The annual Calpe Conference, now in its twenty-third edition, commences this Thursday, 19th September. Minister with responsibility for Heritage, the Hon Professor John Cortes, will officially open the conference at 0915 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 first time. In addition, there will be other local and speakers talking about their 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 21st September, with a paper presented by Deputy Chief Minister, the Hon Dr Joseph Garcia at 1730 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 1300 hours when an announcement of a major archaeological discovery will be made.