Dear Friends of Cave Archeology and Paleontology,
The International Union of Speleology (UIS) has a Commission on Cave Archeology and Paleontology. It was created in 1993 to improve communication, projects, and knowledge among those interested in those topics. In recent years the commission has been inactive as the officers do not have time to work on the commission. They are now retiring from the commission. The commission will either be discontinued by the UIS next year or it can continue with new officers. I know of your interest in cave archeology and paleontology (and I'm sending this message to some caving lists and a few others people to reach people I don't know) and am writing to find people who would be interested in continuing the commission. The UIS has some simple requirements for its commissions. Mostly, each commission can be organized as its members want, as long as it supports the basic goals of the UIS to advance speleology. The current commission brought archeology and paleontology together because there was some overlap in their interests. New commission members may continue that, but they may also focus and create new commissions on only archeology and paleontology. The important thing is that the commission officers represent multiple countries and be willing to communicate internationally to support the commission's goals. If you are interested in working on the commission, please let me know. I will answer any questions you have and put you in contact with other interested people. For the commission to continue or be reorganized, at least a few of you need to be at the International Congress of Speleology next year in Brno, Czech Republic (http://www.speleo2013.com/) where the commission and its members will meet and report to the UIS General Assembly. If the commission is reorganized into a new commission or commissions, those commissions must be approved by the General Assembly, which only meets every four years at the international congresses. Cave archeology and paleontology are important topics and I hope to see this commission continue. If you want more information on the UIS and to see what the other commissions are doing, visit http://www.uis-speleo.org/. Please send this message to anyone you think may be interested. Thank you, George *************************** George Veni, Ph.D. Vice President of Administration, International Union of Speleology Executive Director, National Cave and Karst Research Institute 400-1 Cascades Avenue Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220-6215 USA Office: 575-887-5517 Mobile: 210-863-5919 Fax: 575-887-5523 [email protected] www.nckri.org
