Structure

Executive Committee

The executive committee ensures the continuity of the traditions of the organisation and monitors the sound development of the activities carried out within the IUPPS. It collaborates with the bureau, at its request, as regards the representation of the IUPPS and the following up pf the the activities of the different scientific commissions.

The executive committee regularly follows up the progress of the organisation of the world congress, but it intervenes in the organisation only if unexpected situations occur or if there are major delays in the detailed programme proposed by the organising institution.

Bureau

The IUPPS bureau is composed of the president, the first secretary and the treasurer.

The president is in charge of:

1. representing the IUPPS both at the IUPPS world congresses and in the relationships with any official organism related to the IUPPS;
2. representing the IUPPS other than at IUPPS world congresses and at any other IUPPS event or delegating this responsibility to another person;
3. setting the agenda of the general assembly and of the meetings of the executive committee;
4. convening and chairing the general assembly and the meetings of the executive committee.

The first secretary ensures the daily management of the IUPPS. The first secretary, in liaison with the bureau is responsible for the correct functioning of the IUPPS and is in charge of the following tasks:

1. preparing the meetings of the executive committee;
2. taking all necessary decisions in the case of an urgency situation, after informing and consulting the bureau;
3. ensuring the daily management of the IUPPS;
4. managing relationships with the ICPHS and with the affiliated organisations, as well as with any other organisation in contact with or contacted by the IUPPS.

The treasurer is in charge of:

1. the financial management of the IUPPS;
2. presenting the annual financial report to the executive committee;
3. presenting a multi-year financial statement to the general assembly at each meeting of this latter.

General Assembly

The general assembly consists of all individual members who are properly registered with the IUPPS and have paid their annual subscription, as well as of the honorary members.

The general assembly approves by majority of the voting members:

1. the creation or elimination of a scientific commissions;
2. the creation or elimination of special committees;
3. all other matters related to the objectives of the IUPPS as defined in its statutes.

The general assembly approves by two-thirds majority of the voting members:

1. the exclusion of individual or affiliated members;
2. the changes in the statutes;
3. the dissolution of the IUPPS;
4. the revocation of a bureau member.

Scientific Commissions

The general assembly decides on the creation of scientific commissions, on the basis of proposals by the executive committee. Their objective is to promote and to coordinate at an international level research carried out in specific fields of the prehistoric and protohistoric sciences in the time between each world congress. The commissions are grouped together according to six larger fields, which are not limited:

1. Historiography, methods and theory (history of archaeology, theory and methods of archaeology, various methods used in the archaeology and related to hard and natural sciences, to applied sciences, to biological sciences, to social sciences, to economic sciences, etc.);
2. Culture, economy and environments (specific periods, diachronic issues, regional particularisms);
3. Archaeology in a specific environment (desert, mountain, volcanic and coastal regions, islands, etc.);
4. Art and culture (all forms of artistic expression during the prehistoric and protohistoric periods, including cave art and portable art);
5. Archaeology and society (interaction between archaeology and the contemporaneous society, including management strategies related to cultural heritage, scientific research, and demands of the broader public).

The main activities of a scientific commission are:

1. the annual meeting of the commission, with the aim of further detailing the activity plan of the current year and approving the report of the preceding meeting;
2. the electronic diffusion, at least once a year, of an information letter addressed to the members of the commission with a copy to the general secretariat of the IUPPS and including an updated list of the members of the commission and their postal as well as electronic address;
3. the organisation of scientific events (congress, conference, sessions in an affiliated congress, thematic schools) on the term of the commission on the occasion of each IUPPS world congress and at least once between two consecutive congresses leading to a scientific publication.

Special Committees

The general assembly, on the basis of proposals by the executive committee, can create special committees dedicated to specific tasks or a global project of the IUPPS, related to the editing of a publication or a collection of scientific publications.

Honorary Committee

The honorary committee is a consultative organ that contributes to the continuity and coherence of the IUPPS activities. It is composed of the honorary members. The honorary members are scholars and people who have made significant international contribution to the prehistoric or protohistoric sciences. They are nominated by the general assembly, at the suggestion of the IUPPS executive committee.

Affiliated Organisations

Affiliated members are national or international institutions or associations that share objectives similar to the IUPPS objectives, on either a regional, national or continental scale, or in a specific field related to prehistoric or protohistoric archaeology. Acting on the same principle, the IUPPS can also accept national non-governmental organisations that are considered by the IUPPS as being representative in their own country. Affiliated members pay an annual subscription. The membership of an affiliated member of the IUPPS is automatically cancelled in the event of non-payment of the annual subscription.