Elgidius Bwinabona Ichumbaki

The Pan-African Archaeological Association (PAA) is an international platform in African archaeology normally hosting meetings on a four-to-five-year cycle. The first PAA meeting was held in Nairobi (Kenya) in 1947, and a recent meeting (15th) was held in 2018 in Rabat (Morocco). The 16th PAA meeting will be in Zanzibar, Tanzania, 7-12 August 2022. This meeting will bring together c. 300 scholars in archaeology and related disciplines from around the world to promote research and discuss cooperation among professionals and students. The Congress will be structured around a theme, ?Learning from African Pasts to Manage Local and Global Disasters.? It will be a unique forum to discuss the role and place of PAA members in addressing disasters facing Africa and beyond (e.g., climate change, Covid-19, locusts, flooding, racialization). Congress participants will look back at 75 years of PAA existence to reflect on the prospects of African archaeology. Archaeologists, palaeontologists, earth scientists, historians, and heritage managers will seek to answer the question ?can past humans? coping and resilience strategies contribute to understanding and managing current local and global threats?? There are convincing reasons for a ?YES? response, but we need evidence which will be explored at this meeting.