Previous Award Winners

Browse award winners by year

2023 ASHA Awards

R. Ian Jack Award for Best Honours Thesis

No nominations were received for this award.

Maureen Byrne Award for Best Postgraduate Thesis

Winner

Dr Caitlin D’Gluyas (University of New England), for Landscapes of a Juvenile Institution:  A Multiscalar Historical Archaeological Study of Point Puer, 1834-1849

Judges’ comments

The aims of this dissertation are well articulated and refreshingly modest. The author has a broad conceptualization of the problems she tackles and is unafraid to embrace the essential ambiguity of the data she deploys and the theories she articulates. The dissertation is refreshingly free of jargon and the quality of the research and analysis enhance the value of what is an important place – nationally and globally – for the investigation of childhood and youth. Historical archaeology would be well served if the author seeks to revise and then submit a manuscript to a global publisher.

Judy Birmingham Award for Best Historical Archaeology Heritage Report

Winner

Ochre Imprints for Melbourne Metro Tunnel Town Hall Archaeological Precinct, project report

Judges’ comments

The unanimous assessment was that report presented the findings and analysis from the complex, multi-phase site in a clear and engaging way. The findings from the artefact analysis had been used throughout the report to inform the understanding and interpretation of the site. 

Martin Davies Award for Best Public Archaeology Initiative

Winner

Kurt Bennett, Matthew Gainsford Rebecca Cox and Dr Janice Adamson, for the HMS Buffalo Re-examination Project.

Judges’ comments

This work demonstrates what might be achieved in public archaeology with low-tech, low-budget but big-effort endeavours having carefully targeted aims.

An impressive Project … the school program with the skateboard is genius.

The project does not lose sight of the historical significance of the site and its context in both New Zealand, but also British colonial history.  And

In terms of meeting the objectives for public benefit, there is no doubt that this project achieves a great outreach without the huge budget usually required, and demonstrates that the combination of grants, partnerships, volunteer groups with associated interests and clear objectives can increase awareness, enjoyment, and engagement with local archaeological sites, and indeed, in this case maritime archaeological sites.

2022 ASHA Awards

R. Ian Jack Award for Best Honours Thesis

Winner

Cora Wolswinkel (La Trobe University) for A Survey of the Soda Water Industry in Regional Victoria 1841 – 1862

The winning thesis is an engagingly written piece of work that provides a detailed artefact study of a particular class of objects and makes a valuable contribution to historical archaeology in Victoria, especially in reference to the gold-rush era. Its research could be extended more widely—ideally to the entire country—and it exemplifies the kind of historical archaeological analysis that ties archaeological materials to wider historical trends and events.

Highly commended

Ayesha Limb (University of Western Australia) for The Ruins of Reconnaissance: The Archaeological Investigation of Niiwalarra’s World War Two Occupation

This work breaks fresh ground in examining – and successfully interpreting – hitherto neglected outposts of considerable strategic importance to Australia during WWII. By marshalling multiple strands of research— archaeology, historical, fieldwork and lab analysis—this thesis ably identifies probable site uses and something of the range of activities that took place on Niiwalarra island, WA, both challenging and extending what was already known from historical sources.

Judy Birmingham Award for Best Historical Archaeology Heritage Report

Winner

Casey & Lowe Archaeology & Heritage

Client: Parramatta City Council and Walker Corporation

Title: 3 Parramatta Square, Parramatta. Formerly 153 Macquarie Street, Archaeological Investigation report

This report is exemplary in its integration of multiple lines of evidence to reveal aspects of Parramatta’s history from Aboriginal occupation through the early convict period to the end of the nineteenth century. The authors draw on extensive documentary research and the results of archaeological investigation and incorporate the results of new technologies in remote sensing and 3-D imaging. They present a detailed historical and archaeological overview of the development of Parramatta and effectively place the site within its broader historical and archaeological context.

Highly commended

Extent Heritage

Client: Property Development Group Pty Ltd

Title: 97–141 and 143–153 Therry Street, Melbourne: Historical Archaeological Excavation Report

The report is innovative in its approach to urban archaeology in Melbourne and in the presentation of new data about Melbourne’s hydrology and early colonial settlement. The project is significant in its use of environmental reconstruction and in responding to the archaeology of the site in a way that allows interpretation to extend and go beyond the initial research questions.

