Calpe 2019 Conference commences this Thursday

The annual Calpe Conference, now in its twenty-third edition, commences this Thursday, 19^th September. Minister with responsibility for Heritage, the Hon Professor John Cortes, will officially open the conference at 09:15 hours at the University of Gibraltar. The title of the conference is “Archaeological and Heritage Research in Gibraltar: the past thirty years” and is seen as a landmark conference in which the archaeological, conservation and heritage research which has been undertaken locally under the supervision of the Gibraltar National Museum will be brought together for the firsttime. In addition, there will be other local and speakers talking abouttheir own research during this time, particularly on the recent history of Gibraltar and the Gibraltarians.

International speakers will provide a broader context, in keeping with the conference’s subtitle “In the Context of Iberia and North Africa”. This will be a unique opportunity to attend to what will effectively be a summary of Gibraltar’s history,told by those who have been directly involved in the research. The conference will close on Saturday 21^st September, with a paper presented by Deputy Chief Minister, the Hon Dr Joseph Garcia at 17:30 hours, on “The origins and development of the Gibraltarian identity”.

A press conference, chaired by Minister Cortes, will be held at the university on Thursday at 13:00 hours when an announcement of a major archaeological discovery will be made.