WAC had a significant presence at the Fifteenth Congress of International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences Congress, held in Lisboa, Portugal, 4th September, 2006. In her capacity of President of WAC, Claire Smith addressed the opening ceremony of the Congress, which was Chaired by the former President of the UISPP, Vitor Oliveira Jorge. Claire also presented a paper on the history of WAC in the session “Archeologues sans frontiers” session, organised by Mircea Babes of Romania and Marc-Antoine Kaeser of Switzerland. This will be published in the proceedings of the Congress. Claire also interviewed Jean Bourgeois, the outgoing Secretary-General of the IUPPS, and this will be published in the Forum section of Archaeologies. The Journal of the World Archaeological Congress.

WAC also had a promotional table at this conference, staffed by Claire Smith, Maia Langley, Pierre Desrosiers and Donna Gillette. WAC members had many roles in this IUPPS Congress, including Council member Manoj Kumar Singh, who was on the registration table, and former Council member, Fedro Paulo Funari, who was appointed to the IUPPS Permanent Council at this meeting. WAC’s presence at the IUPPS Congress is a small but important step in rapproachment between the two organizations.

WAC would like to congratulate Luiz Oosterbeek for his efficiency in organising the Fifteenth Congress of International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences Congress. During the Congress he accepted the role of Secretary-General of the IUPPS. The next the IUPPS Congress will be held in Brazil, in 2011.


Volunteers registering for the conference

WAC Council member Manoj Kumar Singh, at registration desk

Claire Smith interviewing Jean Bourgeois, the out-going Secretary-General of the UISPP

Conference participants, George and friend

Congress Opening

George, George and Danielle, volunteers taking a break

Claire Smith speaking at Congress opening

Secretary-General of the Congress, Luiz Oosterbeek

Henri de Lumley, Claire Smith and Marie Antionette de Lumley

Nadia and João

Former President of the UISPP,
Vitor Oliveira Jorge

Pedro Funari, ex Council member of WAC, and new member of the Permanent Council of the UISPP

Secretary-General for the Congress, Luiz Oosterbeek with Claire Smith, at the WAC table

Volunteer Djidere Balde, from Senegal, registration desk

Volunteers prepare for the Congress!

UISPP banner, Lisboa Opening

The majority of the photos above were taken by Hugo Machado.

Speech

WAC Address, at the Opening
Fifteenth Congress of International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences Congress,
Lisboa, Portugal,
4th September, 2006

Claire Smith
President, World Archaeological Congress

Distinguished guests, Congress participants,

Good morning. I am very happy to be here. I would like thank luiz oosterbeek for inviting me to speak at this meeting. I am very pleased to address my colleagues in the International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (IUPPS), the World Achaeological Congress and other archaeological organizations as we participate at this Fifteenth Congress of the IUPPS, being held here in Lisboa.

As President of the World Archaeological Congress, and in collaboration with my colleague, Luiz Oosterbeek, the General Secretary of this Congress, I am pleased to consider this meeting as an opportunity for a kind of rapprochement between the IUPPS and WAC. Many of you will know that the genesis of WAC in 1985 was linked to the IUPPS. I will not go over this history now, but those who are interested will find my views on this in a small paper that is on the IUPPS web site.

At this point, I would simply like to say that today the WAC and the IUPPS are working together in a spirit of co-operation. In the last twenty years, WAC has thrived in its own right, even as the IUPPS continued from strength to strength. Secure in our separate, but related, identities, and the specific roles that each organization takes in the global community, the IUPPS and WAC have become freed from their turbulent pa
sts, and are developing co-operative, mutually beneficial relationships, in which members of both organizations can profit from the strengths of the other.

This new spirit of co-operation is due largely to the efforts, efficiency-and geniality-of Professor Luiz Oosterbeek, the General Secretary of this Congress. Today, WAC and the IUPPS jointly pursue a vision in which archaeological organizations throughout the world work together to understand and protect our cultural patrimony. Here I would like to cite some words by Vítor Oliveira Jorge, the current President of the IUPPS, concerning this meeting in Portugal:

In a planet where the conflicts and misunderstandings between cultures are spreading in a worrying way, our scientific, cultural and civic mission is to create moments of pause, of meeting together, of exchanges of points of view, and to help to promote a better future for humankind. This future can not be reached but through the deep understanding of persons and groups, and through an absolute equal respect for all the cultural traditions and for the heritage of all cultures and people (Vitor Oliveira Jorge 2004).

The Congresses that are held by the IUPPS and by WAC provide important opportunities for scholars from around the globe to discuss new research, obtain a deeper understanding of the views of others and reflect on how we might advance our discipline. I would like to thank the members of the IUPPS, WAC and other archaeological organizations who are actively contributing to the success of this Congress by convening sessions or presenting papers.

Finally, I would like to congratulate Luiz Oosterbeek for organising such a big and important event.

Thank you.