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 [email protected] 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 [email protected].