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Archaeological work leaves material histories, from archival notes to containers that used to store artifacts. Rarely, however, are these containers preserved or valued as technologies that codified and organized archaeological information. This paper analyzes a collection of matchboxes that were formerly used as artifact containers in a 1940s excavation in Coahuila, Mexico. The matchboxes, never formally accessioned and yet still saved by collections staff, are housed In the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) Museum Support Center. By tracing the labor regimes the matchboxes passed through, the specimens they once contained, and the hands that used them in a multitude of ways, this project uses the matchboxes' microhistories to reveal how archaeological containers influenced archaeological science. This research argues for a treatment of the matchboxes as artifacts themselves, worthy of formal accession and of value for their role in the history of archaeological science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author characterizes the personal archive of the famous Soviet archaeologist Aleksei Petrovich Smirnov, a specialist in the archaeology of the Turkic and Finno-Ugric ethnic groups of the Volga-Ural region. The archive is kept in the Department of written sources and the museum got it in several stages (from 1966 to 2001). Since 1982, the main part of it has been available for study, but has not yet attracted sufficient attention of researchers. Based on documents, kept in the archive, some facts from the scientist’s biography are clarified. The main focus of the article is on the period of work in the State Historical Museum. Information about the materials of archeological expeditions in which A.P. Smirnov participated (1924–1972), preserved in his personal archive, is given.

Copyright of Bylye Gody is the property of Cherkas Global University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article provides an overview of radio programs dedicated to Mediterranean archaeology broadcast on Polish Radio during the 1970s and 1980s. This analysis represents the first such endeavor in Polish literature and aligns with the public archaeology trend, which examines the political, cultural, and economic dimensions of archaeological practice and its societal reception. By exploring this category of sources, the text offers a historical perspective on radio broadcasts, presenting them as a novel and previously untapped resource for studying the history of archaeology. Drawing from these sources, the article discusses the dissemination of knowledge concerning the activities of Polish researchers, the media portrayal of the archaeological profession, and the unique phenomenon of the Polish School of Mediterranean Archaeology in the context of Polish scientific history. It delves into the distinctive features and historical background surrounding its establishment. Additionally, attention is given to Kazimierz Michałowski, the visionary behind this initiative, and the strategies he employed to promote public awareness of the research conducted within the Polish School of Mediterranean Archaeology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We examine how earlier 18th and 19th c. antiquaries and scientists mentioned the presence of textile remnants on metal objects • We draw a parallel with contemporary work on a related mechanism, the petrification of wood • We show that the petrification of wood gave rise to experimental archaeology as early as the 16th c. • We discuss how material transformation is influenced by alchemical views of transmutation and imprinting • This conceptualisation has an impact on our contemporary study of mineralised textiles In temperate latitudes, archaeological textiles are rarely found during excavations, except when they have been mineralised in contact with metal artefacts, copper or iron-based. Mineralised textiles are often the only direct source of information on the textile techniques and processes of ancient civilisations. Vivi Sylwan's description of textiles along the Silk Road in the early 20th century is often considered the first detailed archaeological description of mineralised textiles, while the physico-chemist Leo Biek pioneered their microscopic description. In this paper, we examine how antiquaries and scholars from the 18th and the first half of the 19th century identified and studied the presence of textile remains on metal objects, seemingly aware of the significance of these findings. These descriptions share common concepts and vocabulary with writings from the 16th to the early 18th century on petrification of wood. The authors not only show an awareness of and an interest in textile remains, but also question, including experimentally, the process of mineralisation, shaping the modern perception of it with concepts such as "transmutation" or "imprinting". These ancient sources had a lasting impact on our contemporary appraisal of these materials, as we shall discuss in the second stage of this review, which will be devoted to contemporary methods of studying archaeological mineralised textiles. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article intends to explore the theoretical dimensions of backdirt in archaeology. Often ignored and viewed as mere refuse material of archaeological practices, these by-products of excavation lie in the shadow of literature and reports, always present and yet invisible. The goal of the following text is to establish a distinct perspective on backdirt, on its relation with data, and on its capacity to offer renewability of interpretations in epistemic terms. By exploring its theoretical implications and situating it as a historically everchanging concept, backdirt can both shed light on how the materialities of the past have been intervened in before archaeology as well as to become the driving force for a meta-critique in archaeology, a way for archaeologists to study themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of archaeology, and of Egyptology, has traditionally been written as a linear narrative of progress, with narrow-minded amateurs—the antiquaries—giving way to professional archaeologists. For some, Joseph Hekekyan's excavations (co-directed by Leonard Horner) at Memphis and Heliopolis in the 1850s have been seen as a turning point, when the geological principle of stratigraphy was applied to archaeology, thus giving rise to methodical scientific excavation. This article challenges the existing narrative by showing how critiques of Hekekyan's excavation and Horner's interpretation, by the antiquary and historian Samuel Sharpe, inspired the eminent geologist Charles Lyell to seek the opinion of John Gardner Wilkinson, another leading antiquarian Egyptologist, as to the validity of the excavations. Wilkinson's specialist knowledge of Egypt enabled him to identity the problematic assumptions that underpinned the excavation programme, which other leading scholars had missed. Though Lyell was unsuccessful in obtaining the support he desired, he became aware of the more complex situation on the ground in Egypt. Instead of ushering in an age of scientific Egyptology, the Horner–Hekekyan programme highlights how new methodological techniques were contested by contemporaries, and did not immediately or necessarily translate into improved knowledge: a much-neglected dimension in fieldwork-centred disciplinary histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Stratum Plus Journal is the property of P.P. Stratum plus and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Деятельность выдающегося российского историка И.Е. Забелина как археолога оценивается в истории науки неоднозначно. Неизвестный ранее источник —рукописная инструкция И.Е. Забелина по раскопкам курганов Северного Причерноморья —позволяет расставить новые акценты в трактовке его полевой методики. И.Е. Забелин рекомендовал раскапывать курганы полностью, и только недостаток средств и времени заставляли его копать траншеями. Обосновывая необходимость оставлять находки in situ и отмечать их расположение, он делал верные рекомендации по обнаружению и вскрытию основного погребения, требовал использовать компас, обязательно чертить план и разрезы кургана, вести полевой дневник, фиксируя все детали, положение скелетов человека, коня, инвентаря. Инструкция представляет собой обобщение собственного опыта И.Е. Забелина по раскопкам курганов Скифии и некрополей античных городов; он сам следовал предложенным правилам, на что указывают другие архивные и печатные материалы. В дальнейшем целесообразно привлекать архивные материалы для анализа вклада И.Е. Забелина — внимательного и ответственного полевого исследователя – в методику археологических исследований.

