Call for Abstracts

In partnership with Traditional Owners this session aims to honour the lifeways of Aboriginal peoples on Australia’s longest river, the Murray. From the deep time remnants of freshwater mussel meals to rich Holocene rockshelter deposits and exquisite woven basketry, the papers in this session will explore themes of resilience, diversity, innovation and creativity spanning generations. A multiplicity of approaches will be applied throughout the presentations to generate narratives that expand our understanding of a riverscape replete with meaning.

Convenor:
Amy Roberts, Flinders University

Archaeological science emphasises the importance of multi-disciplinary approaches in studying past cultural materials and landscapes, with a clear push towards culturally inclusive and ethical research frameworks. The advancement of new technologies offers innovative ways of studying and engaging with the past, providing new avenues for Indigenous Australians, global Indigenous leaders, First Nations peoples and other historically underrepresented groups to participate in, and ideally lead, archaeological research.

As part of this year’s AAA conference theme, this session aims to provide an opportunity to reflect on past archaeological approaches and how these can inform the future development of our discipline. We welcome contributions from community, academic and professional perspectives from a broad range of specialties including, but not limited to, conservation, microscopy, archaeological chemistry, chronometry, biomolecular archaeology, residue and use-wear analysis. Only the integration and centralisation of Indigenous knowledge systems within Western scientific frameworks will allow us to design an inclusive and ethical future for Australasian archaeological science.

Convenors:
Sofia Samper Carro, Australian National University
Shimona Kealy, Australian National University
Phoebe Barnes, Australian National University

Humans have utilised coastal, freshwater and marine spaces for millennia, and this is reflected in the archaeological record. These areas are critical to subsistence, adaptation to climate change, migration, and trade. This session invites papers that explore human engagement with coasts, intertidal zones, and underwater environments across all time periods and geographic regions. We welcome research spanning deep time and historical maritime lifeways, submerged landscapes, shipwrecks, intertidal heritage, freshwater archaeology, coastal settlements, and the material traces of seafaring, trade, and cultural interaction. Additionally, the session will highlight innovative methods, collaboration, interdisciplinary approaches, and challenges in the analysis of archaeological material on the coastal margins and inland waterways.

Convenors:
Chelsea Wiseman, Flinders University
John McCarthy, Flinders University

This session explores the realities of managing cultural heritage in legislative and assessment frameworks that do not always align neatly with the complexity of real practice. Whilst these systems provide structure, practitioners regularly find themselves working in the gaps, where cumulative impacts are hard to articulate, intangible values sit awkwardly within statutory definitions, and emerging contexts push methods and techniques beyond what they were designed to do (if they were designed at all).

We invite contributions from consultants and practitioners that speak directly to these tensions. Papers may present case studies where frameworks have proven difficult, inconsistent, or have simply been not fit for purpose, as well as examples of how practitioners have adapted, negotiated, or quietly reworked processes to achieve better outcomes. This includes methodological innovation, collaboration with Traditional Owners, and pragmatic approaches to navigating regulatory expectations.

This session aims to move beyond polite acknowledgement of limitations and instead open up a frank discussion about what is working, what is not, and what needs to change (and, ideally, how). In line with the conference theme, it asks how heritage practice can evolve to better reflect diverse values and ways of knowing, while still operating within systems that are not always built to hold them.

Convenor:
Erica Walther, Extent Heritage

Across Australia large-scale infrastructure and development projects are regularly triggering archaeological investigations. This compliance-based archaeology may be instigated as a regulatory requirement, but the investigations themselves have resulted in the identification of extensive, stratified and analytically rich datasets. The intersection of Aboriginal community engagement, scientific inquiry and legislative frameworks has generated data that contribute to broad archaeological narratives. Consultancy archaeology, rather than being the end point of regulation, is a vital and generative component of ongoing archaeological practice in Australia. This session invites case studies of recent compliance-driven archaeological projects, showcasing the contribution these have made to archaeological narratives through research agendas, methodological innovation, consultation, field investigation and the seeking of long-term heritage outcomes. This session allows for a critical examination of the role of consultancy archaeology in shaping contemporary understandings of the past.

