West African Perspective of the World Archaeological Congress: Challenges and Aspirations

This paper looks at how the West African region was involved in the early history and formulation of the World Archaeological Congress. In particular, it describes events around the 9th Congress of the Pan-African Association of Prehistory and Related Studies, held in Jos, Nigeria, in 1983. The question of apartheid South Africa came up in the plenary session of that meting. A resolution was adopted condemning apartheid, and calling for the cessation of all contacts with South African institutions, and for the censure of colleagues and institutions maintaining links with South Africa. This later became the core of the WAC approach to South Africa, adopted by the organizers of the Southampton Congress. Looking ahead, formidable obstacles remain for West African archaeology, many of them structural in nature. Punitive visa requirements, currency crises and the scarcity of resources all prevent West African scholars from participating fully in global scholarship.