In the words of its constitution: The origins of the UISPP lie in an 1865 meeting of the Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali (English: Italian Society of Natural Science) that led to the creation of the Congrès paléoethnologique international (CPI; English: International Paleoethnologic Congress).

This required a change of name, and the CISPP became the International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (UISPP) in order to gain access to UNESCO funding.

The UISPP does not exclude any bona fide scholar from its scientific activities and rejects any attempts of fictional rewriting of the past or of negationism.

In collaboration with the board, its role is to uphold the principles of the UISPP and exercise oversight over the activities of scientific commissions and more widely within the organization.

Their objective is to promote and coordinate internationally research in a specific or specialized domain of prehistoric and protohistoric sciences between each world congress.

The first congress in this new format is being held as a multi-venue event in Java, Indonesia in 2025 (main theme: "Asian Prehistory Today: Bridging Science, Heritage and Development").