Call for papers! 43rd Conference of the Environmental Archaeology Association

The call for papers for the 43rd Conference of the Association for Environmental Archaeology, which will take place in Tarragona (Spain) next 24-26th November 2023, is open!

Please submit your abstracts here: https://bit.ly/abstractsAEA2023
Deadline 31 July 2023 23:59h CET 

Registration fees: 

Registration for the conference will open soon! Stay tuned to our channels and the conference page: https://icac.cat/en/dissemination/icac-activities/43rd-aea-conference/

Abstract and call for papers

The interpretation of sites, soils, stratigraphies, cultural artifacts and bioarchaeological remains using archaeological methods provides a rich source of material to investigate past behaviours and ultimately explain the human stories behind scientific data. The increasing interdisciplinarity and the development of new methodologies to treat archaeological primary data have opened new possibilities to deepen our interpretations and go one step further in understanding our cultural heritage.

Greater engagement in theoretical debates and approaches has further contributed to a multivocality and a proliferation of narratives that entangle different scales of analysis to explain the past. Environmental archaeology has made great strides, moving on from the ‘appendix’ of site reports listing species, to occupying an important role and shedding light from different angles on key archaeological questions. 

In this conference, we seek to explore the contributions of environmental archaeology to these ‘stories’ of the past. The aim will be to move the focus away from the data, techniques, and methodological advances to the narrative, to explore how our research has helped explain and interpret the past and which are our key contributions in creating history.

Another important area will be the examination of effective communication strategies of our stories and research achievements to colleagues of other academic fields and the public and how these can contribute real impact on modern society through either a better understanding of the past or lessons and practical guidance for the future.  

We are calling for papers that employ environmental archaeology in its broader sense to investigate or propose new interpretations/hypotheses on: 

• Social relations and the role of different social groups in shaping society and economy
• The role of immigration/movement in changing society, how this took place and its repercussions
• Past cosmologies and belief systems
• How people or groups of people perceived and acted on issues of health and medicine
• How people or groups of people engaged with their environment: reconstructing rural or urban histories of interactions
• People and societies as main actors impacting landscapes, geographies and environments
• Local versus global narratives
• Key events of the past (agricultural and farming developments, emergence of new forms of socio-economic organisation, and what these meant or how they changed life, etc.)

In relation to the theme ‘communicating environmental archaeology stories’, papers are also welcome on: 

• Environmental archaeology contributions to policy making and impact 
• Successful stories of communicating and disseminating environmental archaeology research to researchers of other fields and the public 
• Environmental archaeology and the press 
• Environmental archaeology and impact on education 
• Inclusive environmental archaeology 

Presentation format

1. Standard format – 15 minutes presentations; 
2. Storytelling format: 6 minutes presentations based on displaying images or using other visual means with commentary to ‘tell your story’. We suggest 2-3 slides per minute (20-30 seconds commentary per slide). The aim is to achieve a concise audiovisual presentation that will convey your aims, means and achievements. 
3. Poster (A1 size) 

Please submit your abstracts here: https://bit.ly/abstractsAEA2023
Deadline 31 July 2023 23:59h CET 

Follow all the news of the conference page, in GIAP’s website, and the #AEA2023Tgn hashtag on our social media (see footer)!
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