Post-1500 archaeology has undergone many changes in western Mediterranean Europe over the last three decades. This article explores how these changes have developed by focusing on the publishing of post-1500 archaeology in Italy, Spain, and France. Taking Italy as the primary example, it demonstrates that the path taken is intertwined with that of Northern Europe, but that it also deviates in its beginnings, its place in law, and its current place in academic and professional archaeology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this Perspective article, I am able to draw the various strands of my intellectual thinking and practice in archaeology and European prehistory into a complex narrative of changing themes. In this narrative, I draw attention to the inspirational triggers of these transformations to be found in works and words of colleagues and events within and outside my immediate discipline. A group of events between 1988 and 1993 disrupted (in a good way) the trajectory of my professional life and provided a convenient anchor around which my themes pivoted and regrouped with very different standpoints. But some trends in my way of working remained constant and contributed, I hope, to a career of cumulative knowledge. Along the way, I show the significance, in terms of my personal intellectual context as well as archaeological practice in general, of my published works as well as more obscure and some unpublished works that are cited here for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The Liber Insularum by Cristoforo Buondelmonti can be considered the first guide to the Greek islands, each of them described by a textual paragraph and illustrated by color maps, in a format which gave rise to the new literary genre of Isolaria.” Mapping the Aegean: Cristoforo Buondelmonti’s Liber Insularum” is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie project aimed at the study of this book. This paper illustrates the application of Cadmus, a structured content management tool, to the creation of a digital edition of the Liber and to do this, we focus on the text and map of Corfu as a case study. After a historical introduction on the author and his work and the presentation of the project, we explain why we chose to use this tool and its main characteristics, and we offer a concrete example of its application to the material pertaining to the description of Corfu by showing its frontend output.

