CONFERENCE/WORKSHOP REPORTS

1. The 8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS

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was held at the Abbazia di Spineto, Sarteano (Siena), 2nd - 6th October 2000 under the patronage of the Fondazione Ing. Carlo Maurilio Lerici, Politecnico di Milano, the Ministero degli Affari Esteri, the Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the Municipalities of Sarteano, Chiusi and Siena, the Provincia di Siena and the Abbazia di Spineto. Conference report by Cynthia Lampert, Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, UK.

This very well attended conference received a warm welcome and great hospitality from our hosts and brought us over 70 oral and poster presentations on many aspects of Southeast Asian archaeology. These included papers on the pre, proto and early history of mainland and insular Southeast Asia, reports on recent fieldwork, a wealth of information on many aspects of material culture and a number of papers concerning epigraphy, art history and the conservation of monuments and materials from the region.

The truly international flavour of the event was evident from the range of countries represented by the participants, with speakers from 17 countries, and by the audience who had travelled to Tuscany from all corners of the world. Although many presentations were given by speakers from Europe, a good number of participants had travelled from Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and the New World was represented by several speakers from North America.

For three days, the conference took place at the Abbazia di Spineto, a beautifully restored fortified abbey close to Sarteano. On Wednesday we were the guests of another municipality in the region, when papers were presented in the Cathedrale di San Secondiano, Chuisi. On Thursday we travelled to Siena where the conference was held in the Santa Maria della Scala.

The presentations were divided into sessions, grouping together papers related by a geographical area. My apologies go to those whose presentations I have not mentioned specifically but space has not allowed me to report fully every paper in this busy schedule. The beginning of the week was devoted to sessions on the archaeology of Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar, whilst sessions on Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam were held during the final two days. In addition, a general session on Southeast Asian archaeology and the poster session were held in the middle of the week. Periods for questions and discussion of the papers were scheduled at the end of each session and lively and informed debate was prompted by many of the presentations. Informal discussions of many areas of interest continued outside of the organized sessions.

The sessions on Thailand and the Philippines on Monday included papers on rock art, on the changing landscape and its effects on lifestyle in Southeast Asia, on ceramics (from the pottery of Khok Phanom Di to 15th century Thai trade ceramics) and on metalworking. Evidence of the influence of ideas and technologies from China on the development of Southeast Asian culture was reported and human health and occupation at sites in Central and North East Thailand was examined.