Convenors:
Darran Jordan, AECOM Australia Pty Ltd
Andrew McLaren, AECOM Australia Pty Ltd

Recent decades have seen increasing efforts in Australian archaeology to centre Indigenous knowledge systems, community authority, and ethical collaboration. While important contributions to decolonising archaeological practice have also emerged in Aotearoa New Zealand, North America, and across the Pacific and parts of Asia, questions remain regarding how these approaches can be meaningfully extended and adapted across diverse global contexts. This session invites contributions that critically examine how such frameworks can inform archaeological practice beyond their original settings.

Across Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas, archaeological narratives have often been shaped by colonial histories and Eurocentric interpretive traditions. These legacies continue to influence how evidence is interpreted, how heritage is managed, and whose voices are prioritised. At the same time, scholars and communities are increasingly working to reclaim local epistemologies, oral traditions, and culturally grounded interpretations of the past.

This session brings together papers exploring strategies for re-centring local perspectives in interpretation, heritage governance, and research design. We particularly welcome case studies addressing collaborative methodologies, disciplinary critique, and archaeology’s role in supporting cultural sovereignty, aiming to foster dialogue on how archaeology can more responsibly engage with diverse knowledge systems and community voices.

Convenors:
Shahy Radwan, Flinders University
Daryl Wesley, Flinders University
Mirani Litster, Flinders University

Archaeology has a ‘cowboy culture’ problem, one where performances of toughness, strength, and ruggedness dominate. It encourages hard physical labour, often in harsh conditions, through injury and without adequate safety precautions, and places a primacy on fieldwork. This culture of course adversely affects all archaeologists – especially women, openly queer people, and early-career archaeologists – who must prove their toughness through fieldwork and in the face of harassment and discrimination.

Where then, do disabled archaeologists fit in? It remains a fact of life that everyone will eventually find themselves disabled in some form. Be it through old age, accident or illness, all able-bodiedness is temporary and all archaeologists will someday find themselves unable to keep up with this self-destructive ideal. Ableism and cowboy culture says that disabled archaeologists ought to be excluded – a belief we see reflected in the low numbers of self-identified disabled archaeologists compared to the global population – yet we can still provide valuable contributions to the field.

This session aims to highlight barriers to access, propose ways to improve inclusivity, and promote community amongst disabled archaeologists. We encourage disabled archaeologists and our allies to present research, lived experience, and suggestions for the future on how disability can be championed in archaeological spaces. It will run as a lightning-round session with time for an informal discussion.

Convenors:
Jennifer Mulder, The University of Queensland
Daryl Wesley, Flinders University

The Australian National Committee for Archaeology Teaching and Learning is excited to host a unique workshop at AAA2026, aimed at addressing a selection of the most significant ‘grand challenges’ facing modern Australian archaeology. The workshop will feature three roundtable discussion sessions. Each session will start with a 10-minute presentation to introduce the theme and to summarise the current state of each challenge within the discipline. This will be followed by a 30-minute roundtable discussion with session participants, aimed at identifying ways to move forward with each of the challenges. 

The roundtable themes for this session are: 

• Decolonising and indigenising the discipline
• Moving towards a national accreditation scheme
• Public understanding of, and interest in, Australian archaeology

If you are interested in presenting one of the 10-minute introductions and summaries for one of the three themes, please submit a paper abstract, outlining your ideas and the key points that you propose to cover. 

Convenors:
Georgia Stannard, La Trobe University
Georgia Williams, Bremer State High School

Ground stone items have been around for a long time and Individual items may have very long lifespans. It is only recently, however, that these beloved pieces have come into their own in archaeological investigations. Several factors have emerged to unlock the stories within. A greater appreciation of the variety of tools has emerged from larger scale studies; the flowering of plant studies identifies GSTs as the usual tool kit for processing and one of the better agents for preserving evidence. Usewear analysis has become a standard part of our investigative tool kit. Residue analysis has opened the gateway to end use identification and is rapidly aiming toward widespread use of genetic techniques.

