IPHES-CERCA among the institutions with the highest scientific participation at the World Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences
The centre participated in the 21st UISPP World Congress, held in Poznań, with 42 oral presentations, 9 posters and the organisation of seven scientific sessions
IPHES-CERCA ranked third among the institutions with the strongest presence at the congress (and first when the CNRS and the Polish Academy of Sciences are broken down into their individual centres and institutes), in an edition in which a monograph devot
IPHES-CERCA had one of the most prominent scientific participations at the 21st World Congress of the International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (UISPP), held in Poznań (Poland) from 31 August to 4 September. Researchers from the centre participated in 51 scientific contributions, including 42 oral presentations and 9 posters, and were also involved in organising seven scientific sessions. Researcher M. Gema Chacón was also a member of the congress Scientific Committee.
The scale of this participation places IPHES-CERCA among the institutions with the strongest scientific representation at the congress. According to the specific count of affiliations in the official book of abstracts, IPHES-CERCA is explicitly listed in 50 contributions, ranking third among the institutions with the greatest presence, behind only the French CNRS and the Polish Academy of Sciences. When these two large organisations are broken down into their individual centres, institutes and units, IPHES-CERCA ranks first.
Broad, diverse participation with an international reach
The contributions presented at the congress cover many of IPHES-CERCA’s main areas of research. The largest group corresponds to lithic technology, use-wear analysis and experimental archaeology, with 17 contributions, followed by zooarchaeology and taphonomy, with 9. Geoarchaeology, stratigraphy and site formation processes, on the one hand, and studies of the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition, chronology and mobility, on the other, accounted for 8 contributions each. These were complemented by 6 studies on palaeoecology, archaeobotany and fire, and 3 on heritage, education and methodology.
The major scientific themes represented include research into the transition between the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic and the earliest Homo sapiens populations, work carried out at the Atapuerca sites, studies of site formation processes and microstratigraphy, research into subsistence and interactions between humans and carnivores, as well as the application of experimental and functional methodologies to the study of prehistoric technologies.
This thematic diversity also has a significant international dimension. Some of the research is linked to Catalonia and the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula, Atapuerca, and the Cantabrian and north-western regions of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the scientific work presented also includes projects and collaborations carried out in China, Morocco, Italy, France, Central Europe, Israel, Equatorial Guinea and Ethiopia, as well as comparative studies connecting Western Europe with Central Asia.
This broad geographical scope reflects IPHES-CERCA’s participation in international networks studying human evolution from an interdisciplinary perspective and across a wide variety of archaeological contexts.
Scientific recognition and participation in the organisation of the congress
IPHES-CERCA’s participation also received significant recognition during the congress, with the award for best monograph going to a volume devoted to the El Mirador site in the Sierra de Atapuerca. The award recognises the research carried out at this site over many years and adds to the institute’s extensive scientific participation in this edition of the congress.
IPHES-CERCA’s presence, however, was not limited to the presentation of scientific results. Researchers from the centre participated in the organisation of seven thematic sessions, further strengthening the institute’s role in the scientific coordination of the meeting.
The sessions were organised with the involvement of Maria Boada, Clara Mielgo, Javier Villalobos, Carlos Lorenzo, Antonietta del Bove, Andreu Ollé, Paola García-Medrano, M. Gema Chacón, Céline Kerfant and Iván Rey Rodríguez. In addition, M. Gema Chacón was a member of the Scientific Committee of the 21st UISPP World Congress.
The combination of the volume of contributions, the thematic and geographical diversity of the research, participation in the scientific organisation of the congress and the recognition received by the monograph devoted to El Mirador consolidates IPHES-CERCA’s international profile at one of the world’s leading gatherings dedicated to the study of Prehistory and human evolution.