IPPA Constitution

Article I. Name and founding

The name of the Association shall be the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association. The organisation was founded at the Fourth Pacific Science Congress of the Pacific Science Association, Java, 1929, through the leadership of P.V. van Stein Callenfels. At a meeting in Manila in 1953 the Far-Eastern Prehistory Association was formed. This in turn became the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association at a meeting in Nice in 1976.

Article II: Objectives

The objectives of the Association shall be:

To promote cooperation in the study of the prehistory and related subjects of Asia and the Pacific and prehistorically related areas. Asia here includes Pakistan and north from there roughly along the line of 70° longitude and to the east;

To help maintain direct communication among scholars working in the field of Asian and Pacific prehistory through periodic congresses, regional meetings, and the online publication of the IPPABulletin (Journal of Indo-Pacific Archaeology, since 2014);

To uphold and improve legal and scientific methods of prehistorical and related research in the field and in the laboratory and to help the countries in the IPPA area prevent illegal excavation and illegal trade in antiquities.

Article III. Membership

Individual Members shall be allowed to join after submission of an application form and membership fee to the secretariat, as instructed in the IPPA website.

Article IV. Organisation

The Association shall have a President and a Secretary-General, each appointed and advised by the eight elected members of an Executive Committee, as described in Article V(A). Standing and Ad Hoc Committees may be authorised as deemed necessary by the Executive Committee for the purpose of studying and seeking solutions to important problems of interest to IPPA membership.

Article V. Executive committee

(A) Membership

The Executive Committee shall consist of eight elected members, together with the two officers appointed by those eight members and detailed in Article IV above, to make a total of ten persons. Former officers may also be invited by the Executive Committee to attend Executive Committee Meetings and to vote. IPPA Bulletin editors also have the right to attend Executive Committee meetings.

The eight elected members of the Executive Committee shall serve for eight year terms. The Secretary-General shall be appointed by the eight elected members of the Executive Committee, either from within the committee itself or from the general membership. The terms of appointment of the Secretary-General shall also be determined by the elected members of the Executive Committee. The President shall be a senior archaeologist from the country that will host the next IPPA Congress, and shall be chosen by the in-country archaeological association(s) that will host the meeting, subject to ratification by the Executive Committee. The President shall remain in office for four years, preferably for two years before the Congress and two years afterwards.

The elected members of the Executive Committee shall be kept as widely representative as possible. No more than two members shall be citizens of the same country. Each of the four general areas covered by IPPA shall be represented by at least one elected member who is a citizen, resident or specialist in that area. These areas are: Northeast Asia (Russia east of 70° longitude, Korea, Japan, China), Southeast Asia (including Madagascar), South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan), and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands). Not more than four elected members shall be from countries not included in the area covered by IPPA. No elected Executive Committee member shall be renominated to fill the vacancy created by that member’s completion of term.

(B) Election of executive committee members

Nominations for the eight elective positions on the Executive Committee shall be requested from the Individual Membership, as detailed in Article V(A). Election, if necessary, shall be by email ballot.

(C) Sessions

Sessions of the Executive Committee, to be chaired by the President, shall be held before a business Meeting during an IPPA Congress. Sessions may also take place at any time a quorum is present providing that notification to all members of the Committee has been given at least one week before the meeting. The Executive Committee shall consider committee reports, consider and decide upon time and place of the next Congress or Committee session, authorise the appointment of Standing and Ad Hoc committees, and other administrative matters. Six members including the President, Secretary-General and any former officers present (see Article V(A) paragraph 1) shall constitute a quorum. Guests and observers may be invited to attend sessions at the discretion of the Chairperson. In emergency situations, the Executive Committee may conduct sessions by email.

Article VI. Meetings

(A) Congresses

The Executive Committee shall attempt to arrange a major IPPA Congress approximately every four years. At least one Business Meeting open to all IPPA members shall be held during each Congress. Additional Business Meetings may also be called at the time of a Congress, provided that every reasonable effort is made to notify all members at the Congress of the meeting time and place.

(B) Regional meetings

Regional Meetings, to be held preferably midway between Congresses, may be considered as official meetings of IPPA and receive assistance from the Executive Committee in their organization and funding. A host institution or organization contemplating such a meeting shall communicate with the Executive Committee through the Secretary-General concerning its wish to host and organise a Regional Meeting. If the Executive Committee considers that the proposed Regional Meeting is within the purposes of IPPA, the proposed host organisation shall make a formal request to the Executive Committee for recognition of the meeting as an official IPPA Regional Meeting and seek the assistance of the Executive Committee if desired. The Executive Committee shall encourage the holding of Regional Meetings.

