UNESCO

Cornelius Holtorf presented a keynote lecture on “Post-Corona Archaeology: Creating a New Normal?” at the Opening Ceremony of the 2020 Virtual 26th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists on 25 August 2020. In front of an audience of several hundred archaeologists from Europe and around the world he proposed three lessons:

1. Let’s take the future seriously and do our best to ensure that archaeology actually contributes to sustainable development that will benefit future generations in concrete ways.
2. Let’s go beyond the notion of cultural diversity and focus on what people shared and indeed share, promoting trust, solidarity and collaboration between human beings on this planet.
3. Let’s realise more often the value of culture, cultural heritage and archaeological practice to be inclusive and bring people together, promoting peace among humans both in society and between societies.

The lecture is now available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i1t-FzCvuY (starts at 48:30)