WAC reminder

S.T.Champion (S.T.Champion@SOTON.AC.UK)
Mon, 11 Apr 1994 10:38:41 BST

This is to remind subscribers to anthro-l that WAC 3 - the third
congress of the World Archaeological Congress - will be held in New Delhi
4-11 December 1994. Registration and inauguration is on 4 December, and the
whole of 5 December is devoted to Indian archaeology, with leading Indian
archaeologists presenting recent research on key topics in all areas and
periods as well as introducing participants to the archaeological organisations
of the country. WAC 3 follows the established pattern for WAC
congresses on the remaining days, with a series of overall themes and sub-
themes, and a number of cross-cutting themes, all treated globally:

Theme 1: Concepts of Time
Sub-themes: a. "Traditional" and Cultural Concepts of Time
b. How Science-based Dating has affected the Understanding of the Past

Theme 2: Archaeology as an Indicator of Trade and Contact
Sub-themes: a. Trade as a Vehicle of Religion and Traditions
b. Maritime Trade, Commerce and Contact
c. Trade and Exchange: the Material Evidence
d. Regional Perspectives on Trade and Contact
e. Trade, Exchange and Culture Change

Theme 3: Language, Anthropology and Archaeology
Sub-themes: a. Relating Archaeology and Language
sub-sub-themes to a: i. Archaeology/Biology and the Origins of Language
ii. Problems in the Definition of Macro-Phyla and Possible Archaeological
Correlates
iii. Implications of Human Genetics for Language Grouping
iv. Language and Prehistoric and Historic Migrations
v. Dating Language Spread and Change
vi. Language and Society: Variation and Change
vii. Proto-Lexicons and the Origins of Agriculture
viii. Geographically Informative Semantic Fields
ix. Oral Traditions, Myths and Archaeology
Sub-theme: b. The Archaeology of Language Regions

Theme 4: Ethnoarchaeology
Sub-themes: a. Theoretical Considerations
b. Case Studies and their Cultural Settings
c. Living Traditions
d. Peripheral Groups and Frontier Cultures
e. Current Responses by Indigenous Peoples

Theme 5: State, City and Society
Sub-themes: a. Subsistence Bases of the Pre-Industrial City
b. Urban Design and Layout
c/i. Cities in Regional Context
c/ii. Urbanism in Humid Tropics
d. Social, Political and Ideological Factors in Urban Origins and Development
e. Legitimation of Political Coercion in the Early State
f. Relationship between State and Urban Development (including the question of
states without cities)
g. The Incorporation of Heterogeneous Groups within the State

Theme 6: The Neogene and the Quaternary
Sub-themes: a. Environment and Chronology
b. Human Evolution
c. Colonisation
d. Palaeodemography
e. Settlement and Technology
f. The Archaeology of Cognition

Theme 7: Technological Innovations and Power
Sub-themes: a. The Sociology and Social Anthropology of Innovation
b. The Dynamics of Innovation
c. Tradition and Innovation and the Role of the Individual
d. Cultural Imperialism or Standardisation?
e. Technology: Information liberator or gaoler?

Theme 8: Change in Agrarian Systems
Sub-themes: a. Subsistence and Sedentism
b. The Causes of Innovation and Change in Subsistence Systems
c. Innovation in Subsistence Systems in the New World
d. Evidence Demonstrating Agricultural Change
e. Subsistence and Symbolism

Theme 9: Cultural Property, Conservation and Cultural Awareness
Sub-themes: a. Challenges and Solutions in the Preservation of Cultural
Properties
b. Recording Techniques and Publishing Strategies
c. Who Pays for our Data?
d. Trafficking and Restitution of Cultural Property
e. Cultural Property, Public Awareness and the Civil Administration
f. Freedom of Information?
g. Information or Social Control?
h. Archaeological Evidence, Reconstruction of Sites, Education and Public
Awareness
i. The Role of Museums and Preservation Organisations in Public Education and
Outreach

Theme 10: Relationship Between Archaeological Theory and Practice
Sub-themes: a. Recent Developments in Archaeological Theory
b. Theory as Practice in Archaeology
c. Regional Traditions in Archaeological Theory

Theme 11: Changing Perspectives in Historical Archaeology
Sub-themes: a. Exploring Epistemological Problems: Questions of Definition of
the Subject
b. The Plurality of Material Culture
c. National Identities
d. Internal and External Colonisation
e. The Archaeology of Mass Killing

Theme 12: The Frontiers of Landscape Archaeology: time, space and humanity
Sub-themes: a. Landscapes of Social Power
b. Landscape of Ecological and Economic Management
c. Conservation of Landscape
d. Possessing your Landscape

Theme 13: Archaeological Manifestations of Religious Traditions and
Institutions on Society and Culture
Sub-themes: a. Myths, Rituals and Practices
b. Symbols and Forms
c. Customs and Traditions

Theme 14: Material Culture and Body
Sub-themes: a. The Body as a Natural Symbol of Classification
b. Bodily Adornment
c. Architecture and Body
d. Cultural Definitions and Representations of Body-Inside:Body-Outside

The cross-cutting themes are Information Technology, Education and Archaeology,
Different Cultural Traditions, and Film and Video.

There are also specialised symposia on the following subjects:
1. The Indus Civilisation
2. Archaeological Source Material and the Reconstruction of History
3. Rock Art of Asia and the Pacific
4. New Archaeological Discoveries in Asia and the Pacific
5. Recent Advances in Archaeological Field and Laboratory Techniques
6. Maritime (Underwater) Archaeology
7. Archaeology on Film and Video

The Second Announcement, on which this summary is based, includes titles of
papers already submitted and the names of theme and sub-theme organisers.
Copies of this announcement and further details can be obtained from:
Dr Makkhan Lal, P.O. Box 112, H.P.O., Aligarh, 202001 India; if you wish to use
email, please contact Vanessa Balloqui at the University of Southampton, UK,
on : ness@soton.ac.uk

We hope to see hundreds of you in Delhi in December - there is still time to
offer papers!

Sara

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* Sara Champion M.A., D. Phil * I have spread *
* Department of Archaeology * my dreams under *
* University of Southampton * your feet; *
* Southampton SO9 5NH, U.K. * Tread softly, *
* email: stc@uk.ac.southampton * because you tread *
* Tel: 0703 557031 * on my dreams. *
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