To: the EAA (European Association of Archaeologists) Executive Board

Xosé-Lois Armada[:b], director of the Institute of Heritage Science (INCIPIT-CSIC), representing the institute´s corporate membership, presents this letter prepared by the INCIPIT faculty to the Executive Board of the EAA

From the Institute of Heritage Sciences (INCIPIT-CSIC), Corporate Member of the European Association of Archaeologists, we hereby wish to formally express our serious concern regarding recent decisions, procedures, and communications within the Association.

The First issue addressed in this letter is our concern with the EAA Board’s erratic course of action in re-instating the affiliation of Israeli institutions on the eve of the 2025 Annual Meeting. No blame is implied toward every individual member of those institutions; rather, our discontent is that the Association cannot disregard its own principles while continuing to prevent criticism of a state that is actively carrying out a military offensive. An offensive that results in the destruction of cultural heritage, but more importantly genocide, explicitly opposed by the EAA’s Statutes and Code of Practice.

Second, the EAA has always been a safe space for speaking freely and reasoning, while respecting dissent. Contrary to this, the statement issued on 02/09/2025 prohibited free speech. The responsibility for enforcing this measure was put on session organizers—assigning them a duty outside their scientific obligations—and volunteers, the most vulnerable participants in the EAA Annual Meeting.

Third, the EAA has always been, while independent and plural, aware of and interested in the political dimensions of heritage and archaeological practices. In contrast, recent arguments by the President, Vice-President, and Secretary about “politicization” (as stated in the documentation of the Annual Meeting of 05/09/2025 and in the documents supporting the agenda of the Special Meeting of 09/01/2026) contradict this principle. Continuing as is, or pursuing naïve depoliticization, is not an option. Archaeology and heritage are inherently political; debate must remain central to the discipline. This does not mean partisan politics or polarization, but acknowledging that heritage and knowledge are tied to identity, values, and conflict, and in democratic societies these are negotiated politically. The EAA must actively embrace this engagement.

[b:]Fourth, the way the association’s governance handled the situation during the 2025 EAA Annual Meeting. Decisions were taken in an autocratic manner, and communications to the membership were unclear, inconsistent, and subject to abrupt changes. These actions violate the EAA’s own guiding principles (iii–iv) and caused significant harm: to the Belgrade meeting itself, to many members, including INCIPIT colleagues whom our Faculty must support and stand in solidarity with, who faced censorship or undue pressure, and to the EAA’s reputation as a respected global forum.

The Annual Business Meeting on 05/09/2025 did not offer any opportunity for open dialogue, nor was any transparent clarification provided by the EAA Executive Board. No apology was offered. To this day, over three months later as we write this letter, no accountability has been taken, and all protests have gone unheard.

For these reasons, we fully support and await the Special Meeting convened by over 10% of the EAA membership. INCIPIT remains deeply committed to the EAA, with which we share a long, intertwined history. INCIPIT played a key role in the Association’s origins as the local organizer of the first Annual Meeting in Santiago de Compostela, a meeting that helped define the EAA’s standards and values as a space for dialogue among archaeologists during a challenging moment in Europe’s history. Since then, INCIPIT has contributed significantly to every Annual Meeting and is among the European institutions that have consistently sent some of the largest delegations. Not to forget, one of our members has served as President of the EAA.

We wish to remain part of the Association, but cannot accept its current course or lack of principles. The Executive Board must take responsibility and articulate a clear plan or step aside.

The INCIPIT Faculty is currently discussing this topic and our place in it, and will continue to do so as we await the outcome of the Special Meeting on 09/01/2026. Should no substantial changes occur and the meeting fails to correct course, we regret that we will no longer remain a Corporate Member of the EAA. However, if this moment is used to learn and rise to today’s challenges, reconciling positions, and strengthening multilateral structures (something that, in the current situation of our societies and in the face of the dismantling of multilateral international governance systems by reactionary populism, is more necessary than ever, and to which the EAA can contribute as a global organisation), we will be proud to continue contributing as a Corporate Member.