This article offers a cautionary tale about exclusively relying on official archaeological reports for writing histories of archaeological labour. It investigates a small personal collection of postcards and photographs by British field assistant James Leslie Starkey to interrogate the representation of Egyptian labour in the official reports of an archaeological project run by the British School of Archaeology in Egypt (BSAE) at Qau, Egypt, in 1922–23. The postcards raise two points that the reports contest or fail to address: the Egyptian efforts of setting up camp and the Egyptian autonomy in seeking out new areas for excavation. I argue that these discursive strategies were entangled with an early 20th century style of writing reports, archaeology’s restricted self-image as primarily a field-based practice, hierarchical structures and representations, and an orientalist and colonialist discourse that sees archaeological knowledge as produced by European ‘heads’, never Egyptian ‘hands’. Unfettered by disciplinary standards, these ‘informal’ postcards give a glimpse of an archaeological project whose work was more collective and comprehensive than its official reports ever made it out to be.

In 2023 will be 120 years from the birthday of a well-known Soviet archaeologist O.N. Bader. The scientist had to move to the Ural region because of the dramatic circumstances of the Great Patriotic War, from the second half of the 1940s till 1954 he worked at the Perm (Molotov) State University, where he founded the scientific archaeological school. O.N. Bader was in active correspondence with many scientists, museum workers, university professors, students and local historians. One of his Moscow correspondents was I.A. Talitskaya, a well-known systematizer of the archaeological sites of the Kama region. The extant correspondence covers the period from 1947 to 1950. It allows us to see the direction and content of archaeological studies in the Kama region. The letters reflect the process of preparation for publication M.V. Talitsky’s and P.A. Dmitriyev’s dissertations, who died in the war; I.A. Talitskaya’s work «Materials for the archaeological map of the Kama river basin». They show the everyday life of scientists in the post-war years, trace the lines of scientific and personal communications between the archaeologists. The letters are a part of large epistolary heritage – they are addressed to O.N. Bader who worked in Perm in the 1940s-1950s. The documents are kept in the Perm University History Museum and handed over to the authors for study.

Reflections on the coloniality that permeates Latin American archaeologies enhance their role in the legitimization of national projects in tension with indigenous populations. These approaches prompt the adoption of an anthropological approach centered on the political uses of the past when studying the history of Latin American archaeologies. This, instead of a purely historiographical use. The history of Bolivian archaeology suggests that the National Revolution of 1952 was a point of rupture between the liberal and nationalist narratives. The purpose of this article is to discuss this postulate by considering the political uses of the past. To do so, we analyze the archaeological work of Arthur Posnansky, which covers four decades (1904-1946) of transformations in the ideologies and policies of the Bolivian State towards indigenous populations: the rise and decline of the liberal state, the indigenist-telurist proposal, and a nationalism that gave rise to the Revolution of 1952. We embark on a detailed diachronic journey through Posnansky’s archaeological work, concentrating on his narratives on the origin of pre-Hispanic populations, their characterization and valuation, the mechanisms of rupture between the present and the past, and their relations with contemporary indigenous populations. This journey is further complemented by considering political contexts and intellectual influences. We posit that Posnansky developed two narratives: one adapted to the liberal moment and the other to indigenism, and that his second narrative is analogous to the one produced after 1952. This new perspective raises questions about the relationship between archaeological narratives and politics, the role of scientific racism in contemporary Bolivia, and the importance of a comparative and cross-border emphasis in constructing a critical history of Latin American archaeologies.

The paper critically examines some of the conclusions of the historian Andreas Roth concerning the activities of Johann Albrecht von Reiswitz in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the occupied Serbia. It is stressed that biographies or studies aiming at biographical representation require a clear theoretical-methodological framework, situating the actors into relevant social structures. Instead of picturesque details, abounding in traditional biographies, it is essential to analyse the protagonist through various social orderings in which he acted and to which he adapted. Following this principle, the inconsistencies and contradictions apparent in Roth’s book are pointed out. Contrary to his opinion, in this paper it is argued that the work of Reiswitz cannot be ideologically and practically separated from the activities of the Military-Administrative Headquarters, or the organization Ahnenerbe. None of Reiswitz’s actions took place outside of the general ideology of Nazism, where personal professional advancement was linked to the cumulative radicalisation of the regime. Here it is demonstrated that he not only was ambivalent towards the crimes taking place around him, but was also actively involved, through his collaboration with SS Ahnenerbe, to justify the newly established order in the occupied Serbia. Roth leans upon the authority of some private testimonies, but instead of de-mystifying them, he contradicts his own previous conclusions.