Martin Davies Award for Best Public Archaeology Initiative

Winner

Extent Heritage for Rockbank Inn Open Day, Woodlea Estate, Melbourne, Mini Museum

The Extent Heritage Mini Museum is a portable interpretation facility designed to improve public engagement with archaeology. The facility consists of a modified shipping container with viewing windows, display cases, interpretation panels and LED screens. The museum is environmentally sustainable, relocatable, reusable, cost effective, secure, safe and adaptable. It offers an innovative and highly functional way for the public to visit sites and learn about the archaeological process.

General judges remarks

Judges remarked on the generally high standard of the nominations for all the awards.

Also thank you to all the judges on the three judging panels. Without your hard work and commitment to being part of this Awards program we could not make the awards the success that they are.

2020 ASHA Awards

R. Ian Jack Award for Best Honours Thesis

Christopher Biagi (LaTrobe) for In for a Penny, in for a Pound: Faunal analysis of the Jones Lane Archaeological Precinct.

Judges Comments

The judges felt that this thesis demonstrated breadth of research, strong comparative analysis, a mature and engaging writing style and clear presentation of outcomes. It  demonstrated the value of food and faunal analysis in studies of urban socio-economic status and consumer choice and acknowledged the need for nuanced variation and interpretation of status and identity and the limitations that a faunal assemblage alone can contribute.

Maureen Byrne Award for Best Post-Graduate Thesis

Charlotte Feakins (ANU) for “Behind the legend: A historical archaeology of the Australian buffalo hide industry, 1875-1958”

Judges Comments

The work is well-researched and founded upon a good research problem.  The combination of folklore and historical archaeological methodology works well as an investigatory framework.  The level of historical research that has been undertaken is most impressive, as is the engagement with the people who took part in, or were associated with, the buffalo hide industry.

Judy Birmingham Award for Best Heritage Report

GML Heritage for Former Schofields Aerodrome Preliminary Historical Archaeological Excavation Results Report

Judges Comments

The report is an innovative example of a public-facing outcome of archaeological research, using excellent graphic design, contemporary and archival photography to effectively communicate archaeological information for a non-specialist audience.

Martin Davies Award for Best Public Archaeology Initiative

Winner

PNG National Museum and Art Gallery for Etoa; A Kokoda Track Story

Judges Comments

The winner of the Martin Davis Public Archaeology Award for 2020, presents the project in a way, really hitting at the heart of Public Archaeology. With professionals from three nations combining forces to work with the locals and volunteers to recover the delicate past, thus allowing the community to take that history in to the future – is at the core of what public archaeology is. The partnerships created in this project celebrate archaeology as a discipline and how it can contribute not only towards the understanding of the history of the place, but offered an ability to engage with elders, present and future custodians, for archaeologists to work with the public / community to ensure education, understanding and the future management of the heritage. Stories, understanding and experiences that can and will be shared into the future. Presented as a video story, while not currently wide reaching this poignant story is presented sensitively, it is hoped will be available to a wider audience in the future. The winner of this award is Etoa: the Kokoda Track Story.

Highly Commended

Heritage NSW and University of New England for NSW Rivers and Waterways Cultural Landscapes Project (aka The Rivers Project)

Judges Comments

This project, on a wide reaching level offers the passionate public and community the opportunity to engage with archaeology, and to meaningfully contribute to the archaeological record. Academic, publication and database results aside, this project’s take the formalities of archaeological site recording and reporting into communities along NSW rivers, encouraging local people to engage with archaeologists, understand and get involved with the process of archaeological work, identifying, recording and contributing to the future management and custodianship of NSW riverine heritage.

Graham Connah Award for Best Publication

Winner

Ian Smith

Pākehā Settlements in a Māori World: New Zealand Archaeology 1769-1860

Judges Comments

Based on meticulous and broad-ranging research using multi-disciplinary sources, Ian Smith presents a seamless and compelling story about the Colonial period of New Zealand history. “Pakeha Settlements in a Maori World: New Zealand Archaeology 1769-1860” has the potential for long-term impact on public understandings of the history and archaeology of New Zealand.

The book takes a refreshing approach, examining the entry of foreigners into a Maori world, rather than the more common approach of seeing indigenous peoples as outsiders to Colonial settlements.  The synthesis of an extensive range of archaeological investigations along with documentary historical research to present an easy-to-read overview is impressive. Written for a general audience, the author clearly explains archaeological methodology and historical analysis. This is supported with meticulous referencing, but this does not inhibit the narrative flow. The way that archaeology, and in particular artefacts from archaeological investigations, have been employed through both the narrative and the lavish illustrations clearly demonstrates the value of material cultural studies in story-telling about the past.

