The PanAfrican Archaeological Association (PAA) is a

pan-African Pan-Africanism is a nationalist movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the Trans-Sa ...

professional organisation for

archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

geologists A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the field and the laboratory. Geolog ...

and palaeoanthropologists.

History

The association was founded by

Louis Leakey Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey (7 August 1903 – 1 October 1972) was a Kenyan-British palaeoanthropologist and archaeologist whose work was important in demonstrating that humans evolved in Africa, particularly through discoveries made at Olduvai ...

and its first congress was held in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

in January 1947. At the event, Abbé Henri Breuil was elected as the association's first president, and

Robert Broom Robert Broom Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE (30 November 1866 6 April 1951) was a British- South African medical doctor and palaeontologist. He qualified as a medical practitioner in 1895 and received his DSc in 1905 from the University ...

, as vice-president; a constitution was adopted. Three sub-committees were created at the event: geology and climatology, prehistoric archaeology and human palaeontology. Perhaps the most significant action taken at the first congress was the rejection of European geological periods for Africa and the adoption of continent-wide and continent-specific nomenclature. At the 1963 congress in

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

, it was decided to begin publishing a systematic inventory of diagnostic archaeological assemblages from Africa, under the title of ''Inventaria Archaeologica Africana'', following the example of the ''Inventaria Archaeologica'' series published by the

International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences The International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (''Union internationale des sciences préhistoriques et protohistoriques'' – UISPP) is a learned society, linked through the International Council for Philosophy and Human Scien ...

. In 1977 a new constitution was adopted, in order to better reflect the need for the PAA to be constituted by African-born scholars and to reflect their needs. At the 1983 congress, held at

Jos Jos is a city in the North-Central region of Nigeria. The city has a population of about 900,000 residents based on the 2006 census. Popularly called "J-Town", it is the administrative capital and largest city of Plateau State. The city is situ ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, the PAA passed a resolution condemning

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and called for a cessation of ties to South African institutions. The resolutions were proposed by John Onyango-Abuje, and seconded by P Sinclair and David Kiyaga-Mulindwa. According to Caleb Folorunso, some non-African attendees opposed the resolutions, citing their opinion that archaeology was concerned with "science not politics". Two conferences have been hosted in partnership with the

Society of Africanist Archaeologists A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...

: at

University Cheikh Anta Diop Cheikh Anta Diop University (), also known as the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, is a university in Dakar, Senegal. It is named after the Senegalese physicist, historian and anthropologist Cheikh Anta Diop and has an enrollment of over 60, ...

(UCAD) in Dakar in 2010 and at the

University of Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The university has its roots in ...

in 2014.

Presidents

* Abbé Henri Breuil (1947–1955) *

(1955–1959) *

Camille Arambourg Camille Arambourg (February 3, 1885 – November 19, 1969) was a French vertebrate paleontologist. He conducted extensive field work in North Africa. In the 1950s, he argued against the prevailing model of Neanderthals as brutish and simian. Du ...

(1959–1963) *

Luis Pericot Garcia Luis Pericot Garcia (2 September 1899 – 12 October 1978) was a Spanish archaeologist and historian, specializing in prehistory. He was President of the PanAfrican Archaeological Association from 1963 to 1967. He was a corresponding fellow of ...

(1963–1967) *

Amadou Mahtar M'Bow Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow Order of Prince Henry, GCIH (20 March 1921 – 24 September 2024) was a Senegalese civil servant and Director-General of UNESCO. M'bow served in France and North Africa during World War II after volunteering for the French Ar ...

(1967–1971) * Thurston Shaw (1971–1977) *

Bethwell Ogot Bethwell Allan Ogot (3 August 1929 – 30 January 2025) was a Kenyan historian and academic who specialised in African history, research methods, and theory. One of his works started by saying that "to tell the story of a past so as to portray ...

(1977–1983) *

Ekpo Eyo Ekpo Okpo Eyo (8 July 1931 – 28 May 2011) was a Nigerian scholar mostly known for his work on archeology of Nigeria. He worked at the interface of archeology, anthropology, and art history, and he was actively involved in and many years presiding ...

(1983–1995) * David Kiyaga-Mulindwa (1995–2001) * Hamady Bocoum (2001–2005) * Alinah Segobye (2005–2010) * Benjamin Smith (2010–2014) * Ibrahima Thiaw (2014–2018) *

Freda Nkirote Freda Nkirote M’Mbogori is a Kenyan archaeologist, who is Director of the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA) and President of the Pan-African Archaeological Association. Biography Nkirote studied for her BA at the University of Nairob ...

(2018–present)

References

{{Authority control Professional associations based in Africa Archaeological organizations Archaeology in Africa