THE PREHISTORIC SOCIETY

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, 8th MAY, 2010, 4:00PM

CARDIFF UNIVERSITY, CARDIFF

THE PRESIDENT PROF C. RUGGLES IN THE CHAIR

64 MEMBERS ATTENDING

ITEM
1 / MINUTES
1.1 / The Minutes of the AGM held on 30th May 2009 in the Tempest Anderson Hall, The Yorkshire Museum, York, had been previously circulated.
M. Allen proposed and J. Cruise seconded that these minutes be accepted as a true and accurate record. This was approved and the minutes were signed by the President.
2 / PRESIDENT’S REPORT
2.1 / C. Ruggles was finishing his term as President and reflected on the good and the bad. The worst day was induced by bad weather and flooding prior to the Jodrell Bank meeting. Of the good, various Society achievements were highlighted, including the establishment of the annual Europa Days (this being the third). Those at Oxford, York and now Cardiff have all proved very successful. The Europa Days will be a lasting tradition, and one that continues to take the Society out of London. The Research Papers series was now going strong, with three excellent volumes already published, a forthcoming one on the Chalcolithic, and five others in early stages of production. The President thanked M. Allen for his work on these.
2.2 / The President noted the challenges to the Society. It had survived recession, with membership down a little, but it was still strong. Membership and image remain central issues to negotiate in the future.
2.3 / Looking forward, a number of events were planned for the second half of 2010, running off the success of those that have already been held since December (e.g. the ‘Creation of Homes’ conference, the Wessex Culture conference, and student study tour).
2.4 / The Society continued to explore new ways of publishing the Proceedings that offered greater long-term stability. SAGE was now identified as potential new publisher, and there is the likelihood of a move to two issues per year.
2.5 / The new website is under construction, and a new webmaster (Cole Henley) is in place. M. Allen, T. Machling and the President have been much involved in the early stages of this. The new website will be launched later this year.
2.6 / The President reflected on procedure, noting that the Society is both a company and registered charity, and so subject to the legal procedures which govern such. These become more complicated over time. A. Ainsworth has done a sterling job keeping the Society up to date with these. The newly-appointed independent examiner, David Tomlinson, has produced a very useful report, and points raised in this are being acted upon. The Society Trustees (i.e. Council) have agreed to re-appoint D. Tomlinson for another year.
2.7 / The President reflected on how the Society runs itself, thanks to the hard work of the Officers and Council. Thanks were extended to J. Gardiner for her tireless work on the Proceedings, M. Allen for varied roles (the Research Papers, reviews, etc) and A. Ainsworth for sterling work as Treasurer. Particular thanks were offered to J. Chapman as retiring VP. He led the new publisher working group for PPS and will continue with this and the organisation of next year’s Europa Day. R. Johnston was also thanked for his work as Conservation Coordinator. Thanks were extended to retiring Council members D. Garrow, G. Warren, J. Siddell and R. Pope.
2.8 / All who have assisted with events during the year were thanked, and especially A. Sheridan and A Whittle for the third Europa Day meeting in Cardiff.
3 / SECRETARY’S REPORT
3.1 / As published in Issue 64 of PAST.
4 / EDITOR’S REPORT
4.1 / Volume 76 of PPS is on schedule, with four papers in proof and the majority of others typeset. There is more UK content this year, a reflection simply of the pattern of submissions, though one paper deals with prehistoric Mali. There is no shortage of material for forthcoming issues. J. Gardiner noted that c.400 editorial hours per year go into producing PPS.
4.2 / Negotiations with SAGE over future publication of PPS continue. If accepted as the new publisher, this will bring about innovations, such as two issues per year (in fact reflecting a pattern that previously existed) and an on-line version. PAST would also be printed by SAGE. It was hoped that such a transition will be smooth.
4.3 / J. Brück continued in her role as editor of PAST, and was thanked for such. The newsletter remains popular. An anniversary spoof issue no. 1 (1935) was a last minute plan, but proved successful.
4.4 / Reviews continue to be posted on the website and M. Allen was thanked for his work.
4.5 / The Research Papers series is going well. Future volumes will be more varied and include volumes other than conference proceedings.
4.6 / The Baguley Award was presented to the widow of Ian Shepherd for his article The V-bored buttons of Great Britain & Ireland in volume 75 of the Proceedings.
5 / TREASURER’S REPORT
5.1 / The Treasurer reported that 2009 had been better than 2008. A reduced rate for the printing of PPS had been negotiated and the receipt of a small legacy had helped. Income generated from sales of the Research Papers series was also contributing to the Society’s finances. A new credit card payment system will soon be introduced and it is hoped this might encourage a rise in membership.
6 / MEETINGS SECRETARY’S REPORT
6.1 / In the absence of J. Last, reference was made to the report on 2009 events in the Secretary’s Report published in PAST. C. Ruggles reported on planned events for 2010 and 2011, including those celebrating the Society’s anniversary.
7 / AWARDS
7.1 / The following awards and grants had been made
John and Bryony Coles Award
I. Coloquhoun (University of Durham) for a visit to Berlin to view LBA swords
B. Elliott (University of York) for a visit to Paris to learn antler tool manufacture
Conference Fund
P. Osypinski (Warsaw University) – Nubian Studies conference, British Museum
H. Russ (University of Bradford) – International Council for Archaeozoology, Paris
Research Fund
M. Gillings (University of Leicester) – Exmoor miniliths
B. Edwards and R. Pope (University of Liverpool) – Clywydian Hills survey
M. Diaz Andreu (University of Durham) – La Valltora rock art
H. Wickstead (Kingston University) – Damerham Project
The Leslie Grinsell prize was awarded to M. Gillings, and the Bob Smith prize to H. Wickstead.
8 / ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF COUNCIL
8.1 / There being no more nominations than vacancies, J. Chapman proposed and M. Allen seconded that the following were elected en bloc:
President – Alison Sheridan
Vice-President – Ann Woodward
Treasurer – Alastair Ainsworth
Secretary – Joshua Pollard
Editor – Julie Gardiner
Editor PAST – Joanna Brück
Meetings Secretary – Jonathan Last
All nominees were elected.
There were no re-appointments for retiring Council members.
9 / AOB
9.1 / The new President closed the meeting, and thanked Clive Ruggles as out-going President for all his work.
Meeting closed at 4.50pm.