Editorial: New Season, Revived Vision

Editorial: New Season, Revived Vision John Carman, Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, B152TT Birmingham, UK EDITORIAL Archaeologies: Journal of the World Archaeological Congress (Ó 2016) DOI 10.1007/s11759-016-9291-5 Jan Turek, Czech Institute of Egyptology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic E-mail: Change is consequent upon a new season. In the Northern hemisphere, Spring brings forth new life and promises summer; in the Southern, Autumn prepares plants and animals for winter. Archaeologies is no different. This month sees the first issue under a new editorial team (Figures 1 and 2) which provides us with a valuable opportunity to restate for both new and more established readers our vision of the journal, its role in promoting the World Archaeological Congress as an institution, and the discipline of archaeology as a global force. Our New Editor ARCHAEOLOGIES Volume 12 Number 1 April 2016 John Carman obtained his PhD from Cambridge University in 1993 after a career in commercial administration. He has since developed research Figure 1. John Carman Ó 2016 World Archaeological Congress 1 2 J. CARMAN, J. TUREK Figure 2. Jan Turek (photograph by Petr Berounský) interests in two areas of archaeology: the management of archaeological resources, with a focus on theorising the field and a special interest in issues of value and ownership, and Conflict Archaeology, especially on historic battlefields. He attended his first WAC at Barquisimeto (Venezuela) in 1990 and subsequently attended those in Cape Town (1999) and Dublin (2008): he will also attend WAC8 in Kyoto this summer. He has previously published in Archaeologies in issue 7 (2011). John is especially interested in the way archaeology ‘works’ as a global field and he takes the view that archaeology is one of very few (and maybe the only) humanities disciplines in which practitioners from different parts of the world with interests in divergent material can nonetheless engage in meaningful discussion. The Work of the Journal The editors are keen to see Archaeologies recognised as a distinctive—and loud—voice in global archaeology, and we seek contributions that serve that wider aim. As our recent call for papers put it, we seek papers ‘‘of general archaeological concern from any area of the world that will inform archaeological practice, theory or understanding more widely and can especially challenge local and global power geometries. As part of our mission and distinctiveness we recognise the especial importance of non-Western epistemologies and intellectual traditions and are keen to represent these in Editorial: New Season, Revived Vision 3 our pages. We are also keen to encourage younger colleagues to contribute to debates at the global level in the belief that they have new and distinctive perceptions of archaeology and its place in the world’’. We especially welcome contributions from those areas of the world not regularly represented in high-profile publications and representing views of archaeology from those who engage with archaeologists but perhaps do not identify themselves as archaeologists. Archaeologies is distinctive in its global coverage and geographical range, publishing papers of global significance with a high impact on the development of archaeology as a global endeavour. In choosing our contributions, we identify those aspects that will not only appeal to a global readership, but will also advance the aims and profile of archaeology as a field of enquiry and—crucially—action in the world. WAC itself is more than a mere gathering of those with an interest in studying the past: its principles reflect a keen sense of moral responsibility for the here and now, and for engagements of archaeological professionals with those whose pasts we seek to uncover. Archaeologies reflects and confirms these concerns. Our role is not merely to provide a place to report on the practice of archaeology globally—as other journals also do—but to act as a locus for the development of ideas as to what archaeology could and should be. Archaeologies lies at the forefront of the global discipline and we seek contributions that will confirm and progress this agenda. We therefore place an important burden on our contributors: in a world where increasingly academics are required to demonstrate the international significance of their work (see e.g. https://theconversation.com/will-the-impact-framework-fix-the-problems-theresearch-audit-found-52152) publication in Archaeologies should be of value in doing so. But the burden is also placed upon others. As editors, we have a responsibility to both contributors and readers to ensure the quality and relevance to them of the journal. Our Editorial Board—the keepers of our conscience—have a duty to guide and advise on how we may achieve the overall aims of the journal and promote those of WAC. Our subscribers also carry a responsibility: you are not passive receivers of what is offered, but need to be active readers of content, able to appreciate why any particular contribution may be relevant to you and your own work even though it may derive from a distant part of the globe and a very different context from your own. Archaeologies is as much your journal as it is ours: we produce it not just for you but also with you by your active engagement with its content. We inevitably draw upon papers presented at WAC congresses and Intercongresses for specific content. We shall be actively recruiting at WAC8 for suitable material, and we shall approach some individuals directly whose papers we have heard. Others can choose to approach us: we are always open to consider contributions. We shall be making our- 4 J. CARMAN, J. TUREK selves available for that purpose. In turn, you can advise us of papers which you believe are suitable for publication in the journal to reach a wider audience, and we can then invite the author to offer us a version of their article. Palmyra Liberated! On Sunday 27th March 2016, the Syrian Army retook the city of Tadmour (Palmyra). The military is currently removing explosives and booby traps placed around Palmyra, after which specialists will arrive to perform a damage assessment on its monuments. As we informed you in the last issue, the temple of Baal Shamin was destroyed by Islamic State last year, along with the Temple of Bel, Palmyra’s largest and most important temple, and the city’s iconic Arch of Triumph. Syria’s director of antiquities, Maamoun Abdelkarim, said a team of archaeologists would go to Palmyra in the coming days to assess the damage to its monuments, and pledged to rebuild the destroyed temples and arch. ‘‘We will issue a challenge to international terrorism, that no matter what you do you cannot erase our history, and we will not sit idle and weep over the ruins,’’ he said (Guardian, March 26 2016). The battle for the city is the latest in a string (...truncated)