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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

⌛[NetSAP Webinar] Our 1st webinar for 2026-2027 is in a month! We will be joined by Tareq Awwad (PhD Candidate, Archaeology Department, University of Glasgow) for a discussion on Syria's Archaeological and Historical Sites. 📆 September 3, 2026, 6.30 PM (CET)

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

📣 Our workshop "The Ethical Challenges of the Study of Ancient West Asia" is this week! Find our final program below ⬇️ (Please note that no Zoom or Teams link will be provided.)

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

📣The NetSAP is pleased to announce its workshop taking place this June 11th and 12th in Liège, entitled: "The ethical challenges of the study of ancient West Asia. On the issue of accountability in research" You can find more information about the workshop and the preliminary program below ⬇️

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

⌛[NetSAP Webinar] Our 2nd webinar this year is in a month! We will be joined by Dr. Joseph A. Greene (Harvard University) for a discussion on the formation and division, consolidation and dispersal of the entire Kheleifeh excavation archive (Jordan). 📆 April 29, 2026, 6 PM (CET)

This is the poster announcing the event. In the upper part, there are speaker’s name and the title of his talk: “Nelson Glueck’s 1938–1940 Excavations at Tell el-Kheleifeh, Jordan: The Excavation Archive—Formation and Division, Consolidation and Dispersal.” by Joseph A. Greene from Harvard University. On the left, there’s an image of the site being excavated, with a plane flying over it. Then, on the right side, there is the conference's abstract, and a photo of archaeologists working on pottery. On the banner at the bottom are the information to register to the conference.

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

It's tonight! You can register at: netsustainap@gmail.com

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

📣 [NetSAP Webinar] Join us for our 1st webinar this year! We will be joined by Dr. Julia Schoenicke (German Archaeological Institute & University of Zurich) for a discussion on the archaeology of the anthropocene and the material traces left by archaeological fieldwork. 📆 Feb 26, 2026, 6 PM (CET)

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

[CALL FOR PAPERS] The NetSAP Workshops: "The ethical challenges of the study of ancient West Asia by the West" 📆 11-12 June 2026 📌 Liège University (Belgium) ▶️ Deadline for abstracts: November, 28th

Call for paper for the NetSAP Workshop in Liège:

‘Ethics’, a philosophical reasoning first, is the study of the balance between action and moral conduct. In the fields of history, art history and archaeology, ethics appears as an established concept, as in every academic discipline. However, archaeology in West Asia presents very specific challenges that other facets of history do not face (engaging with local excavators, the need for huge budgets, destruction and restoration processes, etc.). On the philological side, which most relies on museum collections, specific questions arise due to the enormous number of inscribed tablets obtained through irregular excavations (provenance of collections, decision to publish or not, museum bias, etc.).
When asked about the value and significance of their so-called ‘useless sciences’ (ironic title given by Jean Bottéro), researchers working on Antiquity generally answer that it is important to move forward into the future by knowing the past. However, the responsibilities inherent in these praiseworthy objectives are not necessarily addressed. These include facing the fact that our fields of study are confronted with the manipulation of archaeological findings for political ends, culturocide, the monopolisation of data by those in positions of power, collaboration with communities that have been weakened by the colonial era,…We could also question the lack, in historical sciences curricula, of lessons on ethics and appropriate behaviour when conducting excavations abroad.

