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The
first
congress
on
the
Pre-columbian
civilisations
of
the
Lesser
Antilles
was
organised
in
1961
in
Fort
de
France
under
the
auspices
of
the
Société
d'Histoire
de
la
Martinique.
The
congress
was
a
major
event
in
Antillean
archaeology,
leading
to
the
foundation
of
what
later
became
the
International
Association for Caribbean Archaeology. The
Association is the only organisation fully
representative of the community of Caribbean
archaeologists. Every two years, since its
foundation, it organises the International Congress
of Caribbean Archaeology, assembling approximately
200 specialists.
The 2011 congress will mark the
50th anniversay of this institution, and it is for
this reason that it seemed important to us that once
again the congress should be held in Martinique, in
order to appropriately celebrate the occasion. We
therefore have asked for and obtained the
organisation of the congress in the name of the
local organising committee constituted by the
University of the Antilles and Guyane (EA 929 –
AIHP-GEODE), the General Council of Martinique and
the Association Ouacabou. |
AIHP-GEODE – EA 929
The
AIHP-GEODE research group has been established by
Danielle Bégot and Maurice Burac, it is
headed today by Françoise
Pagney-Benito-Espinal. The AIHP-GEODE is the most
important research group in France – and one of the
most important worldwide – specifically dedicated to
the study of the history, archaeology and heritage
of the Antilles.
General Council
of Martinique
The
General Council of Martinique has been for several
decades one of the major Martinican players in the
field of archaeology. It participates in particular
through the intervention of the Departmental Museum
of Pre-columbian Archaeology under the direction of
its curator Cécile Celma.
Association Ouacabou
Ouacabou
was
founded
by
four
Martinican
archaeologists
in
1998.
It
is
dedicated
to
the
discovery,
study
and
diffusion
of
the
Antillean
heritage.
Since
1998
it
has
led
various
archaeological
campaigns
in
Martinique,
Guadeloupe,
Marie-Galante
and
even
in
Nicaragua.
Today
established
in
Morne
Rouge,
it
has
developed
during
the
last
decade
an
important
partnership
with
the DRAC of Martinique and Guadeloupe, as well as
with the regional authorities of Martinique and the
archipelago of Guadeloupe. The archaeologist
Benoît Bérard is the current president
of Ouacabou. |
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IACA
The
first IACA congress was held in Martinique in July
1961. The meeting was organised by Father Robert
Pinchon, who for 15 years had carried out
excavations on several Amerindian sites in
Martinique. He wished to compare his findings with
those from other countries of the Caribbean in order
to advance the understanding of its history.
The
meeting took place in the Saint Louis fort in Fort
de France. Father Pinchon and the president of the
Société d'Histoire, Jacques Petitjean
Roget, exhibited their collections in the fort, and
other archaeologists from overseas did the same.
Among them were Edgard Clerc from Guadeloupe, Father
Jesse of Saint Lucia, Neville Connell of Barbados
and Tom Cambridge of Tobago, as well as D. C.
Geijskes who brought material from Surinam. Other
participants in the congress were Irvin Rouse,
William Haag, J. A. Bullbrook, Jean Delumeau, Ripley
and Adelaide Bullen, Léonard Devaux, Ronald
Taylor, R. P. Barbotin, Ricardo Alegría, Fred
Olsen and Charles Hoffman. The proceedings of the
congress were published in 1963 and 1964.
The
second congress was organised by Ripley and Adelaide
Bullen in Barbados in 1967. The enthusiasm of the
Bullens greately contributed to the success of the
congress, and they also made certain that the
proceedings were efficiently published. State
authorities were invited to this second meeting. The
principle of a biennual and trilingual (English,
Spanish and French) congress was adopted, respecting
the desire for rotation expressed by the
Sociétés d'Histoire and the
governments of the different countries of the
Caribbean.
Originally
the association was known as the International
Congress for the Study of Pre-columbian Cultures in
the Lesser Antilles, but a change of name was
decided at the 10th meeting of the Congress in
Martinique in 1983. Reasons for change were the
length of the name, which moreover did not include
the South American continent or historical
archaeology.
The
association is now known as the International
Association for Caribbean Archaeology. It was
incorporated as a Caribbean association,
headquartered in Guadeloupe.
Since
1961 all archaeologists, professional or
non-professional, amateurs or students, Caribbean or
international, have been or still are members of the
Association.
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