It was decided during the Fifth Panafrican Congress on Prehistory and Quaternary Studies, held at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in September 1963, to follow the example of the Inventaria Archaeologica edited by the International Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences, and to publish similar illustrated cards devoted to pre- and protohistoric closed finds and type-series from the African continent. The series is to be called Inventaria Archaeologica Africana (I. A. A.). It was thought by members of Congress that it might be possible in this way to have rapidly in condensed and standardized form, the most significant results of new excavations. As only very few specialized journals are prepared to take even preliminary excavation reports, this method was suggested as being both convenient and rapid to publish new material. On the other hand, important old material, already published in scientific periodicals, could possibly be redrawn and uniformly re-issued in the series.

To implement this resolution, Congress appointed a committee consisting of Messrs. L. Balout, J.D. Clark, O. Davies, R. Inskeep, J. Nenquin and M. Posnansky. Since these persons are also members of the Standing Committee on Terminology, the necessary close collaboration between those two bodies is guaranteed. It was further decided that all matters relating to the practical side of editing the material should be centralized by one person, so as to ensure a maximum of uniformity in section drawing, general presentation of the cards, etc. The Patrimoine du Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale at Tervuren (Belgium), through its Chairman Prof. Ir L. Cahen, very kindly offered to provide the financial backing necessary for this enterprise.