In light of this observation, the workshop organized by Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices humbly aims to address the challenges of Westerners studying West Asia and try to offer meaningful perspectives. What is ethical can be defined as ‘dealing with the principles of morality; pertaining to right and wrong in conduct; being in accordance with the rules or standards for right conduct or practice, especially the standards of a profession’1. Defining good conduct in our profession may involve, among other things, what position to take when faced with certain issues:
- How do archaeologists and historians engage with conflict? How can archaeology meaningfully engage with conflict?
- How do archaeologists and historians deal with museums: their history and the way collections are conserved, especially outside countries of origin? How should one deal with the incessant production of data, and implement sustainable approaches to managing it?
- How do archaeologists collaborate with teams of “workers” in unbalanced working conditions and a colonial tradition? What about the paternalistic relationship to local teams?
- How do archaeologists and historians position themselves in the looting of antiquities and trafficking market? What about the study of artefacts with questionable provenance?
- How do archaeologists respond when modern development projects threaten heritage sites,
ecosystems, and communities? What role should they play in safeguarding cultural landscapes and in advocating for those displaced or marginalised by such projects?
These are some of the questions we would like to address, but we welcome papers that explore other angles and perspectives we may not have considered.

Send to netsustainap@gmail.com

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

📣 TODAY, 25 August 2025, 4PM-6PM (CET) The Forum for Anti-Colonial Inquiry in the Humanities and Social Sciences (FAIHS) is meeting for its first Jour Fixe to discuss on 'Anti-Colonial Perspectives on Premodern History' 🔗 tinyurl.com/faihs1

Invitation to the 1rst Jour Fixe of the Forum for Anti-Colonial Inquiry in the Humanities and Socials Sciences.
When: Monday 25th of August, 4PM to 6PM Central European Time.
Topic: Anti-Colonial Perspectives on Premodern History
Abstract: The input for the session will consist of a very brief overview of useful resources and existing networks which focus on premodern history from an anti-colonial perspective (e.g., Everyday Orientalism, the Critical Ancient World Studies Collective). This aims at starting a conversation and explore potential cooperation partners, as well as to share resources on the topic. Participants are welcome to think about their own additions to the conversation (blogs, readings; networks, collectives).

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

⏪NetSAP was at the 14th ICAANE in Lyon, with a workshop entitled: "Digging through the Stores: Challenges and Prospects of New Research on Old Collections" With 10 presentations by curators and researchers, the discussion was rich, focusing on the future prospects for museums and their collections!

Program of the NetSAP Workshop at the 14th ICAANE:

09:00 - 09:30 | The Re-edition of Mesopotamian Celestial Divination: from Tablets to Internet
Maria Teresa RENZI-SEPE - Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
09:30 - 10:00 | JUMP (Tall-e Jari B & Tall-e Mushki Pottery Restudy Project): Shedding New Light on Old Collections in the University Museum, the University of Tokyo
Takehiro MIKI - Keio University, Japan
10:00 - 10:30 | Old Conflict, Old Collections: Working around the Cypriot Problem to study the Early Bronze Age Transition
Maria HADJIGAVRIEL - Leiden University , Netherlands
10:30 - 11:00 | A Case Study on the Handling of "Old Collections". The Seleucid-Parthian Period Pottery from Babylon in the Vorderasiatisches Museum (VAM) in Berlin
Elisabeth KATZY - Berlin, Germany
11:30 - 12:00 | ‘Minor Objects' and their Stories: Reassessing and Reinterpreting Clay Figurines from Ur in the Collections of the British Museum
Enrica INVERSI - Freie Universität Berlin, Germany - The British Museum, United Kingdom
12:00 - 12:30 | Something Old, Something New: Recontextualizing the Assyrian Roundel from Tell Tayinat
Kiersten NEUMANN - University of Chicago, United States
14:00 - 14:30 | The Halaf-Ubaid Transition in Northeastern Mesopotamia: The Potential of Museum Collections
Michael CAMPEGGI - University of Milan, Italy
14:30 - 15:00 | Urartian inscriptions in the museums of Iran: Challenges and results
Maryam DARA - Assistant Professor of RICHT, Iran
15:00 - 15:30 | Re-assembling and re-telling Kish: new approaches to research and display in the Ashmolean Museum
Nancy HIGHCOCK - Ashmolean Museum, United Kingdom
16:00 - 16:30 | Impressive impressions: Seals and their impressions in museums and what to do with them
Pinar DURGUN - The Morgan Library and Museum New York, United States

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

👋 Do you want to attend our webinar on Heritage of Colonialism in Archival Research ? It's tomorrow ! ⬇️

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

We will also discuss the following articles: -Dan Hicks (2020). The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution. -Carla Antonaccio (2005). “Excavating Colonization.” In Ancient Colonizations: Analogy, Similarity and Difference.

