Between September 5 and 9, 2023, the Western University of Timisoara hosted the UISPP World Congress, organized under the auspices of the International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (Union Internationale des Sciences Préhistoriques et Protohistoriques – UISPP), a professional structure established on May 28, 1931, in Bern . UISPP brings together all sciences related to prehistoric and protohistoric studies: archaeology, anthropology, paleontology, geology, zoology, botany, environmental sciences, physics, chemistry, geography, history, numismatics, epigraphy, mathematics and others. Since September 29, 1955, UISPP has been a member of the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences, affiliated to UNESCO.
The general theme of the 2023th edition of the UISPP World Congress XNUMX was Interdisciplinarity in Archaeology. Scientific program it was structured over 40 sessions and included more than 400 presentations given in the official languages of the congress, English and French. The four general sessions dedicated to archaeological theory and practice, the Paleolithic, the Neolithic and the Age of Metals, were joined by a series of sessions and public lectures that addressed topics of interest that resonated with the general theme of this anniversary edition of the congress such as anthropology, archaeometry, archaeoacoustics, policies regarding archaeological heritage.
The event was attended by a number of 300 specialists, coming from European Union countries, but also a significant contingent from the USA, Great Britain, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, China, India, Australia, the Philippines and countries on the African continent (Morocco , Algeria, Tunis, Nigeria, Egypt, etc.).
By organizing this edition of the congress, the Western University of Timișoara aimed to promote multidisciplinarity and inter-institutional collaborations, as well as the integration and promotion of Romanian scientific research in the field of pre- and protohistoric archeology in the international circuit. On the occasion of the congress, the volumes "Pre- and Protohistory of Romania", coordinated by scientific researcher Valeriu Sârbu and associate professor Dr. Dorel Micle, and "Interdisciplinarity in Archeology - UISPP 2023. Book of Abstracts" were edited under the coordination of assistant. university dr. Andrei Stavilă, drd. Bogdan Alin Craiovan and Dr. Roxana Cirt. During the congress, public conferences were also held on topics of interest such as the role of salt in shaping human communities over time and the role of the Romanian space in the process of neolithization, supported by researchers Valeriu Kavruk and Mihai Gligor. A third public conference was held by Francois Djindjan, president of UISPP, and had as its title "A destroyed and forgotten generation: Ukrainian archaeologists victims of Stalinist purges". The conferences were addressed both to the participants in the congress, but especially to the general public, interested in archaeological research.
