Volume 36 of Australasian Historical Archaeology was mailed to members in January. The issue is the first of the new editorial team of Annie Clarke, Penny Crook, James Flexner and Sarah Hayes and showcases a range of papers on historical archaeology in Australia–Pacific region.

The issue includes a fascinating review of the politicisation of Australian colonial smoking practices and clay pipe form known as the ‘Squatters Budgeree’ (Gojak and Courtney) and a review of recent palynological evidence of the landscape of the Tank Stream in Sydney (Macphail and Owen).

Two papers from the broader Pacific rim, on foreign goods in Hawaiian households (Flexner et al) and a mission house in Vanuatu (Zubrzycka et al) showcase developing trends in historical archaeology in the region, and demonstrate the importance of regional context for Australian and New Zealand sites where similar stories of cultural intersection echoed through the colonies.

An introduction to the archaeology of the Parramatta Industrial School for Girls (Jones) demonstrates the importance of reflecting on the material culture of recent times through an archaeological lens.

The volume also includes two studies of overlooked components of infrastructure best understood by a landscape approach: water-management infrastructure in the case of the Victorian goldfields (Davies and Lawrence) and stone-arch bridges in the case of transport networks in Canterbury, NZ (O’Connell and Koenig).

A contribution to the advancement of use-wear analysis on glass vessels from Christchurch (Platts and Smith) has potential applications for artefact studies through the Australasian region.

Finally, a research report on a mining settlement in the Blue Mountains of NSW (Parkes et al) sets out the potential for a closer study of this domestic assemblage in an industrial setting.

Along with book reviews and thesis abstracts, this diverse selection of papers demonstrates the strength of AHA as the outlet for new research in historical archaeology.

For the full contents list see http://www.asha.org.au/journals/2010s/volume-36.

Volume 37 is filling up fast so prospective authors should email editor@asha.org.au as soon as possible if they are planning to submit in 2019 (and note the revision Submission Guidelines http://www.asha.org.au/submission-information.html).

If you haven’t received your copy, contact secretary@asha.org.au.

An interesting article from the ABC

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-17/ancient-rock-art-carvings-of-american-sailors-found-in-wa/10807596

Welcome to the New Year and the new committee!

In case you haven’t been introduced here are the new committee members:

• President—Anita Yousif
• Vice Presidents—Mary Casey & Penny Crook
• Secretary—Caitlin D’Gluyas
• Treasurer—Helen Nicholson
• Web Manager—Nick Pitt
• Blog Editors—Abi Cryerhall & Jane Rooke
• Awards Coordinator—Catherine Tucker
• Education Resources Coordinator—Alison Frappell
• Other Societies Representative—Iain Stuart
• Public/Community Engagement Coordinator—Jennifer Jones-Travers
• Social Media Officer—Ngaire Richards
• Events Coordinator—Stephanie Moore
• General Committee Member—Bronwyn Woff

Just a bit of shameless advertising…if you have anything you would like to blog please feel free to email us at blog@asha.org.au. Perhaps there is an upcoming event you would like to advertise or a past event you would like to share. Is there an artefact worthy of the title ‘Artefact of the Month’ or an interesting project you have been working on or dreaming about? Send them to us and we will pop them on the website. We have some exciting blogs already planned but are always keen to have many more up our sleeves!

 

ASHA Strategic Planning Weekend in Canberra

Although a great deal gets achieved in our monthly ASHA committee meetings, they just don’t give us quite enough time to discuss everything we would like to, so last weekend the ASHA committee traveled to Canberra for a day of planning and strategy. The current committee were present with apologies from Mary Casey and Jennifer Jones-Travers.

The agenda covered:

• ASHA’s Mission and Vision
• Committees roles and delegations
• Membership and outreach
• ASHA publications, website and social media
• Collaboration with industry
• Organisations and visibility
• ASHA calendar of events 2019-2021 (this included the Conference for the next 5 years)
• State of the current constitution
• Pathways Database of Archaeology
• Archaeology Passport

The sessions were very productive with the agenda discussed and debated, actions decided, and timeframes set. Stay tuned for more details and information on our action list progress in the next few months.
Thank you to GML for providing the Canberra office space for the weekend. Also a huge thank you to Caiti D’Gluyas for her fantastic morning/afternoon teas and lunches.

Photo supplied by Anita Yousif