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

📣 Save & share the date for our 5th webinar! "Heritage of Colonialism in Archival Research" with Heidi Miller & Erhan Tamur 📆 May 14, 6PM CET 🔗 Flash the QR code or register at netsustainap@gmail.com

Miller's abstract:
The discovery and publication of the Bronze Age civilization of the Indus River Valley took place during the early 20th century while the Indian Subcontinent was under British colonial rule. I contend that the first interpretations of the Indus Valley Civilization (also referred to as the Harappan) reflect the orientalist ideals of a static indigenous culture. This view was perpetuated by the colonial government which emphasized the unchanging nature of both the modern and ancient populations. In this presentation, I will describe the orientalist view of culture and history in South Asia, and then detail how the first interpretations of the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilization reflect such ideals. Following this I will deconstruct the premise of the unchanging nature of the Indus Valley Civilization by using the same collections and documents (now archived) that were used to create this interpretation. and thus illustrate how variable the Indus Civilization actually was."
Tamur's abstract:
"How meaningful are efforts to decolonize Ancient Western Asian (“Near Eastern”) art and archaeology—a discipline that is inherently a product of nineteenth-century European colonialism? Rather than dismissing such efforts as futile instances of “incremental change,” I regard them as potentially meaningful sites of intervention. In this talk, I will take as an example the foundational and still resilient narrative of the “discovery” of Mesopotamia, featuring a European archaeologist operating singlehandedly in a presumed terra incognita. By drawing on my recent research on Tello (ancient Girsu), I will explore the relationship between coloniality and the archive, and demonstrate the potential of critical engagement with systematically neglected sources and histories."

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

👏 We're happy to see that many of you have already signed up! For those of you who haven't, there's still time: please send an email at netsustainap@gmail.com

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Tim Waterman @tim-waterman.co.uk · 11/04/2025

CFP: Who Owns Heritage? Local Communities and the Fight for Historical Monuments in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Masaryk University Brno, Czechia, 6 November. Deadline 22 April. www.phil.muni.cz/en/zamestnan...

phil.muni.cz

Call for Papers: Who Owns Heritage?

Call for Papers: Who Owns Heritage? Local Communities and the Fight for Historical Monuments in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Masaryk University Brno, Czechia, 6 November.

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

"Particular attention will be given to the ways in which colonialism is identified and conceptualized, the transformations it has imposed on landscapes and territories, and the structures that have sustained it over time." More info ⬇️ www.casadevelazquez.org/news/xviie-a...

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

"This call seeks to foster a nuanced discussion on how discourses pertaining to colonial structures, encounters, and power dynamics have shaped both past societies and the discipline of archaeology itself."

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

"The Workshop “Archaeologies of Colonialism – Past and Present” invites PhD candidates in archaeology, history, art history or classics to submit papers that critically explore the complex intersections of colonization, colonialism and archaeological practice"

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

[CALL FOR PAPERS] XVIIe atelier doctoral d'archéologie antique (3rd-6th of June 2025) "Archaeologies of Colonialism – Past and Present" Deadline : 22nd of April 2025 All info. (English) below ⬇️

casadevelazquez.org

XVIIe atelier doctoral d'archéologie antique - Casa de Velázquez

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Erratum : it's not on April 18th but tonight (April 9th, 6PM CET) as announced on the poster. Webex link : fu-berlin.webex.com/fu-berlin/j....

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Morgane Pique @mpique.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

It's tonight at 6PM (CET) ! Webex Link ▶️ fu-berlin.webex.com/fu-berlin/j....

