added the minutes for the last meeting

Author: nevrome

content/minutes/2026-03-06.md

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+---
+title: "55th regular meeting"
+date: 2026-03-06
+---
+
+6 ppl attended
+
+## CAA2026 (Vienna)
+
+- Many SIG members are attending CAA2026 in Vienna.
+- The programme has been released: <https://2026.caaconference.org/program>
+- Timing of the conference was discussed critically, as it includes Good Friday and overlaps with the UK Archaeological Science Conference: <https://www.ukas2026.co.uk>
+- Workshops involving SIG members:
+  - "Code review and best practices in programming" (Matteo Tomasini's workshop); Sophie Schmidt and James Allison will join as participants.
+  - "From Zero to Plotting: R for Anyone" (Petr Pajdla's workshop); Sophie Schmidt offered to help as a tutor.
+  - "Increasing interoperability and reproducibility of archaeometric data with R" (Clemens Schmid is involved in the underlying project); see <https://github.com/archaeothommy/ASTR>
+- Sessions highlighted by SIG members:
+  - S30: Unstoppable Vision, Immovable Practice: An Adversarial Debate on Linked Open Dreams and the Reality of Archaeological Data Collection
+  - S31: Computational Archaeology Revisited: Building Bridges with Mathematics and Computer Science
+  - S34: Modelling Seafaring: Methodological Retrospective and Future Roadmap
+- SIG SSLA Meet-up at CAA2026
+  - Proposed day and time:
+    - Wednesday evening (chosen to avoid overlap with both the ice breaker event and the conference dinner)
+    - After 19:45, meeting directly at the restaurant
+  - Potential venues discussed:
+    - Bierteufl: <https://maps.app.goo.gl/Khz5iwguptq4Uqqi8>
+    - Gmoa Keller: <https://maps.app.goo.gl/ehY2xnY5bcavuGuP6>
+    - Both locations are relatively far away from the conference venue; closer alternatives may be preferable.
+  - Organisation and communication:
+    - James Allison will collect a list of suitable restaurants from a colleague.
+    - A reservation will be necessary once a venue is chosen.
+    - SIG members are encouraged to actively invite (“drag along”) other potential members.
+    - An invitation with final details (venue, exact timing) will be sent via the mailing list; participants should announce if they plan to attend.
+
+## Election of the SIG SSLA Board
+
+- Martin Hinz announced that he is stepping down from his role as Convener.
+- Matteo Tomasini stood for election as Convener; his candidacy was formally proposed by Petr Pajdla.
+- Election results:
+  - 6 members voted.
+  - Matteo Tomasini was unanimously elected as Convener.
+  - Sophie Schmidt was re-elected as Vice-Convener.
+  - Clemens Schmid was re-elected as Secretary.
+- The SIG expressed its sincere thanks to Martin Hinz for his outstanding work as Convener since the founding of the SIG!
+
+## News and resources
+
+- Material culture networks paper (PCI Archaeology): <https://archaeo.peercommunityin.org/PCIArchaeology/articles/rec?id=639>
+- Advanced R course for geospatial data analysis (FU Berlin): <https://www.geo.fu-berlin.de/en/v/soga-r/index.html>
+- Report on AI recommendations in science (Royal Statistical Society): <https://rss.org.uk/RSS/media/File-library/Policy/2026/AI-is-Statistics-FINAL.pdf>
+- QGIS plugin for downloading Czech archaeological data: <https://plugins.qgis.org/plugins/amcr_viewer>
+- ESTER Project: ESTimation of the prehistoric population of Eurasia based on a large number of Records (Martin Hinz, Sophie Schmidt): <https://ester-project.org>
+
+## Next SIG Meetings
+
+- Next meeting: during CAA2026 in Vienna, Wednesday, April 1, in the evening (details will follow).
+- Following regular meeting: Planned for May 8 (not on May 1st), tentative invited talk (to be confirmed and announced)