As one of the organizers of the 8th International Congress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, held at the University of Warsaw from April 30 till May 4, the PCMA would like to thank all 8 ICAANE participants for their attendance, and volunteers and members of staff for their work and commitment towards the success of this prestigious conference.
The Congress received the highest appreciation from both university and state authorities. A letter from the President of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski, to the participants of the 8 ICAANE was read during the opening ceremony, inaugurated by the University of Warsa Rector, Prof. Katarzyna Chałasińska-Macukow. The Congress also had the honorary patronages of Prof. Barbara Kudrycka, Minister of Science and Higher Education, Radosław Sikorski, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Rector of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Prof. Bronisław Marciniak.
The 8 ICAANE was attended by almost 600 participants from over 40 countries and from all continents. Over 270 papers were read in the main thematic sessions and over 130 during workshops, followed on with over 40 poster presentations. Apart from the traditional reports on the latest discoveries and current excavation results, the other main focus of the Congress was on the application of modern technologies and applied sciences in archaeological research.
The results of Polish archaeological work in the Near East and Central Asia were presented by over 30 scholars from several scientific centers, with 12 presentations pertaining to sites excavated by PCMA teams.