Conferences

SOCIETY FOR HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY CONFERENCE CODE OF CONDUCT

PREAMBLE

The Society for Historical Archaeology is committed to providing a safe, respectful environment for all attendees at its conferences.  To that end, the SHA will work to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), or any other category.  The SHA will not tolerate harassment in any form at any SHA-sponsored events.  This policy applies to all SHA members and non-members who participate in an SHA activity.

DEFINITION AND EXAMPLES OF IMPERMISSIBLE CONDUCT

Harassment includes offensive comments or behavior related to gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion, technology choices, sexual images in public space, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.  Outside of research presentations that include specific considerations of sexuality or sexual representations in the past, sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any conference venue, including talks, workshops, parties, social media and other online media.

Harassment under this Policy refers to any behavior by an individual or group that contributes to a hostile, intimidating and/or unwelcoming environment.  Such conduct is harmful, disrespectful, and unprofessional. 

OBLIGATION

All participants and attendees at the conference accept the obligation to treat everyone with respect and civility and to uphold the rights of all participants and attendees, including SHA staff, temporary staff, contractors, volunteers and hotel staff, to be free from harassment.

Attendees are bound by the SHA Ethics Principles, the SHA Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Policy, and this Conference Code of Conduct.  Attendees should also be aware that they are also bound by the codes of conduct at their home institution(s).  This policy, which is consistent with the professional ethics statement of the SHA, does not supersede institutional codes but is intended to reinforce their message.

By obtaining SHA membership, registering to present or attend SHA meetings, members and participants commit to maintaining respectful and ethical relationships in accordance with this policy.  The SHA reserves the right to remove an individual violating this policy from the SHA annual conference without warning or refund and prohibit attendance at future SHA conferences and/or activities.

Should the SHA have concerns regarding an individual’s attendance at its conference creating a safety issue, the SHA can bar the individual from registering and attending the conference. In the case of proven violations that took place prior to the annual meeting and that have been reported and documented prior to pre-registration, proven harassers/assailants will be barred from participation.  Late and on-site registrations will be rescinded immediately should information be received documenting a proven violation.  The SHA will not conduct its own investigation but will accept the investigations of law enforcement agencies, RPA, universities, EEOC and employers.  Documented harassers/assailants should be identified to SHA staff or leadership by survivors or other reporters as early as possible.  Identification with documentation of adjudication needs to be provided to bar participation in SHA events. 

REPORTING AT THE CONFERENCE

Conference attendees, who experience or witness harassment as defined by this policy, or who are aware that a conference participant is currently or has been sanctioned for assault or harassment by an adjudicating body and can provide documentation of the outcome, are encouraged to contact one of the following:

1. SHA Executive Director directly at 240-753-4397;
2. A member of the SHA Board of Directors ; or
3. A member SHA Code of Conduct Committee, whose name and contact information will be listed in the conference program.

These individuals will provide appropriate support to those who witnessed or who have experienced harassment or feel unsafe for any reason at the conference.  The Executive Director or a member of the SHA Code of Conduct Committee will advise on the formal complaints process and, if requested, forward complaints to the full SHA Code of Conduct Committee for resolution. 

Formal complaints should be as specific as possible about how alleged behavior constitutes harassment, as defined in this SHA policy.   Any report received will remain confidential to the maximum extent possible when the SHA Code of Conduct Committee considers and investigates the complaint. 

Lisbon features archaeological evidence of human presence since prehistoric times. Located on the mouth of the Tagus River, it has had continuous human occupation since becoming an important Iron Age settlement and, subsequently, a Roman city with many archaeological features still in evidence today (such as the Roman theater). Lisbon is one of the most interesting and historically important cities in Europe, and was the capital of a major overseas empire at least from late 15th through late 17th centuries. The Portuguese were directly responsible for initiating the European globalization that defines our period, and its influences include initiating the post-1500 commodity exchanges and population movements that are core to our discipline – also initiating modern plantation slavery. Rebuilding after the shattering earthquake of 1755 also left Lisbon with one of the most important 18th-century urban landscapes in Europe with several archaeological evidence which continues in the 19th and 20th centuries.

More coming later in 2020

Lisbon is well connected by air, rail, and motorway networks. The city and surrounding countryside incorporate a wide range of historic sites and landscapes which will support a full program of tours across all periods. The archaeological stores from the Lisbon Archaeological Center will facilitate workshops in different parts of the city.

The FCSH-UNL (Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities) is part of the NOVA University of Lisbon and was created in 1977. The faculty provides education to more than 5000 students from many nationalities. The campus of the Faculty is located in the heart of Lisbon close to several libraries and museums, such as the Gulbenkian Foundation, supported by a wide variety of transportation and hotels and restaurants.

The U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Portugal website (https://pt.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/additional-resources-of-u-s-citizens/travelling-to-portugal/) provides the following information:

If you are planning to travel to Portugal on a tourist or business trip for a period not to exceed 90 days, you do not need to apply for a visa. You are required to be in possession of a U.S. passport, valid for a minimum of three months beyond the length of your stay.