In this session we invite those shared interests – building stories, techniques, analytical methods, and appreciations.

Convenors:
Colin Pardoe, MicroTrace Archaeology
Elspeth Hayes, MicroTrace Archaeology
Richard Fullagar, MicroTrace Archaeology

It has been 37 years since the publication of Beck et al.’s (1989) seminal edited volume Plants in Australian Archaeology. A highly regarded piece of Australian archaeobotanical literature, this text is a staple for Australian archaeobotanists. Tattered copies are shared with the greatest of care as we recognise the importance and merit of this pioneering work. Australia has made considerable contributions to the field of archaeobotany, especially in shaping and informing our understandings of past human ecologies beyond the traditional and largely Eurasian agricultural paradigm. Due to the incredible developments in archaeobotanical research and technological advancements across this country between 1989 and now, a new edited volume is on the horizon. Over time a distinctly Australian style of archaeobotany has developed, specific to the incredible uniqueness of this country. This session invites papers that explore First Nations people-plant relationships across time and space, from the early peopling of the country to the current state of play of Australian archaeobotany. We welcome contributions engaging with plants in Australian archaeology in all forms (e.g. micro- and macro- remains, plant-based technologies, rock art etc.), including themes around field and laboratory methods, ethical obligations, documentation of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge, and two-way collaborative approaches to better listen, learn, observe, and understand the archaeobotanical record.

Convenors:
India Ella Dilkes-Hall, Griffith University
Chae Byrne, The University of Western Australia
Molly Turnbull, University of Wollongong

People shape one another through interaction within families, villages, cities, and between societies, cultures and language groups. Australian and Pacific archaeology has long wrestled with such questions as: what happens when people meet and exchange objects, language, and ideas? How do power imbalances shape these interactions – which can include violence and coercion – and how do oppressed peoples resist? How did these interactions shape culture and how do we see these interactions through people’s objects, rock art, living sites and stories? There are some remarkable and well-studied examples of cross-cultural interaction in our region, including the expansion and influence of Pama-Nyungan languages and pituri exchange routes in Australia, wunan trade networks across the Kimberley and neighbouring cultural blocs, long-distance voyaging exchange between Oceanic peoples and Indonesian trepang fishers and First Peoples of northern Australia, as well as more fleeting encounters between Dutch sailors and Aboriginal people in Western Australia. Our session aims to bring together diverse case studies from across Australia and the Pacific, from historical and Indigenous archaeology. This conversation asks: how did people shape one another, and what is the role of archaeology in making and remembering these cross-cultural exchanges?

Convenors:
Sam Harper, The University of Western Australia
Sally K. May, Adelaide University
Chris Urwin, Monash University

AACAI invites papers in a session examining the role of consulting archaeologists in shaping how stories of the past are documented, interpreted and shared. This session considers consulting archaeology as a key interface where cultural knowledge, ethics, community and science intersect.

Consultants routinely translate the archaeological record into narratives that inform CHM and decision-making. This session interrogates how these stories are constructed, whose voices are prioritised, and how practice can move beyond compliance-driven models toward approaches that are collaborative, culturally grounded, and responsive to Indigenous knowledge systems and authority. We aim to foster dialogue among practitioners, Custodians, policymakers, and academics.

We welcome papers that engage with the following themes:

• Storying the past: Interpreting archaeology as narrative.
• Decolonising practice: Embedding Indigenous knowledge systems and cultural authority in heritage assessments.
• Ethical storytelling: Ensuring accountable representation of cultural narratives.
• Community voice and authority: Collaborative approaches that prioritise community leadership.
• Policy: The role of legislation in enabling—or constraining—community-centred heritage outcomes.

AACAI’s commitment to ethical, community-engaged practice positions this session as a platform for examining how consulting archaeology can contribute to an archaeology that not only remembers, but responsibly carries stories forward.

