International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences
Encyclopedia
The International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (IUPPS) 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
:
A permanent council of the CIAAP was founded in 1880, and in 1930 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 (IUPPS) in order to gain access to UNESCO funds.
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 Africa
n and Namibia
n delegates lead to the foundation of the World Archaeological Congress
and the delay of the IUPPS congress until 1987. Writing in 1987, Peter Ucko described the IUPPS as,
Learned society
A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline/profession, as well a group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies,...
, linked through the International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies
International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies
The International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies is a non-governmental organization within UNESCO, which is a supraorganization of hundreds of learned societies in the field of philosophy, human sciences and related subjects....
to UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
, and concerned with the study of prehistory
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
and protohistory
Protohistory
Protohistory refers to a period between prehistory and history, during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted its existence in their own writings...
. In the words of its constitution
Constitution (corporate)
A constitution is the set of regulations which govern the conduct of non-political entities, whether incorporated or not. Such entities include corporations and voluntary associations....
:
- The UISPP is committed to promote prehistoric and protohistoric studies by the organisation of international congressCongressA congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different nations, constituent states, independent organizations , or groups....
es and of large-scale excavations of international significance; by sponsoring scholarly publicationsAcademic publishingAcademic publishing describes the subfield of publishing which distributes academic research and scholarship. Most academic work is published in journal article, book or thesis form. The part of academic written output that is not formally published but merely printed up or posted is often called...
of international scope as well as conferencesAcademic conferenceAn academic conference or symposium is a conference for researchers to present and discuss their work. Together with academic or scientific journals, conferences provide an important channel for exchange of information between researchers.-Overview:Conferences are usually composed of various...
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 IUPPS lie in an 1865 meeting of the Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali (Italian Society of Natural Science) that lead to the creation of the Congrès paléoethnologique international (CPI; International Paleoethnologic Congress). The first meeting of the CPI was held in 1866 and in 1867 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 1930 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 (IUPPS) in order to gain access to UNESCO funds.
Congresses of the CISPP and IUPPS
- First congress: 1932, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
- Second congress: 1936, OsloOsloOslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
- Third congress: 1950, ZürichZürichZurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
- Fourth congress: 1954, MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
- Fifth congress: 1958, HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
- Sixth congress: 1962, RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
- Seventh congress: 1966, PraguePraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
- Eighth congress: 1971, BelgradeBelgradeBelgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
- Ninth congress: 1976, NiceNiceNice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
- Tenth congress: 1981, Mexico CityMexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
- Eleventh congress: 1987, MainzMainzMainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
- Twelfth congress: 1991, BratislavaBratislavaBratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
- Thirteenth congress: 1996, ForlìForlìForlì is a comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the right of the Montone river, and is an important agricultural centre...
- Fourteenth congress: 2001, Liège
- Fifteenth congress: 2006, LisbonLisbonLisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
- Sixteenth congress: 2011, FlorianopolisFlorianópolis-Climate:Florianópolis experiences a warm humid subtropical climate, falling just short of a true tropical climate. The seasons of the year are distinct, with a well-defined summer and winter, and characteristic weather for autumn and spring. Frost is infrequent, but occurs occasionally in the winter...
The Eleventh congress should have been held in 1986 at Southampton, but the decision of the British organising committee, led by Peter Ucko
Peter Ucko
Peter John Ucko FRAI FSA was an influential English archaeologist, noted for being the Professor Emeritus of Comparative Archaeology and also the former Executive Director of University College London's Institute of Archaeology. He was also noted for his organisation of the first World...
, to exclude South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n and Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
n delegates lead to the foundation of the World Archaeological Congress
World Archaeological Congress
The World Archaeological Congress is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization which promotes world archaeology. It is the only global archaeological organisation with elected representation....
and the delay of the IUPPS congress until 1987. Writing in 1987, Peter Ucko described the IUPPS 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.