“Pakeha Settlements in a Maori world” will undoubtedly become a classic text in New Zealand archaeology, a valuable resource for schools and educators, as well as a treasured volume in many home libraries.

Highly Commended

Susan Lawrence and Peter Davies for Sludge: Disaster on Victoria’s Goldfields

Judges Comments

Susan Lawrence and Peter Davies have managed to take a seemingly dull subject, the toxic waste produced from nineteenth century mining, and created a highly readable and entertaining environmental and political history.  Sludge: Disaster on Victoria’s goldfields exposes a largely hidden story from Victoria’s past, revealing the long-term effects of industrial mining and water rights, in a way that has resonance with current debates around mining and the environment.  It challenges the way people read contemporary landscapes and how they have been shaped by historic mining activity.  Sludge embeds archaeological knowledge into a cross-disciplinary narrative and clearly shows why archaeology provides an important contribution to public understandings of the past and its relevance in the present.

Ilma Powell Honorary Award for Distinguished Service

Andrew Wilson

2015 ASHA Awards

R. Ian Jack Award for Best Honours Thesis

Susan Arthure, Flinders University

The Occupation of Baker’s Flat: A Study of Irishness and Power in Nineteenth Century South Australia

Historical research about the Irish in 19th-century Australia presents contrasting models for the understanding of Irishness and the relationships between the Irish and their neighbours. This is compounded by a lack of archaeological work specifically on discrete Australian Irish communities as opposed to working class urban areas that included an Irish population. This study constitutes the first study of an avowedly Irish community in a rural area and revealed a tightly knit community trying to lead respectable lives, who were adept at manipulating the local authorities and landscape to suit their needs.

Maureen Byrne Award for Best Post-Graduate Thesis

Sean Winter, University of Western Australia

Global, Regional and Local Networks: Archaeological Investigation of the Western Australian Penal Colony 1850 – 1875

Historical research about the Irish in 19th-century Australia presents contrasting models for the understanding of Irishness and the relationships between the Irish and their neighbours. This is compounded by a lack of archaeological work specifically on discrete Australian Irish communities as opposed to working class urban areas that included an Irish population. This study constitutes the first study of an avowedly Irish community in a rural area and revealed a tightly knit community trying to lead respectable lives, who were adept at manipulating the local authorities and landscape to suit their needs.

Judy Birmingham Award for Best Heritage Report

Casey & Lowe Pty Limited

Cumberland Precinct – Parramatta

Martin Davies Award for Best Public Archaeology Initiative

EMM

White Hart Inn

Graham Connah Award for Best Publication

Susan Lawrence & Peter Davies

An Archaeology of Australia Since 1788

This book is the first major synthesis of Australian historical archaeology since the 1980s. It engages with a wide range of contemporary discussions and debates within Australian history and the international discipline of historical archaeology. The colonization of Australia was part of the international expansion of European hegemony in the 18th and 19th century. The material presented in this book is thus fundamentally part of the global processes of colonization and the creation of settler societies, the industrial revolution, the development of mass consumer culture and the emergence of national identities. Drawing out these themes and integrating them with the analysis of archaeological materials highlights the vital relevance of archaeology in modern society.

2014 ASHA Awards

R. Ian Jack Award for Best Honours Thesis

Caitlin Dircks, University of Sydney

Authority, Acquisition and Adaptation: Nineteenth century artefacts of personal consumption from the Prisoner Barracks at Port Arthur

This dissertation analyses assemblages excavated by the late Maureen Byrne from the site of the first prisoner barracks complex at Port Arthur, constructed c.1833. It examines the changing nature of consumption by different convict and non-convict groups occupying the complex and is an example of how an older assemblage can be productively re-analysed to address new and relevant questions.

Judy Birmingham Award for Best Heritage Report

Casey & Lowe Pty Limited

Archaeological Investigation – Darling Quarter

Excavations at Darling Quarter were undertaken by Casey & Lowe Pty Ltd between October 2008 and April 2009 for clients Lend Lease Development. The Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority is the owner of the site. The site on the edges of what was Cockle Bay included a range of early 19th century flour mills, slaughterhouses, foundries, timber yards and other industries, including wharfs and harbor structures and reclamation areas. The archaeological remains included evidence of these activities, as well as worker housing and many other buildings, as well as associated artefacts.