U.S citizens who arrive in Portugal without a valid passport will NOT be permitted to enter Portugal, and will be returned to their point of origin.

Specific information about residency and temporary stay visa requirements is available at https://www.vistos.mne.pt/en/ and on the Embassy of Portugal’s website. For country specific information and travel alerts please review www.travel.state.gov Be Prepared for the unexpected overseas! Read the emergency preparedness brochure (PDF 775 KB)

Conference Co-Chair(s): Tânia Manuel Casimiro, Francisco Caramelo

Program Chair: Alasdair Brooks

Underwater Co-Chairs:José Bettencourt and Filipe Castro

Terrestrial Co-Chairs: Catarina Tente, Joseph Bagley

Popular Program Director:Leonor Medeiros

Local Arrangements Chair:Ana Cristina Martins

Public Relations Director:Teresa Simões

Tour and Events Director:Carlos Boavida

Bookroom Coordinator:

Social Media Liaison:Pedro Coelho

Volunteer Directors:Gabriel Sousa

Fundraising/Partnership Liaison: Catarina Bernardo

Workshops Director: Mariana Almeida

Awards: Paul Mullins (Indiana University-Purdue University)

The SHA has reserved a block of rooms at the Holiday Inn Lisbon-Continental, Rua Laura Alves nr. 9, 1069-169 Lisboa, Portugal. Room rates are: single room 100 Euros and double room 115 Euros. The room rate includes a buffet breakfast. In addition, a tourist visitor city tax of 1 Euro per person will be assessed for each overnight stay in Lisbon, up to seven nights – 1 Euro per person and per night up to 7 Euros maximum.

Reservations should be made by using the hotel’s booking form. Download the Booking Form SHA 2023 and fax or email your completed form to the hotel to secure your reservation.

The abstract submission period for the 2023 Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology will open May 1, 2022 and run through July 15, 2022.  Abstracts may be submitted at www.conftool.com/sha2023.

There are two important changes to the Call for Papers for the 2023 conference, as follows:

1. OPEN vs. CLOSED SYMPOSIA. Symposium organizers can choose whether their session is “open” to additional presenters in the session or “closed” to additional presenters. Organizers will need to indicate this when they submit their session. For OPEN symposia, the title, abstract and organizer contact information will be posted to the SHA Conference page at https://sha.org/conferences/. Individuals interested in submitting their paper to a particular “open” symposium must contact the organizer to request permission to submit to the session prior to submitting their abstract. The Conference Program Committee may also assign relevant general submissions to an open symposium, subject to the approval of the organizers. For CLOSED symposia, only presenters identified by the organizer at the time the abstract is submitted will present in that session.
2. IN-PERSON vs. PRE-RECORDED PRESENTATION. You will be asked to indicate whether you will be presenting your paper/session in person at the conference in Lisbon or whether you wish to pre-record your paper/session and have it uploaded to a website platform for viewing by conference registrants. All forum and poster presentations must be in-person. It is at the discretion of a symposium organizer or general submission paper author as to whether their contribution is pre-recorded or in-person, but there will be no mixing and matching of formats within a session. This means that all papers in an in-person symposium must be presented by an individual in Lisbon; no pre-recorded presentations will be permitted for in-person symposia (or vice versa). All pre-recorded papers and sessions will be included in the conference program and played during a scheduled session in Lisbon.

Download the SHA 2023 Call for Papers.

For questions on the Call for Papers, contact the 2023 Program Chair at SHA2023Program@gmail.com.

The 2023 conference will allow presenters to submit their papers to ‘open’ formal symposia that welcome independent submissions.  If a session is designated as ‘open’ by the symposium organizer, then other authors can submit individual papers to that session once they have received approval from the symposium organizer.  Please contact the symposium organizer for approval prior to submitting your abstract.  The 2023 program committee may also direct appropriate papers to the session. Additional papers will still be subject to approval by the symposium organizer.

Open Symposia

Open In-Person – Port of Call: Archaeologies of Labor and Movement through Ports
Organizer: Chelsea M. Cohen, Email: cmcohen@sas.upenn.edu

Abstract: Connecting people across oceans, from rural landscapes to urban hubs, and interiors to coasts, ports play critical roles in the development and maintenance of the vestiges of nation and empire. While connections between ports and economic development are lasting and widespread objects of inquiry – the confluence of terrestrial and watery labor is increasingly embraced as worthy of study. Archaeologies of port labor precipitate visibility, both of those moving through ports and those obscured from other historiographies, but by whose hands these spaces were built and operated. This session brings together diverse perspectives on the archaeologies of labor and movement, both at and through ports from terrestrial and maritime archaeological perspectives, emphasizing the multi-scalar human dimensions in sites that are often discussed in predominantly macro-economic terms.

