Dear Zooarchers,
You may remember the discussion that we had on this list concerning the venue of
the next ASWA conference. That discussion has led to some action that you can
see summarised in the two documents that are enclosed below. The first is a
letter from the ICAZ executive committee and the second is a letter/new call
for papers from the conference organisers. We thought that, due to the role
that Zooarch has played on this issue, it was right that members of this list
should eventually be informed of the outcome, which we hope represents, in view
of the difficult situation, a reasonable compromise.
With best wishes,
Umberto
To
Mark Beech
Marjan Mashkour
Guy Bar-Oz
Daniella Bar-Yosef
Lior Weissbrod
Wim Van Neer
Hijlke Buitenhuis
Dear Colleagues,
As individual members of the Executive Committee (EC) of the International
Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ) we would like to provide support to and
encourage Marjan Mashkour and Mark Beech to reconsider their decision to
withdraw from organizing the 9th of the Archaeozoology of Southwest Asia (ASWA)
meeting in Abu Dhabi. We strongly endorse the proposal developed by Richard
Meadow, Lior Weissbrod , Daniella Bar-Yosef and Guy Bar-Oz that the 10th ASWA
meeting be held in Europe (hopefully accessible to all parties) and the 11th
ASWA meeting be held in Israel. The ideal would be for every researcher to be
able to attend meetings in any country without problems, but since this is not
currently possible we see the above proposed sequence of venues as a pragmatic
way to ensure that, in the long run, a reasonably fair and balanced
representation of local researchers be possible at the various working group
meetings.
ICAZ affiliated Working Groups are autonomous: therefore the EC of ICAZ has no
authority (or intention) to interfere with their decisions. Moreover, we have
no power to influence either the causes or the consequences of visa
regulations. However, as elected officers of an organization devoted to
fostering communication among the international community of archaeozoologists,
we feel a moral responsibility to maintain the committment of ICAZ to this
principle in the face of animosities in the world. Ever since its foundation
during the Cold War, ICAZ has emphasized the importance of bringing scholars
together despite such animosities.
We hope that the solution outlined above will technically still be possible and
will create a positive precedent for drafting future ICAZ policies in this
important matter.
We would like to thank all of you for the intellectual and emotional input
related to helping ASWA function properly.
László Bartosiewicz
Umberto Albarella
Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales
Luis A. Borrero
Pam Crabtree
Heather Lapham
Richard H. Meadow
Arturo Morales
Elizabeth J. Reitz
Jean-Denis Vigne
Sarah Whitcher Kansa (Alexandria Archive Institute)
ASWA IX 2nd Announcement
15-20th November 2008- Al Ain – Abu Dhabi- United Arab Emirates
Dear all,
Following the discussions about the organization of the IXth ASWA in Al Ain -
Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, we have accepted the proposal of our
colleagues Daniella Bar-Yosef, Guy Bar-Oz, Lior Weissbrod and the Executive
committee of ICAZ to organize this meeting here on the understanding that the
Xth ASWA conference will be held in Europe and the XIth in Israel.
As for the dates, due to some local circumstances we have decided to shift the
schedule a few days earlier.
The venue for the conference will be the Mercure Hotel on top of Jebel Hafit,
the dramatic mountain overlooking the oasis city of Al Ain. The conference will
begin on Sunday 16th of November and will end on Thursday 20th of November.
Registration will take place on Saturday 15th. After three days of academic
papers (16-18 Nov) there will be two days of excursions (19-20 Nov). These will
primarily be oriented towards visiting local archaeological and environmental
sites. It is planned that we will hold the closing dinner in the fantastic Al
Ain Zoo, an important breeding centre for endangered Arabian, African and Asian
species. The visit to the zoo will include a special bird show and then al
fresco dining next to some of the animals!
As you might all notice time is short for us, as the organizers and we need to
urgently have at this point a list of people interested in attending the
conference. This will help us to better orient our budget planning. Please
email us as soon as possible indicating your interest in participating in ASWA
IX and the title of your paper.
As for the publication of the proceedings we are exploring different options to
get the totality of the papers, published as it has been the case for previous
conferences.
We are doing our best to get sponsors who might be interested in supporting the
conference partially. We would like you to know that we are not asking
registration fees for the conference. Also we are working hard in getting funds
to invite young archaeozoologists to Al Ain to attend the conference. The
situation will be clarified within few months. Until then and in case delegates
have to pay for their expenses, here are some general guidelines for
approximate cost of the conference:
You can fly into the United Arab Emirates using either Abu Dhabi or Dubai
airport. Emirates Airways, Al Etihad and Qatar Airways, give the largest
coverage of the area. For example the price of a direct return economy flight
from London to Abu Dhabi on Etihad Airlines currently costs approximately 2590
UAE Dirhams- Dhs (which is equivalent to about 706 USD, or 477 EUR, or 359
GBP). From Paris it costs between 500 to 600 EUR. Qatar Airways offers also
very interesting prices. Sometimes, it can be slightly cheaper flying into
Dubai than Abu Dhabi, how ever Dubai is a very crowded airport and city.
The conference location is about a 90 minutes car ride from either airport. The
price of a taxi from Abu Dhabi airport to the Mercure Hotel on Jebel Hafit is
around 265 Dhs (about 72 USD, or 49 EUR, or 37 GBP). The Emirates is an
extremely safe country and you can get taxis at any time of your arrival.
The price of a taxi from Dubai airport to the Mercure Hotel on Jebel Hafit is
around 235 Dhs (about 64 USD, or 43 EUR, or 33 GBP).
The price of the Mercure Hotel on Jebel Hafit (including all meals: breakfast,
lunch and dinner) will be 550 UAE Dhs per night (about 150 USD, or 103 EUR, or
77 GBP).
The cost of the Closing Conference Banquet (including the bird show and entrance
ticket) at Al Ain Zoo will be approximately 150 UAE Dhs per person (about 41
USD, or 28 EUR, or 21 GBP).
The pricing of excursions is not yet finished and we will announce these in due
course. They are likely to be very reasonable.
We look forward to hearing from possible participants. Those of you who already
know that you would like to present a paper and/or poster, please supply us
with a title and 200 word abstract as soon as possible. This will assist us
with planning the meeting. Here is a brief outline of the ASWA IX schedule:
Deadline for Abstracts - 1 May 2008
Deadline for Conference Registration (Accommodation Booking) - 1 September 2008
Delegates arrive and Register - 15 November 2008
ASWA IX Conference papers - 16-18 November 2008
ASWA IX Excursions - 19-20 November 2008
Delegates depart - 21 November 2008
Best wishes
Marjane Mashkour and Mark Beech
Would you please send your mails to both of us
[log in to unmask] and [log in to unmask]
--
Umberto Albarella
Department of Archaeology
University of Sheffield
Northgate House
West Street
Sheffield S1 4ET
United Kingdom
Telephone: (+) 44 (0) 114 22 22 943
Fax: (+) 44 (0) 114 27 22 563
http://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/staff/albarella.html
For Archaeologists for Global Justice (AGJ) see:
http://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/global-justice.html
"There is no way to peace. Peace IS the way".
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