Martin Davies Award for Best Public Archaeology Initiative

Sarah Colley & Martin Gibbs

New South Wales Archaeology On-Line

The NSW Archaeology Online Project was initiated in 2009 to create open access online archives of important reports and information about historical archaeology and heritage in NSW which for various reasons has been previously hard to access, is undervalued and otherwise at risk of being lost. Over 1000 pre-1995 reports have been scanned and are freely available for download. Stage 2 added nearly 9000 images taken by Ian Jack and Judy Birmingham from the 1960s-1990s for historical and industrial archaeological research and consultancy projects. The photographic collection is accessible through the Federated Archaeological Information Management System (FAIMS) repository.

2013 ASHA Awards

R. Ian Jack Award for Best Honours Thesis

Edwina Kay, La Trobe University

Watched Over and Guarded Day and Night: Archaeology and Institutions of Confinement in Australia

The thesis establishes a framework for the archaeological study of institutions that places society rather than the individual at the centre of the research. It argues that the archaeology of institutions can go beyond the investigation of the internal dynamics of institutional life, and contribute to a better understanding of the society that endorses the instutional confinement of particular groups of people. This is the first study to examine the marteriality of Abbotsford Convent, and one of only a few archaeological studies of institutions in Melbourne. It examines buildings at the convent that were occupied by Catholic children (neglected, criminal, impoverished, and local) in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Judy Birmingham Award for Best Heritage Report

Caitlin Allen, Architects’ Office, NSW

Fort Phillip Archaeological Excavations, Sydney Observatory – Final Report

The report documents new historical research and archaeological investigation undertaken during the first in-depth study of this significant site. Its main contribution is its role in informing and generating public interpretation and a new focus on the early history of the site, particularly thorugh a successful schools and school holiday program. This contribution is supported by: the plain English format of the report, its narrative-style integration of historical and archaeological data, and its use of simple graphics to interpret the excavation findings to both archaeological professionals and non-archaeological audiences.

Graham Connah Award for Best Monograph

Prof. Jane Lydon, Archaeology, University of Western Australia

Fantastic Dreaming: The Archaeology of an Aboriginal Mission (AltaMira, 2009)

The book explores how whites have measured Australian Aboriginal people through their material culture and domestic practices, aspects of culture intimately linked to Enlightenment social institutions and notions of progress. It explores the role of material culture and spatial politics in shaping colonial identities and critiques essentialism in archaeological interpretation. It has been described by reviewers as a ‘rich and deeply nuanced analysis of…archaeology’s potential in illuminating hidden colonial pasts in a postcolonial present’ that ‘sets a necessary standard for future research in the humanities.’

2012 ASHA Awards

R. Ian Jack Award for Best Honours Thesis

Naomi Woods, University of Otago

Pakeha Ceramics as Dating Tools: Creating a Chronology for the Te Hoe Whaling Station

The thesis examines ceramic assemblages from Te Hoe with a view to developing chronological models. Attributes useful for dating are identified in order to develop a model for chronological analysis of assemblages with poorly known time spans. This is the first attempt to use such methodology in comparative analysis in New Zealand.

Martin Davies Award for Best Public Archaeology Initiative

Sydney Observatory, part of the Powerhouse Museum

Digging up the Past! Fort Phillip Young Archaeologists in Training Program

The program is a series of children’s archaeology workshops designed to engage and communicate the processes and principles of historical archaeology. Using the Fort Phillip archaeological site the program has had proven success with over 1600 participants.

Judy Birmingham Award for Best Historical Archaeology Consulting Report (sponsored by Comber Consultants)

Casey and Lowe Pty Ltd.

Archaeological Investigation 710-722 George St, Haymarket

This report covers a range of results including Australia’s oldest excavated pottery site, describing the results and synthesising the findings including over 600 kg of pottery sherds. It establishes a baseline for analysis and interpretation of other Sydney potteries recently excavated, and a comparative resource for contemporary excavations that is online and downloadable.

Maureen Byrne Award for Best Post Graduate Thesis

Geraldine Mate, University of Queensland

Mining the Landscape: Finding the Social in the Industrial

The thesis examines the creation of landscape meaning and attachment at Mt. Shamrock, Qld and creates an innovative landscape methodology that effectively integrates social and industrial perspectives within a single archaeological narratives.