Open In-Person – Monuments and Statues to Women: Arrival of an Historical Reckoning of Memory and Commemoration
Organizer: John H. Jameson, Email: jhjameson@yahoo.com 

Abstract: In the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, statues that symbolize oppression and dominant political power have been removed, destroyed, defaced, or reinterpreted. In recent years, statues and monuments to women are arriving in the midst of a larger and significant global reckoning about historical authority and representation, especially in women’s achievements in passing legislation for the right to vote. In this session, we explore questions such as: What forces and motives–political, mythological, or otherwise–have driven the installation of monuments and statues to women? What are, and have been, the impediments? What patterns of erection, installation, or commemoration to women, or various representations of women, or women figures, have occurred over time from antiquity to the 21st century? What is the past, present, and projected future of monument statuary to women in different countries and cultures? What forces affect these projections? Is the movement of “Breaking the Bronze Ceiling” sustainable?

Open In-Person – Maritime Archaeology in West Africa
Organizer: Megan Crutcher, Email: crutcherm@tamu.edu 

Abstract: Over the past decades, maritime archaeology has found many homes in southern Africa, touching a broad range of subjects and themes. The global impact of African maritime activity through the historical period cannot be understated. However, the maritime archaeology of Africa is still a relatively new area of study with much to navigate. This symposium specifically centers the discussion on West Africa, where maritime archaeology is practiced in new and exciting ways on the Atlantic littoral and across lacustrine and riverine networks. Papers with diverse perspectives on underwater, maritime, and nautical archaeology that bridge various themes, regions, and periods in West African history are welcome.

Open In-Person – Colonial Forts in Comparative, Global, and Contemporary Perspective
Organizer: Michael Nassaney, nassaney@wmich.edu and Sergio Escribano-Ruiz, sergio.escribanor@ehu.eus

Abstract: Fortifications were critical material emplacements established by Dutch, English, French, Russian, and Spanish settlers to assert their ownership claims and defend their interests in prospective colonies throughout the world. Often established in frontier settings, forts played various roles in colonial ambitions and served as defensive strongholds, commercial centers, and political symbols. These polysemic settlements exhibited change over time (16^th -19^th centuries) and took various forms in different geographic places in response to environmental conditions, competition with rivals, and relations with indigenous groups. This material and social variation has led to a range of interpretations and acts of remembrance in the contemporary world. In this symposium we use archaeology to provide a historical, global, and comparative perspective on colonial fortifications. The papers demonstrate how material approaches have had a profound influence on the ways in which archaeologists and the general public imagine, commemorate, and celebrate fortified settlements.

Open In-Person – Investigating Cultural Aspects of Historic Mortuary Archaeology: Perspectives from Europe and North America
Organizers: Harold Mytum, hmytum@liverpool.ac.uk and Richard Veit, rveit@monmouth.edu

Abstract: Historic mortuary archaeology varies in greatly research focus and methodologies between different countries. This symposium comprises active researchers into the cultural aspects of mortuary culture (not human remains) above and below ground describing and analysing their approaches so that a comparative consideration can be gained in a field developing strongly on both sides of the Atlantic. Papers consider issues of past cultural practice and survival, variation in accessibility of historical mortuary materials, the ethics of memorial survey and excavation, and the application of a range of techniques on the same project. Including papers that consider above- or below-ground archaeology enables consideration of historic mortuary processes and the relative importance of different stages of this (from treatment of the dead, through interment to commemoration) to be materially represented.

Open In-Person – Re-Visualizing Submerged Landscapes
Organizer: Eric A. Rodriguez-Delgado, Earodrig@ucsd.edu

Abstract: Recent advances in digital technologies have opened new avenues into how submerged landscapes are recorded, analyzed, and interpreted. Image-based modelling, remote sensing, and geospatial information systems are radically changing the way we do archaeology. This session will discuss the various approaches and methods to reconstructing and visualizing submerged landscapes. These techniques afford archaeologists the ability to process large and diverse datasets alongside excavation and archival data allowing for a more broad interpretation of the social and physical processes that shaped past environments. These digital based methodologies lend themselves to less-invasive archaeological investigations which are becoming increasingly important in many regions of the world and can generate further insights for the future.

Open In-Person – Attention this is a Submergency: Incorporating Global Submerged Records
Organizer: Loren Clark, lrclark@ucsd.edu and Shawn Joy, shawn.joy@searchinc.com

Abstract: Research into the social and physical changes of submerged environments since the last glacial maximum have benefited from advances in methodological applications and theoretical perspectives. Though submerged landscapes are an integral part of underwater cultural heritage, they are often the least studied, the hardest to find, and the most difficult to document. These ancient environments, from offshore continental shelves to inland rivers and lakes, hold the potential to greatly contribute to our understanding of past human experiences, and we as archaeologists have the opportunity to revisit the cultural material of the people who inhabited these spaces. Data from inundated landscapes is essential for providing a holistic picture of the past, and individual presenters within this session will provide regional records and highlight unique projects with the ultimate goal of integrating and managing archaeological records between land and sea.

