The Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) organized the II Meeting on African Prehistory, the 15th and 16th of April 2015, with a global participation of more than 70 archaeologists, geologists and paleontologists active in African Prehistory and related disciplines. The event was sponsored by Obra Social La Caixa and Fundación Caja Burgos. It was a successful follow-up of the first edition of 2013, held in Madrid.

In charge of the organization was Mohamed Sahnouni, coordinator of the Prehistoric Technology Program of CENIEH. As he explained in an interview, the aim of these meetings is to offer a forum for Africanist prehistorians, facilitating the interchange of information and ideas, the discussion of current issues and interests, and the initiation of collaboration activities.

An especially wide range of aspects from the Lower Paleolithic to the Iron Age was covered, by means of near 40 presentations. Among the speakers, renowned scientists like Ronald Clarke, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo, Complutense University of Madrid, and Chris Stringer, National History Museum, London.

According to Mohamed Sahnouni, the high numbers of participants and speakers have justified consolidation of the event: a third edition for 2017 has been confirmed and will be held in Tarragona, at the Instititut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES).

Public Lecture

At the end of the meeting, Ronald Clarke offered a public lecture on the first South African hominids, in front of a full CENIEH auditorium. The live webcast was viewed from all five continents.