Thirty-four mounded features at the Moundville site in Alabama have received alphanumeric designations in the past, but the nomenclature of the smaller, less prominent mounds has not been standardized. This paper standardizes their naming and discusses the research conducted at each. The minor mounds show substantial diversity. Some are multistage constructions of clay with evidence of summit architecture, like their much larger counterparts. Others are evidently built up, at least in part, of domestic debris showing evidence of superimposed living floors. Some show continuous use as mortuary facilities, while others show only superficial mortuary use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Replicas have the ability to communicate artistic, cultural and intellectual values outside their original context. They do this by physically establishing a canon for ordering and interpreting history. Epigraphical squeezes, as fragmentary impressions of sculpted or incised surfaces, are one example of such replicas, occupying a transitory space between source and copy. However, they are rarely studied within this framework, instead seen primarily as an aide for publication. To better understand how squeezes are implicated in our own processes of knowledge formation, this paper focuses on a single case study, the collection of early Christian squeezes held at Musée L. In mapping the biography of this collection, tracing its connection to the emergence of archaeology as a science based on interaction with material remains at the turn of the twentieth century, this case study will provide a rich model for how squeezes can act as sources for historiographical inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Often mentioned as an afterthought in sentences about her more (in)famous husband, Sally R. Binford has long been a focus of feminist archaeological discussion. She helped create the 'New Archaeology' and thus set the stage for an academic revolution, yet she has become one of the discipline's hidden figures, overshadowed by the lengthy career of Lewis Binford. Sally's own words allow us insight into the dynamic between the two Binfords; a case study on academic exploitation that may be more of a rule than of an exception. Rossiter's (1993) 'Matthew/Matilda effect'—the paradigm whereby the work of influential scientific men can often be directly attributed to their unpublished or otherwise disenfranchised wives—is a useful analytical lens with which to expand discussions of ethics in citation, collaboration, and mentorship. How does archaeology as a discipline reconcile the legacy of unattributed fieldwork and research that has bolstered its growth? A review of publicly available documents on authorship and attribution reveals a lack of clear guidance on the subject. Institutional frameworks can ensure that students and faculty have these types of discussions early and often. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 1930s, J. Alden Mason was a curator at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia. He was best known during this time for his work at the site of Piedras Negras in northwestern Guatemala. Yet, the 1930s excavations at Piedras Negras were not published until 2005. This delayed publication prevented other scholars from building on this work. Also, during the 1930s, Mason led lesser‐known excavations around the Philadelphia area with federal work relief funding. No field records exist for these investigations, the whereabouts of artifacts are unknown, and only a single short article was ever published on the scant archaeological findings. Exactly what archaeology was done and where through these New Deal investigations is unknown and may be unknowable. Mason struggled with the overly bureaucratic nature of New Deal archaeology, and this might help explain his lack of due diligence with archiving his records, or with completing a properly detailed report. Today's archaeologists deal with similar constraints. But we are also ethically bound to publish our results in a reasonable time frame, rather than hoard our data the way a dragon hoards a mountain of gold. If we fail to meet these ethical principles, we really are little more than well‐educated looters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a book review of two works: "Re-Excavating Jerusalem: Archival Archaeology" by Kay Prag and "Revealing the History of Ancient Palestine" by Keith W. Whitelam. The review discusses the different approaches taken by the authors in studying Palestine, archaeology, and biblical studies, and their engagement with the wider historical and political context. The reviewer praises Prag's work for its comprehensive examination of the archives and its application to the study of Jerusalem, but criticizes its lack of engagement with broader historical and political issues. In contrast, Whitelam's work is commended for its integration into a wider body of scholarly work and its focus on the political implications of biblical studies. The review concludes by highlighting the importance of considering the wider context in historical and archaeological research. [Extracted from the article]