2011 ASHA Awards

R. Ian Jack Award for Best Honours Thesis

Annika Korsgaard,University of Sydney

Archaeological Signatures of a Maritime Industrial Frontier: Shipwrecks and Seafaring in the Solomon Islands, 1788-1942

The thesis explores the questions of how maritime industrial frontiers develop and operate, looking at theSolomon Islands(pre-1940) as a case study. It examines a range of elements that inform us about how a maritime industrial frontier was shaped and operated, including nodal points of activity, maritime infrastructure, navigation aids, land and sea tenure, shipwrecks, Indigenous agency, and maritime risk management. The thesis bridges many of the current concerns of historical and maritime archaeology and is a major contribution to cultural heritage management in the Solomon Islands region.

Martin Davies Award for Best Public Archaeology Initiative

Port ArthurHistoric Site Management Authority

Kids Dig Port Arthur Family Activity

This is an innovative activity which introduces children to the process of archaeological discovery within the context of the excavation of an actual archaeological site. Children participate in four activity stations: excavation, sieving, cleaning and drawing artefacts. Guided by archaeological staff, student volunteers, and a specially designed activity book, children gain experience in how archaeologists observe sites and artefacts, and use those observations to develop ideas about the past.

Judy Birmingham Award for Best Historical Archaeology Consulting Report
(sponsored by Comber Consultants)

Cosmos Coroneos, Cosmos Archaeology Pty Ltd.

South-West Historic and Maritime Heritage Assessment Project

The SWHMAAP was initiated by Heritage Victoria to improve the quality of information relating to historical archaeological sites in the local government areas of Moyne and Warrnambool in south-westVictoria. The main objective of the project was the identification and mapping of previously unrecorded sites. The project also required the development of a detailed Environmental History for the subject area, and a significance framework to enable the comparative assessment of sites within the study area. The project results are presented in a form that is easy for non-archaeology stakeholders to appreciate and understand, and for government planners to integrate into their planning systems.

2010 ASHA Awards

R. Ian Jack Award for Best Honours Thesis

Natalie Blake, University of Sydney: Town and Country: Diet in 19th Century Urban and Rural NSW

Four faunal assemblages from mid-19th century contexts in colonial NSW were analysed to document between urban and rural contexts with an intention of introducing themes relevant to Australian historical archaeology.

Maureen Byrne Award for Best Post-Graduate Thesis

Alister Bowen, La TrobeUniversity: ‘A Power of Money’: The Chinese Involvement in Victoria’s Early Fishing Industry

Thousands of Chinese gold miners enteringVictoriaduring the 1850s increased demand for fish, a Chinese dietary staple. This PhD thesis uses historical documentation – predominately primary – and material evidence from the excavation of an 1860s Chinese fish curing site in Victoria to explain the Chinese involvement in Victoria’s colonial fishing industry. The conceptual and theoretical base revolves around social organisation and interaction themes, with emphasis placed on the micro-societies at Chinese fish curing establishments. Long-standing perceptions of the Chinese experience in colonialAustraliaare challenged and the Chinese shown to have played an active and important role in colonial Australia.

Judy Birmingham Award for Best Historical Archaeology Heritage Report

Godden Mackay Logan, Hinman, and Wright and Manser: Hadley’s Hotel, Hobart

The site houses the former Cascade Brewery office. Both the hotel and the brewery office are listed on the Tasmanian State Heritage Register. The investigation involved excavation, monitoring, test excavation and recording and revealed remains from Aboriginal occupation, the mid to late 19th century, and the 20th century. Analysis provided significant insight into the site’s former environment and living conditions.

Martin Davies Award for Best Public Archaeology Initiative

Godden Mackay Logan, the Sydney Youth Hostel Association, and the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority: The Big Dig Archaeology Education Centre

The Sydney YHA Big Dig Education Centre allows guests, school groups and the general public access to a unique and direct experience in understandingSydney’s past. It includes interpretive panels and facades to contextualise the array of artefacts and features discovered during archaeological excavation in 1994 and 2006-2008.

2009 ASHA Awards

R. Ian Jack Award for Best Honours Thesis

Sarah Kelloway, University of Sydney

King of Irrawang: Chemical analysis of colonial ceramics

This project explores the value of chemical characterisation of local colonial ceramics for future studies in their archaeological context. Earthenware sherds from the Irrawang pottery were analysed using a suite of chemical techniques. This created a chemical reference group for future comparative and raw sources research, allowing some insight into manufacturing processes at Irrawang.