Article VII. Amendments to the Constitution

Amendments to the IPPA Constitution shall be made through a ballot sent to all members. A deadline for receipt of replies will be stated. Suggested amendments will only be made if a two-thirds majority of all replies received by the Secretary-General before the deadline is in favour.

Bylaws

Chapter I. Purpose of the bylaws

The Bylaws are intended to spell out the details for the practical working of the Constitution.

Chapter II. Membership

Membership in IPPA is not an inalienable right. Any Member not abiding by the objectives of the Constitution can be removed from Membership. Hopefully this will never happen, but if such a case develops it will be carefully investigated by the Executive Committee and the charges shall be presented to the Member to allow for counter-presentation of evidence. The final decision on the case shall be made by the Executive Committee, a vote of six members of the Executive Committee against the Member being required for removal from membership.

Honorary Members shall be elected by the Executive Committee in recognition of their exceptional contribution to the study of the prehistoric archaeology of our area. A maximum of twenty living Honorary Members will be recognised at any time. Members shall recommend individuals for Honorary Membership to the Executive Committee, who will elect them by a majority vote of six or more in favour.

Chapter III. Executive committee

(A) Membership

The membership of the Executive Committee shall be as directed by Article V(A) of the Constitution. Given that the current Executive Committee was elected on 1 October 2010, the next election of eight new members to the Executive Committee shall take place on 1 October 2018, thereafter every eight years from that date. Each incoming President shall be a senior archaeologist from the country in which the next IPPA Congress is to be held (an event that will occur approximately two years after each election). The President shall be chosen by the in-country host association(s) for the forthcoming meeting, and approved by the IPPA Executive Committee. The main role of each President shall be to facilitate the organisation of the next Congress in his/her own country, including fund raising and liaison with the necessary government officials, and to assist with follow-up activities such as publication.

The Secretary-General shall be responsible for the general running of the association (including memberships, conference fund raising and the organisation of congress programs), and the management of the Granucci Fund. From 2010 onwards the post of Secretary-General has become separated from that of IPPA Bulletin Editors, who are selected by the Executive Committee on the advice of the Secretary-General. The Editors organise the production of the online IPPA Bulletin, dealing especially with the editing and refereeing of submitted papers, management of an editorial committee, and the organisation of layout, printing and distribution.

At present, no Treasurer is needed since IPPA funds are managed by the Australian National University. Should this situation change, a further modification to the constitution may be necessary.

(B) Election of members

All Individual Members in good standing shall be eligible for election to the Executive Committee within those restrictions laid down by the Constitution Article V(A). A Member wishing to stand for election to the Executive Committee must be nominated by another Individual IPPA Member.

All Individual Members in good standing shall have a vote in the elections.

To make it possible for the full membership to participate in the elections, they shall be conducted by an email ballot organised by the Secretary-General. Email votes shall be returned to the Secretary-General within a stated deadline. All elections are by simple majority.

The names of the newly elected Executive Committee members shall be listed in the IPPA website.

Chapter IV. Meetings

(A) Congresses

1. Frequency and location

Full Congresses should be held approximately every four years, with the decision about whether to hold one jointly with another organisation to be made by the Executive Committee.

2. Business meetings

The primary purpose of IPPA Business Meetings is to inform the IPPA members present about the current activities of the Executive Committee, to receive from the members their thoughts on these activities and what changes might be made in these activities, including suggestions for new directions in which IPPA should move. A quorum for IPPA Business Meetings shall be 20% of the IPPA members present at the meeting. Once a quorum is present, substantive decisions on matters brought forward by the Chairperson or the membership may be taken or approved by the meeting, except on those matters specified in the Constitution or its Bylaws as requiring a ballot of the full membership, or as requiring a decision of the Executive Committee. The Chairperson of the Business Meeting shall be the President.

(B) Regional meetings

An IPPA Regional Meeting must be concerned with a topic relating to the prehistory of some portion of the IPPA area, or to archaeological research methods concerning the IPPA area, or a portion thereof.

Chapter V. Communications and the IPPA Bulletin

Communications to the Members shall be by email. The IPPA Bulletin (renamed Journal of Indo-Pacific Archaeology at the IPPA conference in Siem Reap in 2014) is published online at regular intervals and carries both the proceedings of IPPA conferences as well as other invited or submitted papers. The online Journal of Indo-Pacific Archaeology will require an Editorial Committee of qualified scholars, to which appointments will be organised by the Secretary-General and Executive Committee in 2008. For practical reasons it will not be necessary for all members of such an Editorial Committee to be members of the Association.

Chapter VI. Resolutions and recommendations

Resolutions and recommendations may be submitted for adoption to the membership present at the Business Meeting of a Congress, provided that there is a quorum of members present as defined in Chapter IV(A)2.