The 2019 National Archaeology Student Conference (NASC) was held at Flinders University, attracting students from across Australia to share diverse insights from burials, to rock art, contemporary art collections and native police camps.
Hosted this year by Flinders students, the event was held at the University’s Victoria Square campus over 1 to 4 October 2019.
Professor Claire Smith said she was impressed at how global Australian archaeology has become.
“Students gave presentations on Cambodia, Romania, Georgia, the Indus Valley, Ireland, Spain, the UK, and Mongolia as well as numerous different places in Australia.
“This conference showed the wide breadth of contemporary interests, from burials, sculptures and monuments to rock art, contemporary art collections, asylums and native police camps,” Professor Smith said.
A wide variety of student research and fieldwork experiences was shared through podium, art and poster presentations, with specialities including Indigenous, historical and maritime archaeology, osteoarchaeology, zooarchaeology, archaeological science and ancient studies.
The conference theme, ‘The Future of Our Past: innovation, inclusion and interdisciplinary research’ addressed current trends and celebrated people of different abilities, ethnicities and socioeconomic status coming together to innovate archaeology and progress global insights.
Interstate students attended from the University of Melbourne, La Trobe University, Macquarie University, The University of Sydney, Australian National University and the University of Western Australia, joining locals to network and share research.
Special guest Richard Osgood, from the UK, delivered an inspiring opening keynote ‘The catharsis of trauma – archaeology as wellbeing’.
Mr Osgood is the Senior Archaeologist with the British Ministry of Defence and co-founder of Operation Nightingale, an initiative which employs archaeological fieldwork to assist the recovery of service personnel and wounded veterans.
The keynote on day two was given by Dr Mitchell Allen of UC Berkeley and the Smithsonian Institution. In addition to his archaeological career, Dr Allen runs Scholarly Roadside service, a publishing consulting company. He shared his 40-years’ experience as an academic publisher, including valuable insights on the digital revolution and its impact on archaeological publishing.
Research by Flinders staff featured in a Wednesday evening session, complemented by local wines and cheese.
A leisurely closing event dinner cruise on board the MV Dolphin Explorer at Port Adelaide ensured visitors saw more of Adelaide.
The major conference award, The Flinders University Archaeological Society Award, was presented to Isaac Roberts of Macquarie University for his research into misuse and repatriation of Indigenous artefacts in institutional art collections.
Prizes from other sponsors were awarded to students from Flinders and ANU for impressive presentations of Indigenous, international, maritime and interdisciplinary research.
Judges Mr Osgood and Dr Allen were impressed by the high standard of student work in Australia: “I should come to student conferences more often! This is just wonderful!” Dr Allen remarked.
Focused workshops contributed to students’ professional development, who also took advantage of many opportunities to engage with relevant industry and association representatives present over the four days.
The NASC 2019 Committee, chaired by Flinders University honours student Jenna Walsh, were commended for creating a welcoming, professional and inclusive environment. Its impeccable organisation included recruiting and training student volunteers to ensure the entire week ran smoothly.
Dr Smith said “everyone involved should be very proud of their achievements.”
Information and a gallery of images from NASC 2019 can be found at its website https://www.nascaustralia.com/.
NASC 2019 was supported by the Australian Archaeological Association, Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc., The College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Flinders University, Dr Claire Smith, Dr Daryl Wesley, Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology, Comber Consultants, Integrated Heritage Services, CAA Australasia, Australasian Women in Ancient World Studies, Scarp Archaeology, Neale Draper and Associates, the South Australian Maritime Museum, Australian Heritage Services, Flinders University Archaeological Society, and the Dolphin Explorer and Align Productions.