This article concerns the development of archaeology and museology, in the Ottoman Empire, Turkey, and Greece, through the life and career of Théodore Macridy. Macridy participated in knowledge transfer in more than one discipline and more than one country. Through his links with Western academic circles in archaeology and museology, he made a significant contribution to their development in the Ottoman Empire, Turkey, and Greece. Living between the Ottoman and Greek epistemic communities as an Ottoman citizen of Greek origin, he excavated numerous sites of the Ottoman Empire, worked at the Ottoman Imperial Museum, and contributed to the foundation of the Benaki Museum in Athens at the end of his career. This makes him a good example of an Ottoman Greek scholar whose liminal identity led to his relative neglect in both Greek and Turkish archaeology and museology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista del Museo de Antropología is the property of Museo de Antropologia - IDACOR and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Bulletin of the History of Archaeology is the property of Ubiquity Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Reflections on the coloniality that permeates Latin American archaeologies enhance their role in the legitimization of national projects in tension with indigenous populations. These approaches prompt the adoption of an anthropological approach centered on the political uses of the past when studying the history of Latin American archaeologies. This, instead of a purely historiographical use. The history of Bolivian archaeology suggests that the National Revolution of 1952 was a point of rupture between the liberal and nationalist narratives. The purpose of this article is to discuss this postulate by considering the political uses of the past. To do so, we analyze the archaeological work of Arthur Posnansky, which covers four decades (1904-1946) of transformations in the ideologies and policies of the Bolivian State towards indigenous populations: the rise and decline of the liberal state, the indigenist-telurist proposal, and a nationalism that gave rise to the Revolution of 1952. We embark on a detailed diachronic journey through Posnansky's archaeological work, concentrating on his narratives on the origin of pre-Hispanic populations, their characterization and valuation, the mechanisms of rupture between the present and the past, and their relations with contemporary indigenous populations. This journey is further complemented by considering political contexts and intellectual influences. We posit that Posnansky developed two narratives: one adapted to the liberal moment and the other to indigenism, and that his second narrative is analogous to the one produced after 1952. This new perspective raises questions about the relationship between archaeological narratives and politics, the role of scientific racism in contemporary Bolivia, and the importance of a comparative and cross-border emphasis in constructing a critical history of Latin American archaeologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2023 will mark 95 years since the death of Boris Vladimirovich Farmakovsky (1870–1928), an outstanding scholar, researcher of ancient Olbia, art historian and a scientific leader, who did much for the development of archaeology in Russia, for its continuity in the era of change of political system. Archaeologist Lavrentiy A. Moiseev, who was one of B. V. Farmakovsky’s disciples (1882–1946) and the director of the Chersonesos museum, wrote a text in December 1919 that remained unpublished. It is devoted to the 25th anniversary of Boris Vladimirovich’s scholarly activity and is not only an example of an anniversary celebration genre commonly recognised in academic life, not only a document of the epoch reflecting the time when it was composed – “separation of the Crimea and Petrograd” period – but also a fragment of memoirs about the university life and the atmosphere in S.-Petersburg of the early 20th century. The proposed article is devoted to the publication of this text, and also concerns the relationship between the two scholars in the period of the Russian Civil War.

This article presents the literature referring to the striped flint mine in Krzemionki Opatowskie published within the first few years after the discovery of the site until 1939. The exceptional significance of the mine in Krzemionki inspired many scholars and authors of both scientific as well as popular-scientific texts. Information about this prehistoric mine also appeared in articles related to disciplines of science other than archaeology, as well as in the general press and a sightseeing guide.

An attempt to briefly present the scientist's views on the past of the Volga-Kama region is made in this article on the basis of the analysis of published works and archival data. In essence, the dissertation by N.F. Kalinin "The most ancient population of Tataria" and its subsequent publications in 1948 and the updated chapter in the collective monograph of 1955 were the first generalizing works on the “primeval” and “early medieval” archaeology of TASSR. An innovative development of the researcher was marking out of three local groups of the Bronze Age population based on the prevailing type of economy, the reconstruction of the women’s costume of the Pyany Bor time was carried out. No less significant is the contribution of Nikolay Filippovich in the study of the so-called Prikazanskaya culture.

The article is devoted to the reconstruction of W. Szukiewicz’s views on the issue of the role of the archaeology in the society. The scholar didn’t leave the systematic explanation of the thoughts. Nevertheless, the study of his scientific works, newspaper notes and epistolary heritage allows to understand his main theses and ideas. He realised the value of the archaeological sites and artifacts and cared about drawing the attention of the compatriots to the local antiquities. According to W. Szukiewicz the priority should be given to the creation of the archaeological maps. The scholar urged the public to protect the archaeological heritage. He supported the idea of the organisation of the national museum. Moreover, he understood the importance of the scientific approaches to the formation of the museum collections. He kept in mind the popularisation of the archaeological and historical knowledge. W. Szukiewicz interpreted archaeological objects as key factor of the formation of national identity and called the specialists for participation in public life.