Open In-Person – Global Archaeologies and Latin American Voices: Dialogues Transcending Colonizing Archaeologies
Organizers: Grace Alexandrino Ocana, g.alexandrino@gmail.com and Maria Fernanda Boza Cuadros, mfboza@cpams.org.pe

Abstract: The rise of Latin American archaeologies had an undeniable colonial dimension intrinsically tied to the global, imperialist and racist nature of contemporaneous scientific practice. The white “founding fathers” that arrived in the region exoticized and commodified its past, and local elites appropriated indigenous sites and symbols to reinforce their own social standing and political agendas. Contemporary approaches drawing from postcolonial and decolonizing perspectives have begun to disentangle the complicated narratives derived from past practices, and to challenge the problematic research designs and their implications for heritage management. The papers in this session tackle these and other problems, and offer new perspectives on their ongoing investigations in our home countries and across Latin America. Our goal is to further the research agendas of Latin American scholars, and facilitate a space that fosters dialogue and collaboration among us beyond the remaining colonial dimensions of archaeology in our home countries.

Open In-Person: Methods for Monitoring Heritage at Risk Sites in a Rapidly Changing Environment
Organizers: Sarah Miller, semiller@flagler.edu, Meg Gaillard, gaillardm@dnr.sc.gov

Abstract: Globally, coastal researchers are documenting increasingly severe rates of climate-driven processes that are actively impacting, even erasing, archaeological records. The scope and urgency of this threat requires a collaborative approach that allows archaeologists and other researchers to share methods and resources, as well as draw on local stakeholders and community members to assist. This symposium will feature case studies for monitoring heritage at risk sites around the world, explore the use of various monitoring methods archaeologists and researchers in other fields are using collaboratively, and discuss best practices for monitoring the impacts to cultural resources in a rapidly changing environment.

Open In-Person: Early Modern Seaports in the Context of Global Cities Emergency. Harbour, Maritime and Landscape Archaeology
Organizers: Ana Catarina Garcia, catarinagarcia@gmail.com, Patrícia Carvalho, patriciasanchescarvalho@fcsh.unl.pt

Abstract: During the process of the first globalization, seaports and port cities play a central role, being nodes of contact and exchange between different geographies, cultures and economic and political interests. In the scope of CONCHA project: “The construction of early modern global Cities and oceanic networks in the Atlantic: An Approach via Ocean’s Cultural Heritage”, and EU funded staff exchange project experience, we aim to address and discuss the complexity of seaports, including environmental and landscape features, underwater studies on harbour infrastructures, shipwrecks inside harbours, archaeological collections and maritime landscapes connected with the development of port cities through different perspectives. The main goal is contributed, in a comparative way, to the conceptualizations of port cities growth in the early modern period, having in account early settlements, insular and continental, seaport structures, natural environments, economic activities and marine resource availability.

Open In-Person: Poverty And Plenty In The North
Organizers: Timo Ylimaunu, timo.ylimaunu@oulu.fi, Gavin Lucas, gavin@hi.is, Ágústa Edwald Maxwell, aem@hi.is, Vivi Lena Andersen, viande@kk.dk

Abstract: This session seeks to explore some of the key dimensions behind material plenty and poverty in the archaeological record of the recent past (i.e. c. 1500-1900). How has the amount of stuff people acquired changed over time and how unevenly distributed is it? The empirical focus will be on the material record of Northern areas and bring together scholars in academia, museums, and the world of development-led archaeology where much of the data now derives. Although linked to inequality, the session will widen the view to consider the role of markets and inheritance practices, and how rural-urban distinctions as well as centre-periphery relations intersect with this question. We would like to encourage participants to discuss previous topics and how an increasing dependence on things might result in increasing inequality; rather than see material plenty as an index of inequality, how might it actually be constitutive of it?

Open In-Person: Artifacts are More Than Enough: Recentering the Artifact in Historical Archaeology
Organizer: Richard F. Veit, rveit@monmouth.edu

Abstract: Twenty first century historical archaeology is a big tent, with scholars pursuing diverse research agendas from the deeply scientific to the overtly humanistic. Archaeologists are also deeply engaged in working with descendant communities and are striving to build a better future through activism. This session, inspired by a conversation a decade ago with the late archaeologist Stanley South, argues that artifacts, even single artifacts, are and must be central to our efforts to present a useful past to varied public audiences. This approach, which drills down to the individual artifact might be called nano-archaeology. A series of artifact biographies are presented as a means of linking past and present in meaningful ways.

Open In-Person: Making Waves through Play: A Historical Archaeological Examination of Archaeogaming and the Global Impact of Video Games on the Field of Archaeology
Organizers: Megan R. Victor, megan.victor@qc.cuny.edu and Krystiana L. Krupa, klkrupa@illinois.edu

Abstract: The study of archaeogaming examines three main facets at the intersection of video games and archaeology: the representation of archaeology within video games, the conducting of archaeology within the digital, built landscape of a given game, and the examination of the material culture associated with all aspects of creating and playing such games. With over 3 billion individuals playing video games globally, many conceptions of archaeology are formed – and perpetuated – through gameplay. This session examines the ways in which video games treat with archaeology’s colonial legacy – including slavery, warfare, migration, and expansion. These papers discuss archaeological representations within games, while also highlighting the increasing interconnectivity of the digital and non-digital landscapes within the field. To that end, this session also discusses the ways in which the intersection between archaeology and video games connects current excavation techniques with innovative strategies in digital heritage management and virtual learning.