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

📣 4th NetSAP Online Webinar "Thoughts on Archives" part. II Jean-Jacques Herr (Archaïos-Unistra) and Barbara Couturaud (Musée du Louvre) will present The "Archives of Khorsabad" Project: An Archaeological Investigation 📆 April 18, 5PM (CET) 🧭 Please register by mail

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

📣 3rd NetSAP Online Webinar "Thoughts on Archives" part. I Georg Cyrus (Freie Universität Berlin) "Squatting Nimrud – an Assyrian metropolis in postimperial times" 📆 April 18, 6PM (CET) 🧭 Please register by mail

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

The days are getting longer and we are happy to share our spring program 🌸 📆 Save the dateS! 👉 To attend the online webinars, please send us a direct message or an email at netsustainap@gmail.com #archaeology #sustainability #culturalheritage #archives #antiquities

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

More information on the ICAANE website: 14icaane.inviteo.fr/inscriptions...

14icaane.inviteo.fr

14th ICAANE

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

📣Next June, NetSAP will be at the 14th ICAANE in Lyon! Feel free to join us for our workshop "Digging through the Stores: Challenges and Prospects of New Research on Old Collections" You can find more information about the workshop and the preliminary program below ⬇️

Archaeology has long been centered around discoveries through excavations and surveys. Over a century of archaeological fieldwork in Western Asia has produced substantial material necessitating analysis, appropriate conservation, and long-term storage.
Nevertheless, the disparity between the material generated by fieldwork and the available resources and facilities for storing, studying and curating collections has led to a "conservation crisis" in archaeological repositories and museums.

To facilitate accessibility for researchers and the public, museums and research institutes are digitizing their collections and creating online databases. However, many "old collections" remain un(der)studied in stores, holding potential for discoveries and new knowledge. These collections present specific challenges; some may lack provenance, while others originated before modern fieldwork techniques and documentation standards were established.

In this workshop, we will explore the potential and challenges of collections from the 19th and 20th centuries. We will tackle the following questions:
- How can “old collections” be used to address new research inquiries?
- What obstacles do legacy collections present to research, and what new methodological and theoretical approaches have been implemented to overcome them?
- What factors affect the visibility of existing and/or un(der)studied collections? How can their accessibility to researchers be facilitated?
- How can new research on legacy data inspire innovative ways of communicating and displaying the past in and beyond museums?
This workshop will provide a platform for PhD students, early career and senior researchers to discuss and compare research practices and methodological approaches. This is not just a practical issue in the study of old data; new research on “old collections” relevant to ongoing and future fieldwork and museum work.

Program of the NETSAP Workshop

- The Halaf-Ubaid Transition in Northeastern Mesopotamia: The Potential of Museum Collections Michael Campeggi, Università Milano, Italy
- JUMP (Tall-e Jari B & Tall-e Mushki Pottery Restudy Project): Shedding New Light on the Old Collections in the University Museum, the University of Tokyo Takehiro Miki, Keio University, Japan
- Old Conflict, Old Collections: Working around the Cypriot Problem to Study the Early Bronze Age Transition Maria Hadjigavriel, Leiden University, the Netherlands
- A Case Study on the Handling of "Old Collections". The Seleucid-Parthian Period Pottery from Babylon in the Vorderasiatische Museum (VAM) in Berlin Elisabeth Katzy, Pilecki Institut Berlin, Germany
- ‘Minor Objects' and their Stories: Reassessing and Reinterpreting Clay Figurines from Ur in the British Museum Enrica Inversi, British Museum, United Kingdom, and Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
- The Elephant in the Room: New Research on Ivories from Nimrud in the British Museum Hannah Gwyther, British Museum, United Kingdom

