Sydney Humanities Salon: Digging Up Sydney

Digging Up Sydney: A conversation between the disciplines of History and Archaeology on ways of researching Sydney’s past

Thursday, 17 June 2010

Beneath the streetscapes and parklands of Sydney lie the fragments and material traces of both the Indigenous and Colonial/Settler past. All of us probably consider the history of Sydney to be familiar and well-documented, yet archaeological research across the Sydney Basin constantly brings to the surface surprising discoveries that challenge and contest the existing historical narratives about our city. In this Salon four archaeologists will present aspects of their research that challenge the received histories of the city in a conversation with pre-eminent Sydney historian Dr Grace Karskens.

Mary Casey is a Director, Casey & Lowe, archaeology and heritage consultants, and a research associate, Department of Archaeology, University of Sydney. Mary has directed a number of State-significant archaeological projects, including the Conservatorium of Music; Parramatta Convict Hospital, Parramatta Justice Precinct; and Darling Walk, Darling Harbour.

Annie Clarke is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and convenes the Heritage Studies Program. She carries out research on the archaeology and rock art of cross-cultural interaction in Arnhem Land, the role of indigenous agency in the formation of ethnographic collections and the practice of community-based archaeology and heritage.

Martin Gibbs is a Senior lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Sydney. He is currently undertaking an Australian Research Council funded project on the 16th Century failed Spanish colonies in the Solomon Islands.

Grace Karskens teaches Australian history and public history in the School of History and Philosophy at the University of New South Wales. She is interested in Australian colonial history, cultural and environmental history and material culture. Her latest book is The Colony: A History of Early Sydney.

Paul Irish is an archaeologist and Principal Consultant with Mary Dallas Consulting Archaeologists. He is currently running two research projects in the Sydney area; one looking at the region’s post-European contact Aboriginal places and the other regarding the archaeology and Aboriginal history of the Kurnell Peninsula.

6-7:30pm
Foyer, Sydney Law School,
Sydney Law School F10,
Eastern Avenue
University of Sydney
No need to RSVP