Open In-Person: Materialities of (Un)Freedom: Examining the Material Consequences of Inequality within Historical Archaeology
Organizers: Camille Westmont, vcwestmont@gmail.com and Adam Fracchia, fracchia@umd.edu

Abstract: States of oppression and “unfreedom” have existed globally for millennia; however, as Frederick Douglass observed, “No man can put a chain around the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.” The ways that systems of inequality manifest materially provide insights on the lived experiences of those involved as well as into the ideologies embedded within those systems. This session brings together papers on places that exemplify unfreedom and intense inequality, including contexts of enslavement, coerced and forced labor, class inequality, and other forms of (capitalist) oppression, to examine the breadth of material signatures of inequality. How is inequality enacted and enforced through objects and spaces? How is identity negotiated and renegotiated under circumstances of unfreedom? How do oppressed communities resist their oppression? Artifact-, landscape-, and theoretically-based approaches to this subject are welcome.

Open In-Person: Reimagining Repatriation: Providing Frameworks for Inclusive Cultural Restitution
Organizer: Krystiana L. Krupa, klkrupa@illinois.edu

Abstract: Calls are increasing globalul for cultural restitution and the repatriation of Ancestral remains and cultural heritage items. Archaeological and collecting institutions have recently seen upward swings in the return across Europe of objects looted from the kingdom of Benin, for example, and of Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Ancestors and items under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in the United States. This session explores restitution and the repatriation of such Ancestors and cultural items from a global perspective, as well as the repatriation of lesser-discussed materials such as biological samples, archaeological and other archives, and knowledge itself. Widening the repatriation discussion to include international frameworks and uncommon “materials” provides opportunities to reimagine what repatriation looks like in practice and to what and whom it applies. The session will include a designated question-and-answer period in order to facilitate the expansion of this conversation.

Open In-Person: Sal, Bacalhau e Açúcar : Trade, Mobility, Circular Navigation and Foodways in the Atlantic World
Organizers: Catherine Losier, closier@mun.ca and Gaëlle Dieulefet, Gaelle.Dieulefet@univ-nantes.fr

Abstract: Salt, Cod and Sugar are associated with distinct regions of the Atlantic World and vastly diverse historical and social contexts. However, these commodities are the constituents of a triptych which initiated trade networks, perpetuated circulation of goods and mobility of individuals connecting far-flung territories of the Atlantic World from the 16th century onward. This symposium examines associated phenomena, such as the importance of Caribbean and European saltpans for the processing of meat and fish, notably cod. It explores the impact of codfish on Caribbean, South American and African foodways, and in return the importance of sugar and its by-products for provisioning trading ships and fishing fleets. Our goal is to connect archaeologists working in various regions of the Atlantic World – in the same fashion that in the past, these regions were transnational – to discuss the global impact of Salt, Cod and Sugar on local narrative and archaeological contexts.

Open In-Person: Transient legacies of the past: Historical Archaeology in the Intertidal Zone
Organizer: Daniel Zwick, d.zwick@archaeologia-navalis.org

Abstract: In recent years, historic shipwrecks and settlement sites have been exposed by coastal erosion in the intertidal zone at an increasing rate – a trend observable on a global scale. The possibilities for in situ preservation and study are limited by the tidal circle, currents, destruction caused by erosion, but also the absence for protocols and resources in dealing with threatened heritage in this difficult terrain, where neither methods of terrestrial nor underwater archaeology could be fully applied. The topic is interlinked with the broader environmental question of how and to which extent geomorphological changes affecting the archaeological heritage are influenced by the changing climate and sea-level rise. Moreover, archaeological heritage in the intertidal zone also draws great public interest as a consequence of its visibility and immediate accessibility. Both natural and anthropogenic impacts on such archaeological sites pose a challenge for historic monuments protection authorities.

Open In-Person: The Archaeology of Arms: New Analytical Approaches
Organizers: Tad Britt, Tad_Britt@nps.gov and Doug Scott, dougdscott@gmail.com

Abstract: Arms technology has an evolutionary history. Small arms and artillery brought about massive changes in the scope and nature of human conflict. Arms became distinctive elements of regional material culture throughout the world. It is not surprising that gun parts and ammunition are nearly ubiquitous in most historical archeological assemblages. With thoughtful consideration, archeological residues of arms usage can provide significant insights into the human past.

This symposium presents the application of a variety of scientific analysis methods that are being used today to better explicate arms parts and ammunition components found in archeological contexts. The presenters descriptions of analytical techniques, and conceptual approaches demonstrate how they can be usefully employed to investigate important human behaviors that involved arms use.

Open In-Person: Urban Preservation Challenges in a Global Perspective
Organizers: Eleanor Breen, eleanor.breen@alexandriava.gov  and Tatiana Niculescu, tatiana.niculescu@alexandriava.gov

Abstract: Urban environments are palimpsests of human experience. Their waterfronts are filled with remnants of old ships and the aspirations of merchants and seafarers while their neighborhoods hold clues of the hidden lives of immigrants and the trauma and hopes of the enslaved and marginalized. The unique nature of cities, marked by transiency and diverse populations, pose a variety of preservation challenges while simultaneously providing unique opportunities for studying the past. Archaeologists and other historical preservationists around the world tackle similar problems, albeit with local variations, including complex stratigraphy, climate change, rapid redevelopment, issues of race and ethnicity, and multiple stakeholder groups with competing goals. This session will explore the challenges and opportunities afforded by urban environments in a global perspective. Participants are encouraged to submit papers on a variety of topics including methodological challenges in urban archaeology, creative preservation strategies, and the interpretive tensions that arise from working in cities.