- Something Old, Something New: Recontextualizing the Assyrian Roundel from Tell Tayinat Kiersten Neumann, ISAC Museum Chicago, USA
- Re-assembling and Re-telling Kish: New Approaches to Research and Display in the Ashmolean Museum Nancy Highcock, Ashmolean Museum, United Kingdom
- Unveiling the Past: Advanced Technologies and New Perspectives on the Mesopotamian Collection at the Museum of Antiquiti of Turin Elena Devecchi, Filippo Diara, Stefano de Martino, University of Turin, Italy
- Impressive Impressions: Seals, Impressions, and Copies in Museum Collections and What to Do with Them Pinar Durgun, The Morgan Library and Museum, USA
- Urartian Inscriptions in the Museums of Iran: Challenges and Results Maryam Dara, Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Tehran, Iran
- The Re-edition of Mesopotamian Celestial Divination: from Tablets to Internet Maria Teresa Renzi-Sepe, Freie Universität Berlin Germany

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

📣[Call for papers] The University for Foreigners of Siena welcomes the conference “Decolonising Cultural Heritage: State of the Art, Methodologies, and Practices”, on May 5-6 2025. Deadline for abstract submission: January 31, 2025 See the CFP here: www.unistrasi.it/1/10/1111266...

unistrasi.it

Home Page

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

11/27/2024: Pitfalls and Possibilities of Digital Archaeology ▫️Prof. Dr. Elisa Rossberger (Berlin) "Towards an Annotated Corpus of Ancient West Asian Imagery: Changes and challenges" ▫️Dr. des. Katarzyna Langenegger (Bern) "BAD: Don't reinvent the wheel. Linked database for archaeological Projects"

Poster of the NetSAP November meeting: Possibilites and Pitfalls of Digital Archaeology. Description of Katarina Langenegger's lecture: "BAD: Don't reinvent the wheel. Linked database for archaeological Projects"
"The Bernese Archaeological Database (BAD), initiated in 2023, aims to develop a graph database model based on existing relational data from projects like Sirkeli Höyük and Gonur Depe at the University of Bern. This project integrates both current and historical, unstructured data. The main challenge is creating a universally usable database while navigating technological and legal differences across countries. It will link to external sources using vocabularies such as the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names® and CONA."

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

Happy New Year! ✨ While we wait for the next meeting (coming soon!), take a look at our previous one, where we discussed the possibilities and pitfalls of digital archeology with Katarzyna Langenegger (Universität Bern) and Elisa Rossberger (Institut für Vorderasiatische Archäologie) ⬇️

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Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices @netsap.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Hi BlueSky 👋 We are NetSAP, the Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices. We are a group of early career scholars, specialized in the archaeology of Western and Central Asia from the Palaeolithic to modern times. Please find below what we do ⬇️ #AncientBlueSky🏺

NetSAP mission statement :
The Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices (NetSAP) was founded in 2023 by a group of early career researchers specialized in the archaeology of Western and Central Asia from the Palaeolithic to modern times. As a collective, we focus on sustainability in archaeology and related fields.
We aim to provide a platform for discussions and dialogue on topics that all revolve around sustainable practices in archaeological research and related fields. This includes but is not limited to:

- ethics of and in archaeology and museums studies
- methodology to achieve best practices in fieldwork and post-excavation research
- cultural heritage, conservation and communication practices
- museums, outreach and collaboration with the broader public
- old data research and effects of long-term storage
- accessibility of data and results
- environmental, climate and social impact of archaeology
- incorporation of new technologies

We support sharing knowledge, transparency and accessibility of data, and collaborations between individuals, museums, universities and other non academic institutions. We encourage the connection and exchange between students, young and senior researchers of all fields, and everyone committed to inclusive discourse.

The NetSAP is mainly built around webinars held every three months, revolving around a predefined theme and associated readings. In addition, every two years, an in person or hybrid meeting is organized as a workshop.

Themes are always methodologically oriented and we aim to tackle topics that are of importance across disciplines, and to bring together researchers from archaeology, history, philology, etc.
Where to find us?
- On BlueSky: @netsap.blsky.social
- On Academia: Network for Sustainable Archaeological Practices
You can also contact us by mail: netsustainap@gmail.com

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