David Morris

The Biennial Conference of the Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists (ASAPA) to be held in Kimberley, South Africa, 2-5 July 2019, will bring together archaeologists and students from Southern African countries, along with Africanist archaeologists from around the world who collaborate in research in the region, together with invited guests and keynote speakers from the continent of Africa and further afield. Delegates would represent academic, museum, heritage management, community and commercial CRM contexts, for whom this biennial gathering is a key opportunity to meet and discuss matters of common concern. Conference sessions will result in a sharing of research and debate reflecting the full range of southern African archaeology, from earliest hominins and palaeo-archaeology to the historical period, with topics including palaeoanthropology, palaeoenvironments, Stone Age, food production, historical archaeology, mission archaeology, rock art, theory and practice and decolonising African archaeology, and more, reflecting the multi-stranded nature of the discipline. Some sessions are to highlight new research directions at key Northern Cape sites such as Wonderwerk Cave, Kathu and in the Kalahari fringe and Karoo regions. The conference theme, ‘I am because We are: Indigenous Heritage in African Archaeology” references the African philosophy of ‘Ubuntu’ to ground perspectives locally and emphasise the necessary engagement of archaeology with its varied constituencies including communities where archaeological research is conducted.