With Volume 24 the BHA completes its 24th year in an excellent position. Our link with Ubiquity Press has greatly expanded our audience and allowed authors to publish quickly and effectively, and to have their work contribute to a developing global conversation about the history of archaeology.

2014 has been a busy time for the BHA with its transition to fully on-line publication published annually. During the year I have been working with Ubiquity Press on the next stage of transformation brought about by my decision to step down from the Editorship at the end of 2014 after 12 years in the post, and the consequent termination of significant support from La Trobe University. Readers have already been advised of the substance of those changes via our web site (www.archaeologybulletin.org), but it is worth outlining the core changes again.

Chief among these is the appointment of Dr Gabe Moshenska (University College London) as 3rd editor of the BHA. Gabe will take up this post at the beginning of 2015. I will move to the role of Editor in Chief, and Gabe will gain additional support from the appointment of 2 Associate Editors. Ubiquity Press will continue as publisher and assist Gabe in continuing the roll-out of the Open Access environment we have committed to. Our changed financial circumstances have required the introduction of very much more specific submission guidelines for authors, which are designed to ease the fast-growing editorial burden that has flowed from the significant increase in submissions we have received over the last couple of years. Further detail about these and related matters will be posted on the BHA website in the near future.

I have also taken the opportunity of refreshing our Editorial Board who have such an important role in the workings of the journal. Sincere thanks for their service are due to Andrew Christenson, Alice B. Kehoe, Stefanie Klamm, Stephen Nash and Natalie Richard who will leave the Board at the end of 2014. To ensure vital continuity, current Board members David Browman, Xingcan Chen, Christopher Evans, Marc-Antoine Kaeser, Peter Rowley-Conwy, Daniel Schavelzon and Pamela Smith have agreed to serve another 3 year term. I am also delighted to announce that Giovanna Ceserani, Alessandro Giudi, Matthew Goodrum, Neha Gupta and Nathan Schlanger have agreed to join as new members.

Volume 24 collects 13 papers and 7 book reviews that have appeared in our on-line version. All papers continue our tradition of promoting diversity of subject and method. It is really pleasing to note contributions from first-time contributors, as it is to acknowledge the continuing engagement of some of our ‘regulars’ and Board members. These papers, and the books that have been reviewed provide a very clear indication of the growing strength of research in our field, not just in traditional core areas of Europe and North America, but in South America, China and India as well.

And now for my last homily about the place of the BHA in the rapidly expanding field of the history of archaeology. The expansion of interest in our field, and the rapid expansion in the size and diversity of the communities who are involved, make it very important that we keep lines of communication as open as possible. For this reason the BHA has long sought information from readers and subscribers about research projects, doctoral dissertations, and symposia/conference sessions relevant to our field. Information about these fundamental activities is just as welcome as papers and book reviews and I encourage all readers and subscribers to use the BHA website as a vehicle for disseminating this.

It remains for me to thank our many contributors to Volume 24, and our steadfast anonymous reviewers without whom we would not be able to function. The transfer of editorial responsibilities to Gabe Moshenska and the transformation of the BHA into a fully on-line publication also marks the end of support the BHA has received from La Trobe University, since the editorship passed to me from the late Doug Givens in 2003. Acknowledging that generous support also allows me to specifically mention the great efforts of our production team of Wei Ming and Susan Bridekirk. Both have been absolutely essential to the growing profile of the BHA and the continuous improvement in our processes, and they can now turn their attention to other projects.

I have mentioned that I will continue to serve the BHA as Editor in Chief focusing on promoting our journal through building links more generally in archaeology and elsewhere, and encouraging submissions from our significantly expanded readership. The last 12 years have given me ample opportunity to reflect on the value of Doug Givens’ legacy, and the need for us to continue the work of building research and teaching in the history of archaeology. By any account the field is gathering strength and importance, but there remains much to be done and I expect that the BHA will continue to make a positive contribution to that great task.

So, best wishes to Gabe Moshenska and his team as well as our partners Ubiquity Press.