Judy Birmingham Award for Best Historical Archaeology Heritage Report (sponsored by Comber Consultants)

Anne Mackay, Richard Mackay and Liam Mannix (Godden Mackay Logan) and Liz Holt (International Conservation Services)

The Rocks DIG Site: Sydney Harbour YHA and the Big Dig Education Centre Archaeological Heritage Management Plan

The AHMP provides a comprehensive guide for the multidisciplinary team involved in the conservation, adaptation and interpretation of the Dig Site in the Rocks, Sydney as a youth hostel and education centre. Drawing on previous work, the AHMP succinctly summarised the nature and significance of the archaeological remains and offers clear guidance for their protectuion during construction works, plus techniques for ensuring their long-term conservation.

Martin Davies Award for Best Public Archaeology Initiative

Edward Higginbotham, Edward Higginbotham and Associates, in association with Belgenny Farm Trust, Camden Park Environmental Education Centre and Camden High School

Test-Excavation of ‘The Small Miserable Hut’, Belgenny Farm, Camden, NSW

The Belgenny Farm Trust commissioned Edward Higginbotham to undertake test excavations in 2008 at the frist residence of the Macarthur family at Camden. The excavation located the 3 building shown on the 1840 Estate Plan, of of which was identified as the early hut. The dig involved the participation of Year 11 students at Camden Public School who created a website for the project and the excavation results will be used to expand the education programs of the Camden Park Environmental Education Centre.

Ilma Powell Honourary Life Membership Award for Distinguished Service to ASHA

Dr Aedeen Cremin

Aedeen served on the ASHA committee from 1991 to 1994 and was president from 1997 to 1999. She has been guest editor of the journal and edited, with David Carment, the full-colour hardcover book 1901: Australian life at Federation: an illustrated chronicle (published by the Society in 2001). In addition, she has made an outstanding contribution to Australasian historical archaeology. She co-authored Australia’s Age of Iron with Ian Jack (1994), Experience archaeology with Louise Zarmati (1998). As Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney she mentored many historical archaeology students who are working in the field today.

2008 ASHA Awards

R. Ian Jack Award for Best Honours Thesis

Linda Terry, University of Queensland

Caboonbah Homestead: Big Rock or Little Britain

Using the documentary and artefactual resources of the Caboonbah Homestead Archaeological Project the thesis examines the Britishness of the family of Henry and Katherine Somerset in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Situating the study within a comparative theory of ethnicity and employing Bourdieu’s concept of habitus Linda establishes that the ethnic construction of Britishness in rural Queensland was as much a product of the colonial experience as it was of the British homeland and demonstrates that the Somerset family were able to accommodate both the competing and complimentary ethnicities of being both British and Australian.

Maureen Byrne Award for Best Postgraduate Thesis

Lindsay Smith, Australian National University

Hidden Dragons: The Archaeology of Mid-to-Late Nineteenth-Century Chinese Communities in Southeastern New South Wales

This PhD thesis investigates and combines all the elements that comprised mid-to-late nineteenth-century overseas Chinese settlements in rural southeastern NSW, and to compares them with each other at sub-regional, regional, national and international levels. It demonstrates that they conformed to a highly codified hierarchical pattern of community organisation in both a physical and perceived landscape. The data collected is unparalleled in its detail and extent, including site survey across southeastern NSW and numerous excavations at hut, oven and temple sites in settlements throughout the region. The historical research provides relevant information for understanding the nature of the overseas Chinese community in colonial rural Australia, while the theoretical framework reveals new insights into that community.

Judy Birmingham Award for Best Historical Archaeology Heritage Report (sponsored by Comber Consultants)

No nominees

Martin Davies Award for Best Public Archaeology Initiative

Penny Crook, Laila Ellmoos and Tim Murray, La Trobe University

Exploring the Archaeology of The Modern City Project Databases

This entry comprises a two-disc set of two databases prepared by the authors while conducting research for the Exploring the Archaeology of the Modern City Project between 2001 and 2005. The database files, artefact images and accompanying guides were also released for download from the project’s website. The databases provide a much-needed tool to link archaeological and historical information in a dynamic, searchable and user-friendly environment. They draw together, for the first time, large datasets including artefact catalogues from some of Sydney’s major urban excavations, an archive of nearly 5000 photographs of artefacts and residency information for four city blocks in the Rocks. This serves the needs of archaeologists, historians, and heritage managers undertaking site-specific or neighbourhood research.

