The role of oral history in archiving archaeology: a case study from La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
Caroline Spry
A B , Jillian Garvey A and Emmy Frost A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Vic. 3086, Australia.
B Corresponding author. Email: c.spry@latrobe.edu.au
This article is part of a forthcoming virtual issue to be titled ‘Histories of archaeology in Australasia and the Pacific’, an initiative of the ARC Laureate Fellowship project ‘The collective biography of archaeology in the Pacific: a hidden history’, based at the Australian National University under the direction of Matthew Spriggs.
Historical Records of Australian Science 31(2) 137-151 https://doi.org/10.1071/HR19014
Published: 7 July 2020
Abstract
Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait readers of this article are warned that it may contain images of ancestral remains.
Compiling a history of archaeology is critical for evaluating, understanding and contextualising the current state of the discipline. While oral histories provide vivid accounts of people, events and decisions from sources with direct relationships to these moments in time, they have played a limited role in building historical narratives of archaeology as a discipline. A moderated conversation between Emeritus Professors David Frankel and Jim Allen and Professor Susan Lawrence on the early and more recent history of archaeology at La Trobe University, Melbourne, held during the university’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2017, provides a glimpse of the discipline’s past, present and future in Australia. This paper presents the key themes and topics from this conversation with accompanying excerpts, providing an important case study of how oral history can assist with archiving this discipline.
Additional keywords: archaeology, higher education, oral history.
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