Open In-Person: Digital Approaches in Nautical Archaeology
Organizers: Nigel Nayling n.nayling@uwtsd.ac.uk, Jens Auer J.Auer@lakd-mv.de, and Chris Dostal dostalc@email.tamu.edu

Abstract: The use of three-dimensional digital technologies for the documentation, analysis, theoretical reconstruction and dissemination of archaeological boat and ship finds has increasingly become the norm within this field of research. There is a need for consistent, rigorous and transparent practice within the discipline but also within a wider community of stakeholders and users including museums, modelers, animators and film makers as with the wider application of computer-based visualisation of cultural heritage (cf. the London Charter). As the technologies of data-capture change, and approaches to digital reconstruction evolve, there is an ongoing need for sharing of experience, critical assessment of different workflows and broad consensus on data standards and formats to encourage comparative studies through access to digital archives. Contributions are particularly welcomed from projects (whether terrestrial or underwater) where current digital 3D practice has led to renewed reflection on how best to utilise digital tools and methodologies in nautical archaeology.

Open In-Person: Environmental Intimacies: Political Ecologies of Colonization and Anti-Colonial Resilience
Organizers: Parker VanValkenburgh, parker_vanvalkenburgh@brown.edu, Kevin Lane kevin.lane.72@googlemail.com

Abstract: Environmental historians have highlighted the ways in which European colonialisms of the 15th through 18th centuries CE led to large-scale changes in environments and ecologies, from the so-called ‘Columbian-exchange’, to the linked processes of Indigenous genocide and reforestation, to the effects of introduced livestock on pastoral landscapes. In this symposium, we seek to mobilize archaeological scholarship to re-examine colonialisms’ entanglements with more intimate human-environment interactions––networks of relationships between people, animals, plants, soils, waters, and beyond that shape and sustain both human life and political institutions. We analyze the ways in which invaders, colonists, Indigenous people and other agents in distinct colonial contexts negotiated relationships and policies around access to land, water rights, and human labor, against the backdrop of an evolving political ecology of empire and acquisition, and we consider the longer-term (sometimes unanticipated) consequences that resulted from these negotiations.

Open In-Person: Bartmann Goes Global – Exploring the Cultural Contexts, Meaning and Use of Bellarmine Jugs Across the Globe
Organizers: Nigel Jeffries njeffries@mola.org.uk, Natascha Mehler natascha.mehler@uni-tuebingen.de, and Christian Röser Christian.Roeser@lvr.de

Abstract: The most successful of German products of the early modern period, encountered on sites across the world, is the stoneware container known as the Bellarmine or Bartmann jug. The distinctive Bartmann form was produced in huge quantities in Frechen but other centres along the Rhine. Most were specifically made for export, mainly to England or the Netherlands, and as a result of colonial expansion they travelled across the world and occur on early European settlements across the globe or are found on shipwrecks.

In this symposium we want to discuss the relationships between producer, market and consumer on a global scale and the range of cultural contexts in which the bellarmine jugs are found. We are particularly interested in papers from terrestrial and underwater archaeologists that explore the different global contexts these objects have been found in and how different temporal and geographical spheres impacted on their meaning and use.

Open In-Person: Governance and Globalization in the North Atlantic
Organizers: Megan T. Hicks, meganthicks@gmail.com, and Grace Cesario, gmc@hi.is

Abstract: The colonization of the North Atlantic and the immediate, persistent engagement in interrregional trade represents the earliest known transatlantic commercial and political projects. Since their settlement, these islands and archipelagoes (Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands) have undergone social and political transitions in which distinct forms of interregional economies, governance, and cultures congeal. We might contend that North Atlantic societies moved through several thresholds of globalization that manifested materially in conjunction with highly specific social institutions. This session seeks to move conversations and debates beyond the presentation of evidence for long-distance exchange, which is robust for this region, and instead use material evidence as a springboard for understanding how interregional economies in the North Atlantic were structured and mediated via specifically governed and institutionalized relationships.

Open In-Person: Lisbon, The Tagus And The Global Navigation
Organizer: José Bettencourt, jbet@fcsh.unl.pt

Abstract: Lisbon became a major maritime centre during the Early Modern Age, functioning as a commercial, political and military platform. A considerable number of vessels used in ocean navigation, of different European flags, were common in their ports. Moreover, historical research has revealed a pre-industrial belt along the Tagus River, connected by river navigation.

Archaeological research has revealed this maritime dimension. At the river mouth, several shipwrecks covering the period between the 16th and 20th centuries were documented. Since the 1990s, more or less structured remains of boats and ships, with dates between the 16th and 19th centuries, have frequently been unearthed in the riverine area of Lisbon. The same excavations have revealed several port structures, piers, jetties and shipyards. On the south bank, pottery kilns, biscuit ovens and tidal mills were studied. This session provides contributions from terrestrial and underwater archeology on these topics.

