Newsletters

Current and previous issues of the newsletter are available here!

Contributions

The A+M Newsletter warmly invites contributions related to archaeomalacology in its widest sense. Please email submissions and questions to the AMWG content editor. Annual deadlines are 31st January for circulation in February and 31st July for circulation in August.

A Brief Introduction

The A+M Group Newsletter was started independently by Janet Ridout-Sharpe following a talk she gave to fellow members of the Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland at the Natural History Museum in London in 2000, which described her work on archaeological shell assemblages undertaken, albeit on a very part-time basis, since the late 1970s. Having worked in virtual isolation, it was a revelation to discover that others had similar interests, and a brief note in The Conchologists Newsletter in September 2000 elicited responses from more than 30 people. Intended to encourage communication between archaeomalacologists, the first issue of the newsletter appeared in July 2001, originally under the title Malaco+Archaeology Group Newsletter, which was changed to its present title in January 2003 to reflect that of the newly-established ICAZ Archaeomalacology Working Group. The newsletter was initially published privately and sent to recipients individually by email. As interest in the subject grew, and because the newsletter and the ICAZ group were aimed at the same audience, the ICAZ Archaeomalacology Working Group agreed to host the newsletter on its website from issue 5 in March 2004. Newsletter issues have appeared at roughly six-monthly intervals and include short articles, research notes, abstracts of publications, notices of meetings, requests for information, and anything else of potential interest to archaeomalacologists. Janet went on to edit 22 issues until January 2013 when she handed over the reins to Annalisa Christie. Cindy Nelson-Viljoen took over the role of newsletter editor in September 2016. In November 2019 the role of AMWG Content Editor was handover over to Matthew Law.