The Awards
R. Ian Jack Award for Best Honours Thesis
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.
Maureen Byrne Award for Best
Postgraduate Thesis
In
1976 Maureen Byrne was the first doctoral student in Historical Archaeology
at the University
of Sydney. Two years before, she had been among the
undergraduates taking the first classes in Historical Archaeology and in the
following three years she took a precocious role in excavations at Irrawang,
Sydney Old Burial Ground, Hill End, Addington in Ryde, and a well in
Rozelle. In Tasmania
she directed the archaeological work at Ross
Bridge (publishing a admirable
book), completed an excavation report on the Coal Mines Station on Tasman Peninsula,
and threw herself into her doctoral work at Port Arthur. Her excavation of the first Prisoners'
Barracks at Port Arthur with a large team,
mainly from the University
of Sydney, had a very
successful first season early in 1977, but she died at the age of twenty-four
in November that year after a severe asthma attack.
Judy Birmingham Award for Best
Historical Archaeology Consulting Report (sponsored by Comber Consultants)
Judy came to the University
of Sydney in 1961 to teach Near
Eastern archaeology, but by the end of the decade had begun laying the
foundations for the field of historical archaeology in Australia through her work on
sites such as Irrawang and Wybalenna.
In 1974 she introduced an undergraduate subject in historical
archaeology, with the help of Ian Jack and Dennis Jeans, and began the first
formal training of students in this area.
At the same time, she was working to establish heritage legislation in
NSW and participating in the federal government’s Hope Enquiry which
led to the establishment of the National Estate. Judy has been steadfast in her support of
ASHA, first as secretary in the 1970s and then as president, committee
member, and editor of Australasian
Historical Archaeology. Under her
leadership the society expanded from a small Sydney
nucleus to include members all over Australia
and New Zealand,
and her intellectual leadership in developing a theoretical basis for the
field has been invaluable.
Martin Davies Award for Best Public
Archaeology Initiative
Martin was among the first undergraduates
to study historical archaeology at the University of Sydney
in the 1970s. He worked on the
archaeological investigations of Norfolk Island and Fort
Scratchley before becoming part of
Brian Egloff’s pioneering conservation team at Port Arthur in 1983. His work there was influential far beyond
the significance of that site, as he instituted the field schools that helped
train the next generation of historical archaeologists around the country,
and, with Krystal Buckley, wrote the Port
Arthur Procedures Handbook, which is still a benchmark for historical
archaeologists in Australia. Martin then moved to Parks and Wildlife Tasmania where he was influential in the conservation
and interpretation of sites such as Highfield House, Eaglehawk Neck Military
Barracks and Maria
Island. Martin was on secondment from Parks when he
was killed in a fall in Antarctica in 1995
at the age of 37.
Graham Connah Award for Best
Publication
Originally (and still) an Africanist,
Graham turned his attention to historical archaeology when he came to the University of New England in the early 1970s and
wanted to provide students with more diverse field experience. He trained many students over the years at
sites such as Saumarez Station, Winterbourne, Bagot’s Mill, and
Regentville, and has had a long-standing involvement with ASHA as committee
member, president, and perhaps most significantly, founding editor of what
became Australasian Historical
Archaeology. A passionate advocate
of the importance of publishing results, Graham has not only provided the
means for others to do so, but has published diligently himself. His 1988 book The Archaeology of Australia’s History is still the only
substantial overview of the field. He
retired from UNE in 1995 but continues to take an active role in Australian
and African archaeology, most recently publishing a book on his work at Lake Innes,
NSW.
Ilma Powell Honorary Life Membership
Award for Distinguished Service
Ilma' special talents were closely
involved when ASHA was founded in 1970-1971: thereafter she was a
slave-driving member of the ASHA committee for twenty five years. In turn Hon Secretary and Hon Treasurer her
work was key to keeping the Society financial, and maintaining its
correspondence and administration. Similarly her pivotal role as admin
assistant in Historical Archaeology to Judy Birmingham from 1970 to 1996 at Sydney University was critical during those
heavy years of double teaching and research. Ilma maintained the HA
paperwork, berated accounts departments, logged student assignments,
excursions and records, and welcomed students and ASHA members alike as 'her
darlings'. Who of us will ever forget her warm-hearted enthusiasm for ASHA
and HA, along with her successful orders, repeated over twenty five years, to
'bring back the receipts'!
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Winners of the 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 anlysis 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 MA or PhD 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
Graham Connah
R. Ian Jack
Award Sponsors
ASHA
wishes to thank the following sponsors for their generous contributions:
Platinum
sponsors
Comber Consultants
Gold sponsors
Silver sponsors
Bronze
sponsors
Mark Staniforth
General
sponsors
University of Queensland Archaeological Services Unit
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