The Society for East Asian Archaeology (SEAA) is a non-governmental organization established to further promote interest and research in the field of East Asian Archaeology through the sharing of information on ongoing projects, encouraging premier quality research and international and interdisciplinary collaboration, providing publishing opportunities through an online bulletin, holding academic meetings and conferences, providing educational outreach to the general community, enhancing scholarly communications and good relations among archaeologists within East Asia, and encouraging interdisciplinary perspectives involving several regions.
The Society was formally established in 1996, replacing the East Asian Archaeology Network (EAAN), which had been launched on 6 April 1990 at a meeting in Chicago of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) arising out of a discussion on "Politics and Procedures for Archaeological Fieldwork in Asia". The stated aim of the Network was to further education by facilitating greater communication among scholars interested in the archaeology of China, Korea and Japan. EAAN operated for several years and published a newsletter, called EAANouncements, issues 1-26, 1990-98, which can be read on this web site. The Society for East Asian Archaeology hosted its First Worldwide Conference in Honolulu in April 1996.
The Society for East Asian Archaeology operates under a formal constitution. It is run by a Council which includes an Executive Board and regular Council Members, the latter being elected as representatives from major geographic areas of China, Korea, Japan, North America, Europe and Australasia. SEAA has a world-wide membership, consisting of professional archaeologists, scholars and students from different academic fields, as well as members of the general public, who are interested in the archaeologies of China, Korea and Japan, and adjacent regions, or concerned about the preservation of the cultural heritage of archaeological sites and artifacts from East Asia.
One of the main activities of the SEAA is organizing and attending a World-Wide SEAA Conference, which was held every four years until 2012 and which is now being held every two years since 2012. The first was held in Honolulu, USA in 1996, the second in Durham, England in 2000, the third in Daejeon, South Korea in 2004, the fourth in Beijing, China in 2008, the fifth in Fukuoka, Japan in 2012, and the sixth in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in 2014. The next seventh conference will be held in Cambridge/Boston, USA, in June 2016.
Yangjin Pak
January 2016