Australian Archaeological Association
Annual Conference 2024

‘The Deep Past and a Shared Future’:

Exploring Archaeology’s Role in Solving the World’s Most Urgent Challenges

This lecture will explore how archaeology can help us tackle some of the world’s most urgent and complex challenges, or ‘wicked problems’. Wicked problems are those that have many interdependent factors and seem impossible to solve. Examples include climate change, poverty, and social injustice. Archaeologists have a unique deep-time perspective on history and culture, which can be invaluable for addressing wicked problems. By studying how societies have responded to challenges such as climate change and environmental degradation in the past, valuable insights can be gained into how to address them and mitigate risk, today and in the future. Equally, by participating in archaeological and heritage activities, people can improve their health and wellbeing including through physical activity, learning, and through social cohesion. This lecture is based on the speaker’s new book on this topic. Like the book, the lecture suggests that, by working with communities and in creative ways across disciplines, archaeologists can play an important and distinct role in finding ‘small wins’ solutions to these wicked problems. I will conclude that such small wins can represent incremental successes that help to build momentum and drive progress towards problem solving.

Jacinta Koolmatrie

Jacinta Koolmatrie is an Adnyamathanha/Ngarrindjeri woman working in Indigenous heritage.

Dawn A. Lewis

Dawn is a woman of Woolwonga (Aboriginal) and British descent currently completing her doctoral research in Indigenous genomics at the University of Adelaide. She has previously gained a Masters of Science in Archaeological Science from the University of Oxford, England and a Bachelor of Science (Hons I) along with a double Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science in archaeology and genetics from the University of New England, Australia. Her current research is diverse; utlising genetic data to repatriate human remains and undertake metagenomic analysis of ancient sediments from archaeological sites. Dawn’s work is performed in consultation with appropriate Traditional Owners and co-designs research projects where possible. She firmly believes that co-design with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples improves the basic science outcomes of a project as well as ensuring benefit for community groups that the community wants. 

Ray Tobler

Ray Tobler is a population geneticist specialising in human genetic history in Sahul and Island Southeast Asia (ISEA), who has made key contributions to our understanding of the global radiation of humans beyond Africa and the peopling of Sahul. Active projects include working with Indigenous groups in ISEA, Australia, and New Guinea to build a detailed understanding of the original settlement and subsequent movements and interactions, as well as the historical interplay between genes, culture, and languages. As a CI in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, Ray will increasingly focus on codesigned interdisciplinary studies that interweave genetic data from non-human organisms and sediments with Indigenous knowledges to build detailed temporal records of changing ecological systems, track anthropogenic impacts across time, and spur collaborative efforts to manage and restore country. 

Associate Professor
Kalinda Griffiths

Associate Professor Griffiths is a Yawuru woman of Broome, born and living in Darwin. Director at Poche SA+NT, Research and Education Lead at the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre Alliance, a visiting fellow at the Centre for Big Data Research in Health at UNSW and is an honorary fellow at Menzies School of Health Research.

An epidemiologist with over 25 years’ experience, she is deeply engaged in policy development across bioethics, data sovereignty and data governance, including holding roles with the National Data Advisory Council for the ONDC, the Principal Committee Indigenous Caucus for NHMRC, and Chairs the DSS LSIC Study.

Greg Pratt

Descendant of the Quandamooka people of Moreton Bay, Greg grew up with the Ghughu Yalanghi people of Cape York. He has extensive experience as an Aboriginal mental health practitioner and has worked in policy, research and health services. Greg led extensive consultations across QLD in 2018 for “GenetiQs”; developing guidelines for genomic research involving Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples. In 2019, heled efforts to develop a suite of genomic health literacy resources for First Nations peoples of Queensland. In 2020-21 his team worked with community controlled, primary and public health services to identify workforce needs for a coordinated care model for precision medicine at the primary health intersect. He is also principal investigator on a suite of  research projects in the mental health and social and emotional wellbeing feild. Over the past 3 years, Greg has led more than 80 community engagements across Queensland. He is passionate about and committed to supporting the research sector to realise its responsibility to benefit and empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait sovereignty, equity and equitable access to health and health research. 

Professor John Schofield

Professor John Schofield is Director of Studies in Cultural Heritage Management in the Archaeology Department at the University of York (UK). He also holds adjunct positions at Griffith and Flinders universities (Australia), and is Docent in Contemporary Archaeology and Cultural Heritage at the University of Turku (Finland). John is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, a Corresponding Fellow of the Australian Humanities Academy, a member of the Punk Scholars Network, and a Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists. He has previously served as Executive Editor of the Taylor and Francis journal World Archaeology and is currently on the Editorial Advisory Board of Australian Archaeology.

Following a PhD in archaeology at Southampton University, John spent 21 years in policy, heritage protection and research leadership with English Heritage (now Historic England), one of the UK’s lead heritage agencies. During this time he developed an active research interest in contemporary archaeology as well as recognising the wider societal benefits to be achieved through cultural heritage and archaeology. John was then appointed to the University of York in 2010, going on to serve as Head of Archaeology from 2012-2018. Recent projects and publications represent collaboration across diverse disciplines including marine biology, music, health sciences and public policy. John has ten authored books and fifteen edited books, alongside over 150 peer-reviewed papers and chapters. His research has taken him to Australia, the American Midwest and the South Pacific, amongst many other places. John’s latest book, ‘Wicked Problems for Archaeologists’, forms the basis of his keynote lecture.

John Tweets as @JohnSchofYork, and DJs as Unofficial: Hippocampus when time allows.

SING Panel: Indigenous Genomics

SING Australia hosts an annual Indigenous Genomics workshop for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander / Zenadth Kes peoples. Presentations are offered by highly esteemed academics in a variety of fields related to genomics including data sovereignty, cultural safety, ancient human DNA, modern medicine genomics and environmental DNA. Discussions are facilitated between professionals, researchers, academics, community members and undergraduate  attendees to address arising concerns in the use of Indigenous genomics data. The overarching philosophy of SING is to empower Indigenous communities to make their own decisions about their data.