WAC publishes and supports a range of publications. This page provides some general information about those publications. To gain access to read or download any of WAC’s publications, visit this webpage to login (note: access is only for current members).
Journals
WAC’s flagship journal is Archaeologies, published by Springer. For more information, visit the Archaeologies website.
WAC also supports the publication of:
Arqueología Suramericana/Arqueologia Sul-Americana
Arqueología Suramericana/Arqueologia Sul-Americana is an international, peer reviewed journal published twice a year (January and July). The journal publishes papers on archaeology or related disciplines discussing issues whose geographical or geopolitical locus is South America . Contributions can be sent to the following account: mailto:mailto:arqueologiasuramericana@yahoo.com. Subscriptions can also be solicited by writing to that account.
Editors: Cristóbal Gnecco is a professor at the Department of Anthropology, Universidad del Cauca (Colombia), and Alejandro Haber teaches at the Scool of Archaeology, Universidad Nacional de Catamarca (Argentina).
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Journal of Environment and Culture
The birth of the journal is informed by the need to respond to a perceived danger which threatens the foundation of humanism as presently articulated by modernity, and which could have serious implications for the relational patterns between, and amongst individuals, communities and nations in the near future. From all that is evident, Africa is particularly within the cutting edge of this danger, and Nigeria may have slipped into its grinding mill as citizens organize one form of protest or the other.
Editor-in-Chief: Professor O.B. Lawuyi holds a Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois, U.S.A. He has taught in several African universities, serving in some instances as Head of Department. He has made substantial contributions in the areas of public discourse, urban African popular culture, and African religion. His articles have appeared in several international journals including Africa, International Sociology, Sociological Inquiry, African Study Review, History in Africa, Semiotica, and Dialectical Anthropology. He has over 70 publications. Quite aside from serving on the Board of several leading journals in Africa, he is also the Editor of a few, including the Journal of Environment and Culture.
Books
One of the central aims of the World Archaeological Congress is education about the past. In pursuit of this aim, WAC publishes a number of book series:
One World Archaeology
Worlds of Archaeology
Indigenous Archaeologies
Global Cultural Heritage Manual Series
Research Handbooks in Archaeology
Editors and contributors to the WAC book series waive any royalties they might normally receive from a publisher. Instead all royalties are used to help the wider work of WAC. Each of the publishers above is gratefully acknowledged for their support of this aim.
One World Archaeology
Series Editor (Volumes 1-37):
Peter J. Ucko
Executive Series Editor (Volume 38-47):
Peter Stone
Academic Series Editors (Volume 38-47):
Martin Hall and Julian Thomas
Academic Series Editors (Volume 48 onwards):
Joan Gero, Mark Leone and Robin Torrence
Publications in the One World Archaeology series contain selections of the papers presented at the WAC Congresses, held every four years. This series developed as an outcome of the inaugural World Archaeological Congress held in Southampton, England in 1986. The subject matter of this series is wide-ranging, reflecting the diverse interests of WAC.
WAC gives place to considerations of power and politics in framing archaeological questions and results. WAC also gives place and privilege to minorities who have often been silenced or regarded as beyond capable of making main line contributions to the field.
Worlds of Archaeology
Series Editors: Alejandro Haber and Heather Burke
The aim of the Worlds of Archaeology Series is to use the global diversity of archaeology to access new, disparate and challenging ways of imagining the past. If there is only one world archaeology, then there is only one canon. This constructs a false homogeneity, which limits the imagination. World archaeology is not well represented when it is translated into this straightjacket. One of the major aims of this series is to communicate the lived experiences of archaeology in different parts of the world. Not only are there many different geographical and political worlds, but there are as many different ways of imagining archaeology as there are cultural experiences of it. The incredible regional diversity inherent in WAC is linked to different conceptual ways of imagining the past and the many social roles that are fulfilled by the practice of archaeology. These social, cultural and political kaleidoscopes are ultimately personal, producing ever-changing patterns of interaction and interpretation. This series will explore the relationships between the multiplicity of archaeological practices and perspectives and the many ways in which the world is experienced. The challenge for this series is to transpose these differences in lived experiences into the written form.
This series is explicitly devoted to foregrounding many different voices, including those from formerly silenced parts of the world, and making them available in a way which has never before been realised. By simultaneously integrating and connecting these voices within and between countries it also reaches across many divides: not only across geographical, cultural and academic boundaries, but also across theoretical and methodological divides. The issues that will be addressed are therefore fundamental to archaeological theory and practice in all parts of the world.
It is sometimes the case that Western representations of world archaeology seem to be a mapping of colonial ties, with the material interpreted through the lens of British or American eyes, rather than through the eyes of the archaeologists who are from the countries being studied and who have to live with the social consequences of their work. A comparable process occurs within countries, as internal colonialism, where archaeologists return to the cities after they have conducted their fieldwork in remote areas. Thus, one focus of this series is the context within which knowledge is produced. The concern is not only with who is speaking but also with how the author’s perspectives are constructed through colonialism and the particular cultural experience of being an archaeologist in that place at that time. Moving beyond the straightjacket of hegemonic discourse has the potential to expand the archaeological imagination and the relevance of archaeology to the contemporary world.
