact the LVR-Archivberaturngs- und Fortbildungszentrum, attn Herrn Dr Arie Nabrings. There the donated units will be pre-sorted and transferred to the Historical Archive.
2) Offers of personnel (archivists): please contact me first (ulrich.soenius@koeln.ihk.de), as the representative of the Association of German Archivists (VdA) on site. To facilitate all our work, please also be sure to contact this address — rwwa@koeln.ihk.de — with information about your position or that of your group. We need the following information: first and last names, current position, address, telephone number, email address and duration of your availability. Please understand that any archivist who needs a place to stay overnight (we’ll help with this) should count on spending at least three days here; otherwise the administrative costs are prohibitively high. In particular the large archive administrations are asked to [vet or oversee] an assembly of specialized workers.
3) Offers of personnel (restorers): Please contact Bert Jacek with the same information as detailed above.
4 (b) ICOMOS Australia
Australia ICOMOS E-Mail News No. 382
BACK FROM THE BRINK; Heritage, Culture and Art in Timor-Leste.
Hosted by the Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory, focusing on the care of cultural heritage collections and the preservation of heritage sites in Timor-Leste.
Saturday 16 May 2009, 9.30am – 5pm
Free admission – all welcome; Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory Theatrette, (08) 8999 8263
Registration forms and seminar program are available from the events page on the MAGNT website www.magnt.nt.gov.au. Also see attached flier.
Australia ICOMOS E-Mail News No. 380
Dragon Tails: Re-interpreting Chinese-Australian Heritage – call for papers
9-11 October 2009
Sovereign Hill, Ballarat, Victoria
VENUE: Sovereign Hill Museums Association, Ballarat, Victoria (www.sovereignhill.com.au)
CONFERENCE OUTLINE
In 1984, noted historian Jennifer Cushman challenged researchers to move beyond the prevalent one-dimensional approach to understanding the Chinese presence in Australia—an approach that was primarily concerned with examining Australia’s attitudes towards the Chinese. In taking up this challenge, and seeking to understand the Chinese ‘on their own terms’, researchers have uncovered new sources and applied inter-disciplinary approaches to reveal the complex picture of Chinese community cultures, identities and race relations in Australia.
While we would no longer say that the history of the Chinese in Australia is hidden or neglected, where do these new stories fit within the wider narrative of Australian history? What are the challenges involved in communicating and interpreting these new perspectives, with their inherent complexity and contradictions, to broader audiences? One of the major aims of this conference is to bring together these new historical understandings about early Chinese-Australians, and consider their place within broader histories of Australia and the Chinese diaspora. Another aim is to create a forum for how these stories might be interpreted in the classroom, and at cultural heritage sites and museums.
This conference welcomes papers from a wide range of disciplines, including history, archeology, tourism, cultural studies, education, and museum/heritage studies.
We are particularly interested in work that:
• Tells about early Chinese-Australian history from Chinese-Australian perspectives.
• Discusses Chinese-Australian heritage/history within broader perspectives (e.g. Australian, Chinese, comparative, and/or transnational).
• Draws on new resources to tell new stories.
• Focuses on intercolonial (Northern Territory and Queensland) and/or trans-Tasman connections.
THEMES:
• Chinese goldseekers and their legacy
• Developments and issues for Chinese-Australian heritage tourism (regional and urban)
• Everyday life and culture for early Chinese-Australians
• Communicating Chinese-Australian heritage (e.g. education, multimedia, internet technology)
• Early Chinese-Australian formations of politics, identity and citizenship
• Interrogating Chinese-Australian historiography and material culture
• Perspectives on heritage Chinese precincts
• Mapping historical connections between Asia and Australia
• Biographies and oral histories of Chinese-Australian ‘pioneers’
• Creative work that re-interprets Chinese-Australian history
PRESENTATIONS:
Papers Standard session presentations should be 20 mins long (with 10 mins allowed for question time).
