The Italian Job: EAA 2024
The 30th European Association of Archaeologists’ (EAA) Annual Meeting was held from 28 to 31 August 2024 in Rome. Three Discovery Programme staff members participated in the conference, and their experience is detailed below.
This year the Discovery Programme was represented at the EAA by Michael Ann Bevivino (Collections Manager), Anthony Corns (Technology Manager) and Edward Pollard (Coastal and Maritime Research Archaeologist). Susan Curran (Documentation and Survey Archaeologist) was there in spirit, with Anthony presenting a paper on her behalf.
The number of papers and posters initially seemed quite overwhelming, with multiple overlapping sessions in different faculties across the university campus. With the help of the specially produced conference app, however, we got to know our way around. Despite the oppressive heat, most sessions were well attended – although it was probably no coincidence that the air-conditioned lecture theatres often had the most attendees! Coffee breaks and lunch were (thankfully) provided outdoors, and the multiple water fountains dotted around the campus were continuously surrounded by queues of people filling their reusable bottles. The heat was always going to be a feature of a conference in Rome in August, and we were all thankful for the inclusion of a paper fan in each delegate welcome pack!
On the first full day of the conference, Michael Ann participated in a session entitled Making the Most of What We’ve Got: Activating Museum Collections, Monuments and Built Heritage. Her paper (co-written with DP colleague Robert Shaw) detailed the work of the DP’s Digital Replicas Project (DRP) that has been undertaken in tandem with her PhD research in the University College Dublin School of Art History and Cultural Policy. Entitled ‘Activating the Inactive through New Technologies: Giving the Historic Plaster Casts of the National Museum of Ireland a New Life’, the paper focused on using 3D recording techniques to study original monuments and their replicas, as well as the potential of these technologies to bring a somewhat forgotten collection to wider audiences. The other papers in the day-long session covered a broad geographical area, with case studies from museums in Iceland, Scandinavia, Germany, Croatia, Turkey and elsewhere, and collections originating as far afield as Egypt, Ukraine and the Americas. There was much discussion between presenters and session attendees, particularly in relation to the surprising parallels between the care and maintenance of forgotten or under-utilised museum collections around the world.
Anthony wore a number of hats during the conference, including as a session organiser, presenter of two papers, and Chairman of the European CARARE (Connecting Archaeology and Architecture to Europe) Network, one of the domain aggregators for Europeana. Along with Kate Fernie (CARARE), Anthony organised the Making Connections: Towards Archaeological Narratives in Contemporary Society session, during which he presented a paper entitled ‘5Dculture: Improving the Quality and Promoting the Reuse of 3D Cultural Heritage Data’ (co-written with DP colleagues Robert Shaw, Rebecca O’Reilly, Siva Namberi and Hannah Genders Boyd). He also presented a paper entitled ‘Developing a Machine Learning Tool for the Identification of Archaeological Features in Landscape Data’ on behalf of Susan Curran (DP), and co-written by Anthony, John O’Keeffe (DP), Žiga Kokalj and Nejc Čož, Nejc (Zrc Sazu), Dragi Kocev, Ana Kostovska, Ivica Dimitrovski (Bias Variance Labs) and Stephen Davis (University College Dublin) which explored the development of a machine learning tool for the TII to assist in the detection of monuments in lidar data. A short update presentation was also presented at the EAA Climate Change and Heritage (CCH) Round Table Session to inform the wider research community of the development of a climate change hazard map and risk scoring for Ireland, which is funded by the National Monuments Service (DHLGH).
Edward presented on climate change and cultural heritage in the PARIS or Paradigm Session. An acronym for Preservation of Archaeological Remains In Situ, PARIS in this case refers to the 1992 Valetta Treaty to preserve as much archaeology as possible in situ, something that is increasingly more difficult to do because of climate change. Edward’s talk, ‘Climate Change and the Coastal Archaeological Heritage of Ireland’, discussed the new discoveries and different vulnerabilities from estuarine, glacial, sand bar and faulted cliff environments around Ireland, including recent survey at Saint John’s Point in Donegal where sites are actively sliding down the exposed bedrock towards the sea as well as being eroded in the cliff. He highlighted a need to quantify threatened heritage and further survey to determine where sites are, their importance, condition and vulnerability, and recommendations for their preservation. A lively discussion in the session raised many issues, including whether preservation ex situ (by record, e.g. excavation and documentation) is the only option to preserve the knowledge when leaving archaeological sites in situ is no longer an option due to climate change. (And as if we needed another reminder of climate change’s impact on archaeological sites, the famous Arch of Constantine in the Roman Forum was damaged by lightning during a violent storm just one day after the conference concluded.)
In addition to their own sessions, Michael Ann, Anthony and Ted attended sessions on topics as diverse as bias towards maritime connectivity as opposed to mountain archaeology around the Mediterranean; burning out logs to make boats; Christian conversion in the cultural landscape of the Isle of Man; metal detecting in different European countries (including in war-torn Ukraine); the Grand Tour; the use of Augmented Reality guides around Southampton; collecting and displaying indigenous heritage in museums; place-names, harbours, sailing and waterways around the ‘Viking Atlantic’; and the digital recreation of one of the only remaining medieval apothecaries in Rome. While navigating parallel sessions could be challenging, it is hard to imagine many other opportunities to learn about such a wide range of topics being examined by the global archaeological community today.
Of course, a large international conference is about so much more than the papers; in the case of the EAA, a large book fair and industry stands provided something to keep delegates occupied during breaks (if they were not networking with colleagues, meeting old friends, checking out the digital poster offering, or visiting the extensive museum of plaster casts of classical art in the basement of the main conference building). Book stands and archaeologists are always a dangerous combination, but the cleverest marketing award had to go to Cambridge University Press, whose staff came armed with a mobile ice-cream-vending unit!
In addition to the scientific programme of the conference, the Rome organising committee put together a very special schedule of social events for conference attendees. An open-air Welcome Reception held on the Palatine Hill (that we accessed through the Forum after the site had been closed to the public), with spectacular views of the Colosseum, was hard to beat. Talk about a first impression!
The Annual Party location a few nights later wasn’t too bad either – the Testaccio Estate, a concert and festival venue nestled under the shadow of Monte Testaccio, the enormous ancient spoil heap of broken Roman pottery that covers nearly two hectares. The party featured a band and DJ and provided an opportunity for delegates to let their hair down after ten hours of conference papers earlier in the day.
At the end of each long conference day, delegates wandered into central Rome to find a meal and take in some of the sites. Rome by night is a magical experience, and evening strolls past the Colosseum, Trajan’s Column, the Capitoline Hill, and the Largo di Torre Argentina – the site of Julius Caesar’s assassination and now a very active cat sanctuary – made for perfect conclusions to each day.
The Discovery Programme’s links with the EAA have always been strong, but never more so than now: the President of the EAA, Dr Eszter Bánffy, is also currently a Member of the DP’s Board of Directors. The authors of both EAA Book Prize winners for 2024 – Prof. Gabriel Cooney and Prof. Graeme Warren – have long-standing associations with the organisation, including having served on The Discovery Programme Board in various roles. Next year’s EAA will be held in Belgrade, Serbia, and with any luck The Discovery Programme will be active participants once again.