Editorial policies, too, are mapped within these post-colonial relationships. A fundamental problem with how archaeology is disseminated globally concerns the manner in which audiences and themes are constructed. Both are part of the framework of those who write, deriving from a relatively narrow band within Western academia, and those who read. This is self-feeding cycle, considering that the pedagogical discourses depend on these same editorial policies. This process masks the many regional strengths that exist in archaeology across the world. This series aims to reverse this process by highlighting and promoting regional theoretical and methodological strengths. The issues that will be addressed are fundamental to archaeological theory and practice worldwide.
The principal innovation of this series is that it is consciously structured to facilitate dialogue and critical exchange both within and between countries. Volume editors and authors will be encouraged to structure their books so that they reflect the global diversity of WAC, not only in content but also in style and format. Papers can be submitted in the first language of the author, but the final versions will be published in English. Where possible co-publication will be arranged in other languages. We encourage people to write in their own intellectual traditions and literary styles, rather than work within the straightjacket of the Western canon.
This series draws upon work conducted in all parts of the world. Royalties from these books are donated to the World Archaeological Congress, to support the travel of people from economically disadvantaged communities or countries to WAC conferences. The pricing structure of this series is designed to enable a substantial quantity of the print run to be distributed free of charge to libraries and other public institutions in low income countries.
Global Cultural Heritage Manual Series
How do you conduct ethical archaeology in a foreign country? How do you get funding to go there? What are the legislative requirements? How do you get access to museum collections? Where are the best repositories? Where can you get published? How do you know whether an issue is going to be culturally sensitive? In a world where gaining practical experience in other nations is more important than ever, the barriers seem even greater. The World Archaeological Congress Cultural Heritage Manual Series is designed to guide archaeologists through such potential quagmires and provides an ideal preparation for people wishing to gain archaeological experience in a foreign country.
Written by local archaeologists or researchers with experience working in those regions, the volumes in this series provide the essential introduction needed to conduct archaeological fieldwork in each of the fourteen regions of the World Archaeological Congress. Grounded in the social, political and ethical issues that inform archaeological practice in each region or country, these books help archaeologists overcome the challenges involved in doing archaeology in new environments and amongst diverse cultural groups, and provide a neat snapshot of many of the social and ethical issues involved in archaeological research in that region.
The World Archaeological Congress Cultural Heritage Manual Series combines clear and easy to understand information on conducting fieldwork for undergraduate and postgraduate students, with practical advice for emerging as well as established professionals. It provides advice specifically suited to the ethical, legislative and environmental conditions of each region, and guides practitioners from the initial stages of research design, through obtaining funding and permissions, to site recording, analysis, report writing and other forms of publication. Appendices collate the main codes of ethics used by archaeologists in each region and provide lists of professional contacts and sample recording forms to facilitate field preparation and recording. Boxed sections by professional archaeologists contain their personal tips for working with archaeological materials in each region, and for dealing with local social, ethical and political issues.
We expect that these volumes will be used as texts in anthropology departments but will also be taken into the field by professional archaeologists and others undertaking heritage fieldwork. The techniques outlined in each book will address these audiences but will also be useful to non-government organisations, historical societies and other local community groups interested in understanding the archaeological process in different parts of the world and in studying, recording, and preserving heritage sites responsibly.
World Archaeological Congress Research Handbooks in Archaeology
Series Editors: George Nicholas and Julie Hollowell
Simon Fraser University and Indiana University
The World Archaeological Congress’s (WAC) new Research Handbooks in Archaeology series provides comprehensive coverage of a range of areas of contemporary interest to archaeologists. Research handbooks attempt to synthesize and benchmark a given field or area of inquiry by providing state-of-the-art summary articles on the key topics in the field. The edited volumes in this series will provide clear, in-depth information on specific archaeological themes, including the foundations of key concepts and theories, and practical advice for students, scholars, and emerging professionals. Each chapter outlines the major historical developments of a particular topic; describes the current trends in research, practice, and social action; provides a bibliography of key sources; and suggests future directions.
Guided by a vision of an ethically embedded global archaeology, this cohesive series grounds archaeological theory, method, and practice in an understanding of contemporary ethical issues surrounding each theme. These volumes illustrate how to conduct ethical archaeology while also providing a much-needed in-depth treatment of selected thematic areas. Where appropriate, as in the areas of museum anthropology or cultural tourism, a volume will take a cross-disciplinary approach, designed for dual audiences. We envisage that these volumes will be used as graduate level course texts in archaeology and anthropology departments throughout the world with primary audiences and applications including academics, academic libraries, archaeological professionals, museum staff and others involved in heritage work. Themes in each book will also be useful to non-government organizations, historical societies, and other community groups interested in archaeology.
Initial volumes will cover forensic archaeology, landscape archaeology, museum anthropology, and postcolonial archaeology. The first volumes are expected for publication in 2008.