Panels – We’d welcome panel submissions. Our suggested formats for the panels are:
• 3 x 20 min papers with a coherent theme, or
• Up to 5 speakers on a discussion panel (approx 10 mins each, with at least 40 mins for discussion)
Abstracts (max 200 words), with speakers’ full contact details and short biographical notes (max 100 words) should be sent to keirreeves@iprimus.com.au BY MONDAY 18 MAY 2009.
Enquiries about the conference should be directed to keirreeves@iprimus.com.au
Course announcement – Cultural Heritage and Legal Aspects in Europe
Between 20-27 September 2009 the Institute for Mediterranean Heritage (Piran, Slovenia) and the National Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, in collaboration with the European Heritage Legal Forum and with the support of the Council of Europe, are organising an international course on Cultural Heritage and Legal Aspects in Europe.
Throughout seven days of thematic lectures and visits, the course aims to provide European heritage professionals and researchers updated insights in current trends and issues in cultural heritage from the legal perspective. Please find attached the announcement where further details and the link to the website can be found.
The deadline for application is 10 June 2009.
For further information, visit http://www.dediscina-heritage.si/seminar.html
Australia ICOMOS E-Mail News No. 379
ICCROM Course: LATAM 2009: Reducing Risks to Cultural Heritage 2009
9-27 November, Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Quito (Ecuador)
ICCROM is pleased to announce the 2009 session of the international course on “Reducing Risks”, organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Natural and Cultural Heritage of Ecuador, the University Andina Simón Bolívar, the Canadian Conservation Institute, the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage and other regional partners.
The purpose of this course is to focus on the risk management approach to preventive conservation of movable and immovable heritage. The course will take place in Quito, Ecuador from 9 to 27 November 2009 (three weeks) and will be given in Spanish.
It is designed for collection and site managers, curators, registrars, conservators, and also directors of small to medium size museums, galleries, historic houses and archives, from all regions of the world. The course will also interest educators and professionals who teach collection management and preventive conservation, in either an academic or a vocational environment. The application deadline is 04 May 2009.
A brief description of the course and full information on the application process:
Spanish:http://www.iccrom.org/eng/01train_en/announce_en/2009_11latamprevenECU_en.shtml
Francais:
http://www.iccrom.org/fra/01train_fr/announce_fr/2009_11latamprevenECU_fr.shtml
Application Deadline
4 May 2009
Contact
PC 09 – Collections Unit
ICCROM
13 via di San Michele
I-00153 Roma RM
ITALIA
Tel: +39 06 585531
Fax: +39 06 58553349
Email: collections@iccrom.org
Call for Papers: International Institute for Conservation (IIC): Istanbul Congress 2010: Conservation and the Eastern Mediterranean
20-24 September 2010, Istanbul (Turkey)
The twenty-third IIC Congress will take place in the spectacular and historic city of Istanbul, the European Cultural Capital for 2010. In conjunction with the Sakip Sabanci Museum, the many Congress events will focus on the conservation of moveable and immovable heritage in or from the Eastern Mediterranean. This will include material held in collections around the world: the care and conservation of artifacts, of sites, and the preservation of extraordinary architecture, reflecting the influences that have made the region one of the world’s richest centres of heritage.
Call for Papers
Papers presented at an IIC Congress and published in the preprints undergo a rigorous peer review process. To this end, IIC Council appoints a Technical Committee of international experts who will make selections from the proposals received and will then invite draft papers. The drafts will be reviewed and the content of the program will be determined. The final contributions will be edited for publication by the Editorial Committee, chaired by David Saunders.
IIC encourages you to submit your proposal for a paper early via the web at
www.iiconservation.org/conferences/istanbul2010/send_abstract.php
A call for posters will be made later in 2009. Please remember that submissions should not have been presented and/or published elsewhere before the date of the congress.
Deadline for receipt of summaries
30 April 2009
You will receive a response from the Technical Committee by the end of June. Draft manuscripts will be required by 30 September 2009 and the Technical Committee will make their selection by the end of November.