Sir Aurel Stein’s name is best known for his archaeological discoveries along the Silk Road, and among Indians he is famous primarily as a Sanskrit scholar. However, the fact that during his research career Stein also made significant archaeological discoveries in South Asia is less known to the broader public, and less discussed in the scholarly literature. Between 1888 and 1943, Stein led several expeditions to South Asia with the goal to examine some historical geographical or archaeological question and, in many cases, he formulated his research question based on some written source. The goal of the following article is to discuss Aurel Stein’s geographical and archaeological expeditions in South Asia based on the nature of his written sources. An overview of these expeditions will allow a general description of Stein’s scholarly work in South Asia as well as a presentation of his role in the history of Indian archaeology.

Copyright of Stratum Plus Journal is the property of P.P. Stratum plus and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Espanola de Antropologia Americana is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista del Museo de Antropología is the property of Museo de Antropologia - IDACOR and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Lithic analyses have long been at the core of Paleoindian studies in the United States, but despite crucial changes in method and orientation, the earliest typological approaches continue to exert a strong influence on archaeologists’ understanding of Paleoindian assemblages. This chapter argues against these normative approaches by advocating in favor of dynamic perspectives on human behavior. It does so by outlining the historical contributions of technological studies to the discipline, from the early European influences to the more holistic frameworks used today. Our discussion underscores three fundamental phases of development, starting with key experimental work on the Folsom point in the mid-twentieth century. This led to an increased focus on the technological aspects of tool production and use. The second phase is heavily influenced by the development of processual archaeology, which had a profound effect on the conceptualization of lithic assemblages. It generated a wealth of systems-oriented approaches focused on the economy of lithic raw materials. Finally, and most recently, the boom in cultural ecological studies has again reshaped this landscape by creating modes of analysis that understand lithic technology as a strategic adaptation rather than a cultural fossil. To integrate these developments within the broader field of Paleoindian studies, we consider seminal papers and their role in heralding new orientations, alongside data illustrating these trends in publication.

While it is certainly the case that Indigenous Australians have suffered the consequences of being treated in an objectifying and derogatory fashion during the nineteenth and much of the twentieth centuries by archaeologists and others, they were not mere observers of the creation of a 65,000-year narrative of their history that has become important in the modern story of Australia. Rather, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians were involved in illuminating knowledge of Australia’s deep history from at least as early as the 1830s. This story has not been told up to now. By examining the extent of early Indigenous involvement in the development of Australian archaeology, this paper demonstrates that far from archaeological research having been something simply imposed upon Aboriginal people, their intellectual property has been critical in all stages of its development. At a time when serious gaps are being identified in the ways the history of Australian archaeology has been presented, it is an urgent task to insert this hidden history of Indigenous involvement in Australia’s archaeology. Reading ‘against the grain’, we seek to bring to the fore the role of Aboriginal interlocutors whose opinions and expertise were constantly sought by early archaeologists grappling with establishing archaeological frameworks to understand the deep history of a continent, Deconstructing the current master narratives of the history of Australian archaeology will have significant ramifications for how the discipline is taught and practiced, and for the general public’s appreciation of the role of Indigenous Australians in shaping the nation’s history.

The Australian Research Council (ARC) Laureate Project, The Collective Biography of Archaeology in the Pacific or ‘CBAP’ was funded between 2015-2020 and, due to COVID disruptions, associated events continued until the end of 2022. Some of the initial aims included: to create a sub-field of the history of Pacific archaeology; to re-define the development of Australian archaeology within its wider Oceanic context; to re-discover the contribution of both French and German scholars; to recover the considerable amount of archaeological excavation that took place in the Pacific from the 1870s until WWII; to re-conceptualise the perennial issue of trans-Oceanic cultural contacts; to redress the neglect of the role of Indigenous Pacific scholars and of women in archaeology; and to re-engage with descendant communities in the light of our research and its findings. The paper discusses the project’s results in light of these and other emerging aims during the last seven years. It also provides a comprehensive bibliography of publications by the Project’s main contributors.