By Fiona Moore
Next week brings a respite from the Inbox for 4 whole days, when I’ll be heading to the Sapienza University of Rome for the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) 30 th Annual Meeting. I must admit that whilst I very much enjoyed last year’s EAA in my home(ish) city of Belfast, I do seem slightly more excited about this year’s gathering…
A major research and networking event for any archaeologist’s calendar, the EAA conference brings together over 5000 academic, commercial and curatorial heritage professionals from all sectors of the global archaeological community, to engage in debate and discussion around the latest scientific research and commercial innovation across the fields of archaeology and heritage management.
The main draws for me are firstly (and rather selfishly) the chance to immerse myself in the latest scientific archaeological research in the hope that it will provide some much-needed motivation to finish various bits of writing I seem to have abandoned in recent months; but also, importantly, to be
part of the ever-growing interchange between academic and development-led archaeology. Whilst I will mostly be complaining about the Italian capital’s August temperatures (I’m Irish; don’t judge) I’m also very much looking forward to catching up with colleagues and collaborators from across Europe, and attending for the first time the Medieval European Research Council (MERC) social event held on the penultimate night of the conference.
A trawl through the 440-page programme book (!) has identified far too many sessions of interest than I could physically attend; but, armed with a realistic shortlist, a bit of forward planning and some iron-clad time management, I should be able to give it a good go. Sessions of particular interest, to name a few, include The Role of Public Archaeology in Heritage Management, The Data Rush: Adapting to the consequences of increased quantities of high-quality data in archaeological research and From Lab to Field, from Vertical to Horizontal: New approaches to the use of portable X-ray florescence (pXRF) in archaeology. And as long as they all wrap up in time for aperitivo, we should be just fine.
Check back in for updates next week.