Open Pre-Recorded: Things and the Global Antarctica
Organizers: Maria Ximena Senatore, mariaximena.senatore@ua.es and Daniella McCahey, dmccahey@uci.edu 

Abstract: While Antarctica has received uneven attention in global historical archaeology, it is a vital region for understanding the modern world on a global scale. This symposium aims to examine, for the first time at this conference, myriad approaches to the significance of materiality in Antarctica. In this session we explore two central questions: how do human-things relations in Antarctica contribute to our understanding of the ways humans have explored/transformed/exploited distant/remote/uninhabited places from the nineteenth century to the present? and what do these ways of being in Antarctica say about large-scale processes such as modernity, colonialism, and capitalism? This symposium brings together scholars working on any aspect of human-thing relations in Antarctica. It aims to showcase some of the many approaches to Antarctic studies that have emerged in recent years, including but not limited to terrestrial and maritime archaeology, heritage studies, museum studies, archives studies, history of technology, and environmental history.

Open In-Person: Confronting The Deep North: Addressing The Legacies of Injustice Through Education At African Diaspora Sites In The Northeast of the United States
Organizer: Lindsay A. Randall, larandall001@gmail.com, Suanna Crowley, suanna@myheadfort.com, Bethany Jay, bjay@salemstate.edu

Abstract: The Northeast has long promoted itself as a region of tolerance and liberty, continuing to cling fervently to this idea even when confronted with evidence to the contrary. In recent years, the shortcomings of this image have only become clearer as more representative histories are uncovered. Despite the abolitionist movement’s early foothold in the Northeast, embedded social systems and institutions continued to engage in acts that harmed thousands and extended well beyond the formal end of slavery in the region – even into today. How can the lives of enslaved and otherwise marginalized peoples be better integrated into community conversations about the past and support meaningful change to ensure racial and economic equality now?

In this symposium, presenters explore the ways that a diverse group of sites of the African Diaspora in the Northeast have emerged as integral parts of learning both within their communities and the region more broadly.

Open In-Person: Applying the Power of Partnerships to the Search for America’s Missing in Action
Organizers: Megan Lickliter-Mundon, MLickliterMundon@hjf.org; Abigail Bleichner, ableichner@hjf.org 

Abstract: The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel from past conflicts to their families and the nation. We search for missing personnel from World War II through to recent conflicts. Our research and operational missions include coordination with countries and municipalities around the world, and also involves a growing number of partner organizations.

This session opens a window into the efforts, and perspectives, of a select group of partners who have collaborated with DPAA on field projects during the last 2-3 years. University departments, cultural resource management firms, professional non-profits, and passionate amateurs execute a range of simple coordination of information to complex, massive field projects. In this session we will discuss the successes of the program and foster dialog regarding how partnerships can be a sustainable and effective tool in the context of the accounting effort.

Open In-Person: I Know What You Did Last Summer: Student Contributions at Field Schools
Organizer: Emily Dale, emily.dale@nau.edu

Abstract: Every year, field schools train students in archaeological methods and theories to prepare them for careers in the field. Yet, students are not empty vessels into which professionals pour their knowledge in exchange for their labor. Instead, students are equal partners in archaeological explorations of the past who bring expertise and perspectives of their own. This session invites recent field school participants to share their important roles at their field schools. Rather than a show-and-tell of things students did and learned, papers in this session will address the ways students contributed to larger project goals through lab analysis, artifact research, documentation, technological knowledge, public archaeology/consultation/social media outreach, adjustments due to COVID, etc…

Open In-Person: Glass Beads: Global Artefacts, Local Perspectives
Organizer: Brad Loewen, brad.loewen@umontreal.ca and  Andreia Torres, andreiamtorres@gmail.com

Abstract: The archaeological study of glass beads first developed around Lake Ontario, where researchers used these artefacts to explore the impact of early European trade on Indigenous societies living far inland in North America. The construction of chrono-typologies made glass trade beads a go-to artefact for dating contexts of the 16^th-19^th centuries. However, as more archaeologists around the world began to study this period, they brought new data and new approaches to the study of glass beads. This symposium will explore global trade circuits, geochemical provenancing, glass beads in contexts other than the colonial trade, non-European manufacturing centres, Indigenous agency, beads and gender, and other themes that reflect the conceptual tension of globalisation and decolonisation in glass bead studies. Our goal is to foster dialogue among archaeologists who think about glass beads in different ways, depending on where they are on the planet and how they approach the early modern period.

Open In-Person: Colonial Ventures and Native Voices: Legacies from the Spanish and Portuguese Empires
Organizers: Katherine M. Sims, ksims@citystaug.com and Andrea P. White, awhite@citystaug.com

Abstract: Centuries of Spanish and Portuguese exploration and conquest across five continents created everlasting global legacies long after colonial territories were relinquished. Whether by choice or coercion, diverse populations interacted with Iberian colonizers via conquest, trade, and religious missions, which had a profound effect on indigenous communities and their descendants. This session seeks to bring together scholars focusing on research themes of community migration, settlement, conversion, creolization, and/or resistance with a focus on Hispanic and Portuguese colonization between the 15th and 18th centuries.

