WAC 9 Call for student volunteers

Welcome Address from the WAC-9 Academic Secretary Dear Colleagues worldwide! 34 years after its birth in Southampton as a highly influential world organization, the World Archaeological Congress is coming back to Europe. Prague has always been a cultural and multilingual crossroads of Central Europe. The atmospheric streets of Prague hide amazing subterranean relics of the medieval city which are very attractive to visitors to explore. The Czech Capital is the city of St. Wenceslaus, the city of Franz Kafka and of Václav Havel. Prague is once again becoming such a crossroads as a forum for discussion for anyone who is concerned with the study of archaeology and world heritage. WAC is open to archaeologists of all countries, encouraging the development of regionally-based histories and maintaining the international academic discourse within the worldwide community. This special event offers you the opportunity to share the results of your research. It mediates discussion on professional training and public education for disadvantaged nations, groups and communities. The voices of representatives of different Indigenous groups will be welcomed. We will also discuss the role of archaeology and the state of world heritage in the current globalized world. Make your research visible worldwide: come to Prague 5th to 10th July 2020! We look forward to welcoming you in the heart of Europe. Yours Sincerely Jan Turek WAC-9 Academic Secretary

ISBN 978-80-908114-0-9, 2022

Welcome Address from the WAC-9 Academic Secretary Dear WAC Members, dear colleagues! 36 years after its birth in Southampton, the World Archaeological Congress has come back to Europe having grown into a highly influential world organization. However, the way to Prague was not straight forward. In March 2020, when we were finalizing preparations, 172 academic sessions were approved by the Scientific Committee and over 1200 WAC members submitted their papers. Then the Covid-19 pandemic started, and everything suddenly froze. All we could do at the time was to hope that schools would reopen, planes would start flying, and that we would meet again and further develop our friendship. We now know that it was a historic lesson that alerted us to the vulnerability of global travel and that the opportunities we had previously taken for granted could be dramatically truncated in a week. Globally, we have gone through restrictions, fears, and tragedies. WAC-9 was first postponed until 2021; it was a difficult but inevitable decision, but it also contained the hope that we would soon see a light at the end of the dark tunnel, such as vaccine, a cure, and a solution that would return life to the way it used to be before the pandemic. However, the Coronavirus was indeed a powerful adversary and we had no choice but to postpone our meeting for another year until 2022. This was already a really serious limitation for our community and many of us lost contact and desire in the global meeting. Many sections were withdrawn, many organizers lost interest, some changed or lost their jobs. Life is different than we were used to. Hopefully, we have come out of the two pandemic years strengthened. We have learned how to communicate virtually, and for many international projects and conferences, online collaboration is a great asset. Yes, even conferences and congresses will not be the same as before. People still prefer face-to-face contact and we are starting to travel again, but for a global community like WAC, virtual communication is an essential part of the future. Perhaps we will also appreciate the opportunities for face-to-face meetings and friendships even more. Only time will tell what the future of our communication will be. After two years of fighting the Coronavirus, however, another global problem has emerged in Putin's imperialism, which is not only committing genocide in a sovereign European country, but threatening the existence of the whole of humankind with irresponsible and totally unjustifiable threats to use nuclear weapons. The consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine are yet to demonstrate their full global effects, though we already witness how the global commodity markets are being destabilised by this war. Calling the war in Ukraine a local European conflict is mistake, as many countries worldwide are already indirectly involved; the impact of the irresponsible Russian intervention will influence the global food crisis. Very soon, far reaching consequences will be especially felt in vulnerable countries in Africa and the Middle East that depend on wheat supplies from Ukraine. Here, in Czech Republic, the war in Ukraine feels very close, and its impacts can be observed as you visit Prague. As of June 2022, 4% of current residents in Czech Republic are Ukrainian refugees. As with other Central/Eastern European countries, ordinary citizens are sheltering refugees in our homes, fundraising for displaced people, and supporting colleagues and students who remain in Ukraine. The pandemic and the war are features of Prague WAC-9. The number of participants is considerably lower than in previous congresses. The WAC Council even decided not to hold the General Assembly here given such limited possibilities of travel and communication. But let’s be positive about our meeting! We survive, and we prove our global archaeological community is able to sustain and continue for many years to come. Let’s enjoy the opportunity to meet, in person or virtually through screens of computers. Let’s enjoy the unique atmosphere of Prague, which has always been a multicultural and multilingual crossroad of Central Europe. The atmospheric streets of Prague hide amazing subterranean relics of the medieval city, some of which are still waiting to be discovered. The Czech Capital is the city of St. Wenceslaus, and has spirit of Franz Kafka and Václav Havel. This special event offers us the opportunity to share the results of our research and discuss the role of archaeology and the state of world heritage in the current globalized world. It mediates discussion on professional training and public education for disadvantaged nations, groups, and communities. The voices of representatives of different Indigenous groups are welcomed in Prague. WAC-9 simply brings the clear statement: we want to continue our global communication and we will never give up! Yours Sincerely Jan Turek WAC-9 Academic Secretary

ANTHROPOLOGIE LX/3, 2022

After six years of preparation and two postponements the 9th World Archaeological Congress was held in Prague 3–8 July 2022. WAC-9 in Prague was hosted as a hybrid event. Some 630 people from 70 countries attended the Congress. Bearing in mind the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and the influence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine affecting whole region of Eastern and Central Europe, the Congress was a success.

This year is the Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists coming to the centre of Europe, to the region of West Bohemia and City of Pilsen.

2018

The texts collected in the monograph are refined versions of the papers presented at the 22nd Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists in Vilnius, 31st of August – 4th of September, 2016, in three sessions focused on various aspects of preventive archaeology: (TH2-07) 25 years later: Changes and conjunctures in preventive (development-led) archaeology in former ‘Eastern’ Europe; (TH2-10) After 1990: a turning point in the guiding principles of rescue excavations and its impact on scientific research; (TH2-19) Preventive Archaeology, Scientific Research and Economic Development. The very fact that the EAA’s Scientific Committee accepted three sessions focused on preventive archaeology and that 44 papers and 3 posters were presented by authors from 22 countries, clearly speaks for the paramount importance of the preventive archaeology not only in heritage protection sector, but for the archaeological discipline in general.

2016

Public Archaeology, 2018

which began as a series of non-destructive investigations but later developed into a complex research project involving excavations, landscape and environmental studies, digital information systems, and archaeometric research on various types of material culture. This research is focused on the role of Hellenistic towns within the Roman province of Sicily, landscape studies, and the reconstruction of daily life and human impact on the environment. 1 Popularization of archaeology has a long lineage in Poland; however, it has been rather a one-way communication (from the discipline to the general public). However, increasing interest in the development of public archaeology (as an environment of mutual communication and public engagement) can be seen in the increasing number of published books, papers, and conferences dealing with this topic, as well as projects and events engaging local communities (for example,