Contact
Graham Voce
Executive Secretary
International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC)
6 Buckingham Street
London WC2N 6BA
UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 5975
Fax: +44 (0)20 7976 1564
email: iic@iiconservation.org
website: www.iiconservation.org
4 (c) Prehistory Society of Zimbabwe
PSZ Newsletter 139
Excerpt from ‘Garden Roller Beads from Blue-Jay/Bunting Close, Hillside Dams, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’
Paul Hubbard & Rob Burrett
Independent Archaeologists, Zambezia Encounters, Bulawayo
Email for correspondence: hubcapzw@gmail.com
Long known for a variety of archaeological phenomena Hillside Dams lie in the southern suburbs of Bulawayo. The main archaeological site in the area is that of Blue Jay/Bunting Close, first excavated in the 1970s by Huffman (1974). After a series of fires passed through the site we visited it to assess its full extent, with a view to possibly initiating further investigations in the future.
We noticed a massive midden located at the upper end of the site where a mass of fragmented bone, pottery sherds and pieces of dhaka are being revealed by erosion. Near the base of the midden was half of a glass bead which, on closer inspection, turned out to be a garden roller (Wood 2000). We have occasionally noted other garden roller fragments in the area of this main midden. Huffman (1974) did not recover any beads in his excavations which makes this an important find for this site, suggesting that there is a great deal more to the material signature of the site than previously suspected.
Garden roller beads were made by people living in the Shashe-Limpopo Basin (SLB) by members of the Bambandyanalo (or K2) and Leokwe communities. They were locally made glass beads created by heating smaller imported beads in a clay mould, fusing them together to form a large, chunky bead that is usually blue in colour. They are restricted to sites thought to be closely associated with the early Shona state centred at K2 (Huffman 2007). This bead, therefore, raises interesting questions about the possible role of this Bulawayo site vis-à-vis the wider world of the Shashe-Limpopo Basin (SLB). Huffman (2007) has argued that the trade in garden rollers was more controlled than for other beads, possibly only being traded between the elite from Bambandyanalo to subsidiary chieftainships.
The bead indicates that the archaeological sequence at the site may be more nuanced than currently accepted. The broad regional ceramic sequence for this area of Zimbabwe is Zhizo replaced or transformed to Mambo (subject author specific interpretations) then to Woolandale. In the SLB it starts with Zhizo which transforms into Leokwe as well as early K2 as an intrusion. Huffman’s (1974) excavations revealed that a Zhizo occurrence followed by Woolandale. The presence of this bead presents several possibilities, potentially redefining this sequence.
The first possibility is that the Zhizo occupation lasted longer than thought, locally transforming into Zhizo B (Robinson 1985) but with the people at the time enjoying limited contacts with the Leokwe community of the SLB. There might have been some cross-cultural connections with the southern Shona State at this time and this could have resulted in the Bulawayo-based Zhizo people changing their dominant ceramic style to become Woolandale with time. Alternatively, there could be a Mambo occurrence between the Zhizo and Woolandale occupations which went unrecognised during the original excavations. Thirdly, Woolandale people, in contact with the SLB via the gold trade, could have been using and valuing the beads long after they disappeared in the SLB due to their scarcity in the interior.
References
Huffman, T.N. 1974. The Leopard’s Kopje Tradition. Salisbury: Trustees of the National Museums and Monuments of Rhodesia. (Museum Memoir 6).
Huffman, T.N. 2007. Handbook to the Iron Age. The Archaeology of Pre-Colonial Farming Societies in Southern Africa. Scottsville: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.
Robinson, K.R. 1985. Dated Iron Age sites from the Upper Umguza Valley 1982: their possible implications. South African Archaeological Bulletin 40 (141): 17-38.
Wood, M. 2000. Making connections: relationships between international trade and glass beads from the Shashe-Limpopo area. in The South African Archaeological Society Goodwin Series 8: African Naissance: The Limpopo Valley 1000 Years Ago Leslie, M. & Maggs, T.M.O’C. (eds.), 78-90, Cape Town: South African Archaeological Society.
Next Issue: June 2009
Sue Nugent
s.nugent@uq.edu.au