Abstract: Previous approaches in historical archaeology privileging the agency and worldviews of Europeans have tended to marginalize the role of a plethora of African and Indigenous peoples and polities in shaping and responding to colonial conquest, expansion, and early modern globalization. Drawing from a range of archaeological, oral traditional, and archival material, archaeologists are increasingly collaborating with Black and Indigenous communities in disrupting these narratives. Novel approaches are revealing ways in which these historically subjugated groups interpreted, responded to, and influenced the global expansion and development of colonialism and globalization, as well as the historic and ongoing deleterious effects of exploitation, dispossession, and other forms of colonial violence upon many of these societies and their descendant communities. By revisiting histories of first contact, cultural continuity and transformation, and archaeological knowledge production, this session seeks to address these historic inequities while providing new understandings of the early modern world.

Open In-Person: Cultural Heritage During Crises: Crime, Conflict, and Climate Change
Organizers: Peter B. Campbell, p.campbell@cranfield.ac.uk and Alice Farren-Bradley, alice.farren-bradley@cranfield.ac.uk

Abstract: As the Society for Historical Archaeology gathers to examine ‘global archaeologies’, the past year has witnessed cultural heritage under threat due to criminal activity, conflict, and climate change. This session explores these urgent challenges, from the war in Ukraine to climate change protestors targeting works of fine art. The first part of the session examines heritage crime. This type of crime is widespread and include transnational trafficking, looting and nighthawking, and criminal damage. The second part of the session examines culture in conflict. This includes looting, trafficking, and destruction of heritage in current conflicts around the world. The third part of the session examines climate change impacts and how these affect cultural heritage in unexpected ways. Traditionally archaeologists have expected impacts from rising seas to acid rain, but protests are targeting art and monuments, while changing economic contexts are re-prioritizing heritage sites.

Open In-Person: Archaeology, Memory, and Politics in the 2020s: Changes in Methods, Narratives, and Access
Organizer: Margaret Comer, comer@tlu.ee

Abstract: Only a few years into the 2020s, paradigm shifts have taken place in the ways that archaeology and heritage studies conduct research, work with communities, and communicate narratives about the past. During the COVID-19 pandemic, sites had to rethink their methods of disseminating knowledge and narratives of the past, prompting a focus on digital and distance research and education. As the Black Lives Matter movement fostered an enormous wave of social justice activity, direct action and public debate raised pressing questions about what pasts should be remembered and memorialized, unsettling many received narratives. Amidst the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, studying and understanding how the recent past is retold and ‘weaponized’ have taken on renewed urgency. This symposium brings together global and varied case studies that seek to understand and theorize such changes, asking: how can these movements toward inclusive and equitable research and retelling of the past be sustained?

Student volunteers are essential to the smooth operation of an SHA Conference.  By assisting with a variety of duties – from registration and Book Room set-up to the special events and the sessions themselves – volunteers are a key component of the Conference’s smooth operation.

The SHA is looking for student volunteers to give eight hours of their time during the SHA 2023 Conference in exchange for free conference registration.  If you are a student and would like to volunteer your time in exchange for the opportunity to attend the SHA 2023 Conference at no charge, complete the 2023 Conference Volunteer Form below and return it with your conference registration form to SHA Headquarters (hq@sha.org) by December 1, 2022.  In the registration fee area on the conference registration form, write Comp/Volunteer.  Should you wish to register for any workshops, tours, Roundtable Luncheons, the Thursday evening reception at the Maritime Museum, or the Awards Banquet and Ceremony, please include your payment for these events with your registration form. 

Applications will be accepted on a first-come/first-served basis until December 1, 2022.   You will be contacted by the Volunteer Coordinator regarding the date/time of your volunteer assignment.

2023 Conference Volunteer Form

SHA 2023 Conference Registration Form

For five decades the SHA has been at the forefront in the dissemination of scholarly research on historical archaeology in North America and beyond. Our annual conference is our major opportunity to share with others our most recent research findings, advances in theories and methods, strategies for improving public archaeology, etc. We invite you to be a sponsor of the conference!

The 2023 Conference Committee welcomes innovative ideas for sponsorship. If you have such an idea, please contact SHA headquarters (hq@sha.org) to start the discussions or download the SHA 2023 Sponsorship Form.

Information on applying for all of the awards and prizes for the SHA 2023 Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology will be found at: https://sha.org/about-us/awards-and-prizes/.

Each presenter will get one side of a two-sided poster board. The poster boards are 4′ by 8′ horizontal.

Download the 2023 Conference Exhibitor Prospectus.

The SHA welcomes exhibitors who share its mission and agree with its Ethics Principles, Conference Code of Conduct, and the SHA Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Policy.

More coming soon

If you are interested in advertising in the SHA 2023 Conference program, please download the Advertising Contract and return it to SHA Headquarters with your payment and ad by November 8, 2022.

SHA 2023 Conference Program Advertising Contract