EAC Annual Meeting 2026 takes place in Spain

The 27th EAC General Assembly and Heritage Symposium will be held on 19-20 March 2026 in Altamira, Santillana del Mar, Spain. The symposium will be followed by an excursion on 21 March 2026.

The event is organised by the Ministry of Culture of Spain, and is hosted by the Museum of Altamira. The scientific coordinators are Pilar Fatás (Director, Museo de Altamira) and Marta Arcos and Cristina Lafuente (Ministry of Culture of Spain).

The theme of the heritage symposium is 'Bridging Borders in Heritage Protection: towards best practice for prevention of archaeological crime’. From surveys and workshops conducted by the EAC in 2024 and 2025, we know that heritage crime is a challenge facing many of our members: the symposium provides an opportunity to address the topic in more depth, and share best practice and collaborative approaches to tackling the issue.

The concept note and call for papers can be downloaded from the Annual Meeting webpage. Guidance for submitting an abstract can also be found there.

The National Museum and Research Centre of Altamira is dedicated to the conservation and research of the cave of Altamira, included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the 'Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain'. It is one of the National Museums of Spain, depending on the Ministry of Culture of Spain.

The caves at Altamira are famous for their Paleolithic art. © Altamira Museum

Each year, the Symposium is open to EAC members and interested colleagues. It is free of charge to attend but participants must register. The 2026 venue has limited capacity. Registration will be opened for members of EAC organisations and working groups first, and will be opened to others later if space is available.