Questions that Count in Australia, 2014

Summary

Historical archaeology in Australia, as elsewhere, is shaped by heritage practice, which has become increasingly democratised over recent decades. New methodologies for future and socially engaged heritage practice must critically address issues such as the UNESCO concept of Outstanding Universal Value, in an increasingly plural and culturally diverse society; the nature of ‘Intangible heritage’; and the relationship between national and local and/or Indigenous values. Archaeological research questions addressing colonialism, Indigenous orientations, and the integration of global-local scales have become pressing. At a global level, the new imperial history has been concerned with bringing metropole and colony into a single analytical field, exploring the ‘webs’ of power, knowledge, opportunity and mobility that marked European imperialism, and how metropolitan ideas and practices have been shaped by the colonial experience. In this paper we review the public context for debates about the past, and explore the ways that historical archaeologists in Australia have shaped a research agenda since the late 1980s.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• Questions that Will Count in the Future: Global Perspectives on Historical Archaeology

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-7,24