The PanAfrican Archaeological Association (PAA) is a

pan-African Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement ext ...

professional organisation for archaeologists,

geologists A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

and palaeoanthropologists.

History

The association was founded by Louis Leakey and its first congress was held in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

in January 1947. At the event, Abbé Henri Breuil was elected as the association's first president, and

Robert Broom Robert Broom FRS FRSE (30 November 1866 6 April 1951) was a British- South African doctor and palaeontologist. He qualified as a medical practitioner in 1895 and received his DSc in 1905 from the University of Glasgow. From 1903 to 1910, he ...

, as vice-president; a constitution was adopted. Three sub-committees were created at the event: geology and climatology, prehistoric archaeology and human palaeontology. Perhaps the most significant action taken at the first congress was the rejection of European geological periods for Africa and the adoption of continent-wide and continent-specific nomenclature. In 1977 a new constitution was adopted, in order to better reflect the need for the PAA to be constituted by African-born scholars and to reflect their needs. At the 1983 congress, held at Jos in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, the PAA passed a resolution condemning

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

and called for a cessation of ties to South African institutions. The resolutions were proposed by John Onyango-Abuje, and seconded by P Sinclair and David Kiyaga-Mulindwa. According to Caleb Folorunso, some non-African attendees opposed the resolutions, citing their opinion that archaeology was concerned with "science not politics". Two conferences have been hosted in partnership with the Society of Africanist Archaeologists: at University Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD) in Dakar in 2010 and at the

University of Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

in 2014.

Presidents

* Abbé Henri Breuil (1947 - 1955) * Louis Leakey (1955 - 1959) * Camille Arambourg (1959 - 1963) * Luis Pericot Garcia (1963 - 1967) * Amadou Mahtar M'Bow (1967 - 1971) * Thurston Shaw (1971 - 1977) *

Bethwell Ogot Bethwell Allan Ogot (born 1929) is a historian from Kenya. He specialises in African history, research methods and theory. One of his works starts by saying that "to tell the story of a past so as to portray an inevitable destiny is, for human ...

(1977 - 1983) * Ekpo Eyo (1983 - 1995) * David Kiyaga-Mulindwa (1995 - 2001) * Hamady Bocoum (2001 - 2005) * Alinah Segobye (2005 - 2010) * Benjamin Smith (2010 - 2014) * Ibrahima Thiaw (2014 - 2018) * Freda Nkirote (2018 to present)

References

{{Authority control Professional associations based in Africa Archaeological organizations African archaeology