{"word_count": 465, "character_count": 3226}
14th Congress of the Pan African Archaeological Association for Prehistory and Related StudiesJul 14, 2014 - Jul 18, 2014The 14th Congress of the Pan African Archaeological Association for Prehistory and Related Studies and the 22nd Biennial Meeting of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists proudly hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa from 14-18 July 2014.The Pan-African Association of Archaeology and Related Studies (PAA) was established in Kenya at the instigation of none other than Louis Leakey, who became the organizing secretary of the 1st Congress, which took place in Nairobi in January 1947. At that ground-breaking Nairobi meeting, Johannesburg was nominated as the host of the second Congress, but the Nationalist government of South Africa which came to power in 1948 withdrew its support for this initiative and the second Congress went to Algiers instead.We are therefore absolutely delighted that the PAA congress will finally be held in Johannesburg, in South Africa. The 2014 PAA/SAfA joint meeting will be held on the Braamfontein Campus of the University of the Witwatersrand. The aims are to bring together Africanist archaeologists and colleagues in a forum for the exchange of information and ideas; to create contacts between students, researchers and practitioners across Africa in multiple disciplines; to forge links and friendships; and to facilitate and promote inter-African collaboration.African Archaeology without Frontiers'.I believe this theme reflects a challenge we face in African Archaeology today, to transcend not only national and linguistic boundaries that separate scholars and researchers working on the same research questions, but also disciplinary boundaries between archaeology and the many other fields of study that can enrich our understanding of the past; as well as artificial boundaries within archaeology itself between the study of different 'ages', for example, that in reality overlapped and cannot be understood in isolation. There are many other boundaries still that need to be overcome and I hope the 2014 joint meeting of PAA/SAfA will identify some of these and find the way to breach them effectively.This conference will cover all aspects of African archaeology and all periods from the earliest hominins to the historical period, and the official languages of the conference will be English and French. We are expecting over 500 delegates from Africa, Europe and North America, and among other things we are hoping that this joint meeting will serve to showcase South African resources to potential post-graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and research associates from across the continent and beyond.Karim SadrChair of Local Organizing Committee for the 14th Congress of the Pan African Archaeological Association for Prehistory and Related Studies &#38; the 22nd Biennial Meeting of the Society of Africanist ArchaeologistsVenue:University of the WitwatersrandEast Campus1 Jan Smuts AvenueBraamfontein 2000Johannesburg, South Africa&#160;Conference SecretariatScatterlings Conference &#38; EventsTel: +27 (0) 11 463 5085Fax: +27 (0) 11 463 3265Conference Website: http://www.paa2014.co.za/index.php/en/&#160;