International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences

The International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (Union internationale des sciences préhistoriques et protohistoriques – UISPP) is a learned society, linked through the International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies to UNESCO, and concerned with the study of prehistory and protohistory. In the words of its constitution:

The UISPP is committed to promote prehistoric and protohistoric studies through the organisation of international congresses and of large-scale excavations of international significance; by sponsoring scholarly publications of international scope as well as conferences and other learned meetings; and in general by advancing research by the co-operation and mutual understanding among scholars from all countries.

Origins

The origins of the UISPP lie in an 1865 meeting of the Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali (English: Italian Society of Natural Science) that led to the creation of the Congrès paléoethnologique international (CPI; English: International Paleoethnologic Congress). The first meeting of the CPI was held in Neuchâtel in 1866. The following year, in Paris, the name was changed to Congrès international d'anthropologie et d'archéologie préhistoriques (CIAAP; International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology and Archaeology).

A permanent council of the CIAAP was founded in 1880, and in 1931 a merger with the Institut International d'Anthropologie led to the creation of the Congrès international des Sciences préhistoriques et protohistoriques (CISPP). In 1954, the permanent council decided to affiliate the CISPP with a member organisation of UNESCO, the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences. This required a change of name, and the CISPP became the International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (UISPP) in order to gain access to UNESCO funds.

UISPP became a member of the Unesco associate International Council of Philosophy and Human Sciences, since 29 September 1955. In 2019, UISPP also joined the International Union of Academies (Union Académique Internationale – UAI). As an international association of scholars, its aim is the collaboration of scholars from all countries through initiatives that may contribute for the advancement of prehistoric and protohistoric sciences, based on full academic freedom and refusing any sort of discrimination based on race, philosophical or ideological judgement, ethnic or geographic affiliation, nationality, sex, language or other, since discrimination is, by definition, the negation of the scientific approach. It also rejects any attempts of fictional rewriting of the past or of negationism, and it does not exclude any bona fide scholar from its scientific activities.

Executive committee

The executive committee of UISPP serves the purpose of maintaining the traditions of the UISPP and monitors the development of the activities within the UISPP. It works in collaboration with the bureau, when asked, to represent the UISPP and to follow up the activities of the scientific commissions. The executive committee also monitors the progress of the organization of the world congresses, but does only intervene in its organization when unexpected events occur or when important delays in the programme proposed by the organizing institution are noted. It is composed by the board (president, general secretary, treasurer, vice-president(s)) and the presidents of all scientific commissions of UISPP.

Scientific Commissions

The general assembly decides of the creation of scientific commissions, after advice of the executive committee. Their objective is to promote and coordinate internationally research in a specific or specialized domain of prehistoric and protohistoric sciences between each world congress. The commissions are grouped into six larger domains. This list is not limited. - Historiography, methods and theories (history of archaeology, theories and methods in archaeology, various methods used in the archaeology and related to sciences, natural sciences, applied sciences, biological sciences, social sciences, economic sciences, etc.), - Culture, economy and environments (specific periods, diachronic themes, regional peculiarities), - Cultures and economy, - Archaeology of specific environments (deserts, mountains, volcanic areas, coastal areas, islands, etc.), - Art and culture (all forms of artistic expression during prehistory and protohistory, including rock art and portable art), - Archaeology and societies (interaction between archaeology and current society, including strategies for heritage management or for scientific research, and questions of the public).

The principal activities of a scientific commission are: Holding an annual general meeting of the commission, to plan a programme of activities for the next year and accept the minutes from the previous meeting, The distribution of an electronic newsletter, at least once a year, for the members of the commission, with copy to the general secretary and with a list of all the members of the commission, as well as their corresponding email and postal address, The organization of scientific activities (colloquia, conferences, sessions, thematic schools) during each UISPP world congress and at least once in between; these activities are published.

Congresses of the CISPP and UISPP

First congress: 1932, London
Second congress: 1936, Oslo
Third congress: 1950, Zürich
Fourth congress: 1954, Madrid
Fifth congress: 1958, Hamburg
Sixth congress: 1962, Rome
Seventh congress: 1966, Prague
Eighth congress: 1971, Belgrade
Ninth congress: 1976, Nice
Tenth congress: 1981, Mexico City
Eleventh congress: 1987, Mainz
Twelfth congress: 1991, Bratislava
Thirteenth congress: 1996, Forlì
Fourteenth congress: 2001, Liège
Fifteenth congress: 2006, Lisbon
Sixteenth congress: 2011, Florianópolis
Seventeenth congress: 2014, Burgos
Eighteenth congress: 2018, Paris
Nineteenth congress: 2021, Meknes
Twentieth congress: 2023, Timisoara
Twenty-first congress: to be held in 2026 in Poznań

The Eleventh congress should have been held in 1986 at Southampton, but the decision of the British organising committee, led by Peter Ucko, to exclude South African and Namibian delegates, despite their being opposed to apartheid, led to the foundation of the World Archaeological Congress and the postponement of the UISPP congress until 1987. Whereas the majority of UISPP members rejected the split as a divide of researchers and an opportunist move, writing in 1987, Peter Ucko still described the UISPP as:

a dinosaur which continues to seek to manipulate the world situation according to its archaic Western European preconceptions about what is relevant and important and what is not. It does so by devices such as the imposition of white rules and regulations which no one bothers to explain and by the manipulation of bureaucratic procedures.

UISPP lamented this approach and maintained its activity. Since 2005 relations between UISPP and WAC have resumed. Despite initial divides, UISPP remains focused on prehistoric and protohistoric research, while WAC evolved to focus primarily on politically committed approaches and advocacy, the two organisations therefore have different scopes.

The XVIII World Congress of UISPP was held in Paris in June 2018. It had as an overarching theme "Adaptation and sustainability of prehistoric and protohistoric societies confronted to climate change". This major congress formed part of the current refoundation of Humanities that is being led by the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences (which includes UISPP) and UNESCO. While all UISPP congresses have a general theme, they remain open to sessions on any other topic, which can be proposed during the general call for sessions.

The XIX UISPP World Congress, originally planned to be held in 2020 in Meknes, following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic was postponed to 2021 and then held as a fully virtual event.

Another new format, adopted alongside its triennial world congresses by UISPP, is that of continental congresses which focus on the prehistory and protohistory of a particular part of the world. The first congress in this new format is being held as a multi-venue event in Java, Indonesia in 2025 (main theme: "Asian Prehistory Today: Bridging Science, Heritage and Development").

UISPP Publications

In addition to the publication of the proceedings from its congresses, UISPP since the 1950s has been overseeing the publication af a number of international monograph series aimed chiefly at the systematic publication of primary archaeological source material (Inventaria Archaeologica, Prähistorische Bronzefunde, Fiches typlogiques de l'industrie osseuse préhistorique) but also at specific themes of global interest (Human Societies facing Climate Change). Since 2018, UISPP has been publishing the open access Journal of the International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences / Revue de l'Union Internationale des Sciences Préhistoriques et Protohistoriques (short: UISPP Journal).

References

Ucko, P.J., Academic Freedom and Apartheid, London: Duckworth, 1987. ISBN 0-7156-2191-2
www.uispp.org