General > Presentation

The International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (UISPP) was founded in 1931 and  has organized first every five years several world congresses and since the one at Florianopolis (Brazil) in 2011, every three years bringing together around 1500 participants from all over the world. These international meetings are offering great moments of mutual transfer of knowledge between prehistorians and protohistorians from the five continents, and where they present the latest results of their research. They are also the opportunity for the different scientific commissions to discuss the common scientific topics, or focus on specific geographic areas or to be reorganized.

According to the International Scientific Community, archaeological research especially in Prehistory of North Africa is dynamic and growing rapidly. Therefore it is natural and logic to organize the UISPP World Congress in Morocco, and the 19th World Congress of UISPP will take place in Meknes (Morocco) within different locations at the Faculty of Sciences (University Moulay Ismail), and it is jointly organized by the National Institute of Archaeological Sciences and Heritage (INSAP) and the University Moulay Ismail (UMI).

The World Congress will be held from September 2 to 7th 2021 in Meknes, the former capital of Sultan Moulay Ismail (1672-1727) and is on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1996, it is also very famous by several well known historical monuments which are in a perfet harmony with the growing urban activity, the whole is surrounded by walls system, the most important in Morocco, giving to Meknes the appearance of a fortified city.

In addition to its rich and diverse historical heritage, Meknes has a good geographical position (160 km from the capital of Morocco  and 60 km from the imperial city of Fez), and makes easy any visits of the prehistoric and archaeological sites such as Volubilis, the prehistoric sites of the Middle Atlas and those of Rabat area.

The UISPP Congress will be held for the first time in Africa, and  Morocco through the city of Meknes is honored and has the privilege to organize the XIXth Congress as it will be an opportunity for researchers from all over the world, not only to discover the prehistory and the protohistory of Morocco, but also that of Africa. Morocco has a tradition and experience of organizing big scientific events related to archaeology in general and Prehistory in particular, and after the PANAF 2018 organized in Rabat, Meknes will offer a new opportunity to the international scientific community and to the UISPP  to welcome their researchers and to be in touch with the scientific research activity in Morocco and Africa as  special effort will be made to invite a maximum of African researchers to attend this Conference to discover the prehistory and protohistory of North Africa through the XIXth UISPP World Congress.

The general topic of the congress is "Evolution of human societies from prehistory to protohistory" other related topics will be suggested and developed by the different scientific commissions.