Graham Connah Award for Best Publication

Rodney Harrison, Open University

Shared Landscapes: Archaeologies of Attachment and the Pastoral Industry in New South Wales

This book has two primary concerns-that pastoral heritage and history needs to be understood as shared between Aboriginal and settler Australians, and the introduction of landscape-based models for understanding, assessing and managing the archaeology and heritage of pastoralism in Australia. Shared Landscapes provides two detailed case-studies that result from a collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach to cultural heritage research in NSW. Working closely with local communities, and drawing on the results of archaeological, historical and anthropological research methods, it presents a new model for understanding historical archaeology and heritage throughout Australia and in other settler societies.

Inaugural 2007 ASHA Awards

R. Ian Jack Award for Best Honours Thesis

Lisa-Maree Campbell

Bound by Bricks or a Working Man’s Paradise: The Archaeology of Labour Organisation in a Shale Mining Company Town

The thesis presents an analysis of domestic archaeological evidence, including brick quality and settlement layout, to understand the archaeological signature of labour organisation at Joadja, NSW. The thesis challenges conventional interpretations of industrial places as static and unpeopled by using the domestic archaeological record to reveal social structure and organisation in a mining town. The thesis also develops and presents a new methodology for the analysis and interpretation of bricks, demonstrating how bricks can be used to investigate questions about social structures and labour organisation.

Maureen Byrne Award for Best Postgraduate Thesis

Angela Middleton

Te Puna: The Archaeology and History of a New Zealand Mission Station, 1832-1874

This thesis documents the interpersonal relationships between missionaries and Maori over nearly 50 years. It is an exploration of history and archaeology which uses material objects to throw new light on gender, class and racial tensions in early colonial New Zealand.

Judy Birmingham Award for Best Historical Archaeology Heritage Report (sponsored by Comber Consultants)

Ainsworth Heritage

Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome: Archaeological Management Plan

This report has contributed to the discipline by applying the principles and theory of historical archaeology to a relatively unique type of World War II temporary air defence site, in order to establish the site’s archaeological significance and ensure that this significance is protected in the likely future development of the site. This archaeological management plan is the first time that AMP principles have been applied to a WWII aerodrome and thus it may become a benchmark study in archaeological approaches to temporary WWII sites in Australia.

Martin Davies Award for Best Public Archaeology Initiative

(Two winners)

The Mill Point Archaeology Project

The MPAP examines the site of a late 19th-century timber milling settlement on the shores of Lake Cootharaba on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. This project has raised awareness and understanding of historical archaeology in Australia through interactions with visitors, school groups, local community groups and the media. It has generated a sustainable project with strong interest and support from key local community stakeholders which will enhance the knowledge, protection, and management of the site. Opportunities provided for archaeology students to gain hands-on experience and undertake research at the site will provide ongoing benefits to the discipline.

Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority

Port Arthur Public Archaeology Program

This award recognises 30 years of leadership in public archaeology. Port Arthur introduced archaeological field schools in the 1980s and has run them in conjunction with a public archaeology program since 2001. It is the longest-running such program in Australia and has provided thousands of visitors the chance to experience archaeology. At the same time, it has shown hundreds of student volunteers the value of public archaeology.

Ilma Powell Honorary Life Membership Award for Distinguished Service

R. Ian Jack

By training and practice a historian, Ian was also an early ASHA member. He was one of the first practitioners of industrial archaeology in Australia, and with Judy Birmingham and Denis Jeans published two important texts on colonial technology, Australian Pioneer Technology (1979) and Industrial Archaeology in Australia (1983). In his position of Dean of Arts at the University of Sydney in the early 1970s Ian played a further key role in the development of the field by facilitating the introduction of the first undergraduate subject in the area, which was coordinated by Judy Birmingham and to which Ian also contributed. Ian has continued to research and publish in many aspects of Australia’s industrial heritage, including work on the iron industry (Australia’s Age of Iron, written with Aedeen Cremin) among others.

Honorary Life Members

  • Judy Birmingham
  • John Mulvaney (deceased)
  • Graham Connah
  • R. Ian Jack (deceased)
  • Aedeen Cremin
  • Andrew Wilson