Convenors:
Lynley Wallis, Griffith University
Kane Ditchfield, Big Island Research

This session explores the complex histories of rock art research through an opportunity to revisit and share stories of interactions collaborative or otherwise, embracing First Peoples achievements, lived experience and identity alongside the reimaging of future journeys. Understanding that rock art often provides unprecedented insights into past lifeworlds and ways of thinking, as a reflection of human creativity and innovation. Rock art provides the basis for an understanding of past technical expertise as well as cultural perspectives, influencing narratives whilst reflecting real or mythological stories in the deep past.

This session will be hosted by Australia ICOMOS’ National Scientific Committee of Rock Art in Australia (NSCRAA). Our intent is to provide a platform for knowledge and experiences to be shared of varied approaches to understanding the past, the present and our collective futures. We encourage the revealing of innovative methods and methodologies, which enable all voices to join together to celebrate truth and the visibility of alternative ways of knowing, being and doing. We invite contributions that explore the many intersections between rock art, shared stories and histories with visions for the future.

Convenors:
Sally K. May, Adelaide University
Melissa Marshall, The University of Notre Dame Australia
Jake Goodes, Parks Victoria
Ethan Williams, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

Southeast Asia holds globally significant archaeological records of migration, exchange, adaptation, and ritual practices. For decades, Australasian researchers have contributed to documenting and interpreting these stories through collaborative fieldwork, methodological innovation, and training, while also helping to build regional research and capacity networks. In this context, Australasian research agendas are shaped through networks of funding, mobility, and collaboration that influence which perspectives are foregrounded. Southeast Asia, however, is not merely a field of evidence but a generative source of concepts, methods, and future directions.

This session invites contributions that explore how Australasian archaeology has engaged with Southeast Asia in reconstructing its deep past and, more importantly, in shaping more connected, inclusive, and regionally shared futures. We welcome papers from Australasian-based and Southeast Asian scholars that examine collaboration in practice, reflect on the shared histories and legacies of archaeological work in the region, and consider how these relationships can contribute to a more reciprocal and regionally grounded agenda. Contributions may present new research or critically reflect on fieldwork, partnerships, and heritage practice, including work on museological collections, heritage management, capacity building, community-led research, and decolonising archaeological praxis.

Convenors:
Vito C. Hernandez, Flinders University
Nia Ridwan, Flinders University
Zainab Tahir, Flinders University
Martin Polkinghorne, Flinders University

Recent years have seen significant attention paid to the archaeology of submerged cultural landscapes in Australia and internationally. This newfound appreciation is a result of decades of work to understand the potential for sites to preserve on, and within, what is now the present-day seabed. Advancements in technical approaches to underwater survey and investigation to evaluate potential archaeological sites and landscapes now enable archaeologists to better understand the natural and cultural conditions for underwater archaeological sites to preserve for thousands of years. This session will consider the current state-of-the-art in the underwater archaeology of deep time: the drowned terrestrial landmasses and locations which were home to Indigenous people for tens of thousands of years. It welcomes discussions on technical aspects of underwater archaeology, heritage management, public policy, Indigenous-led and co-designed projects and future directions for the underwater archaeology of deep time in Australia and beyond.

Convenors:
Jonathan Benjamin, Flinders University
Louise Brooke, Flinders University

Adams et al. (2024) proposed that activism and advocacy must play a role in anthropology in all its forms, including archaeology. In response to those who posit that advocacy has no place in an objective praxis—because it supposedly jeopardises unbiased research—Adams et al. argue that a failure to meet a moral duty to support often marginalised communities upholds white power and privilege.

As archaeologists and heritage managers, we often face a number of practical dilemmas regarding advocacy:

• should we report ‘objectively’ on research results, or recognise that our research has a social consequence that requires subjective understanding?
• when does professional practice need to encompass the ethics of advocacy and truth-telling?
• how should the ethics of professional/academic responsibility incorporate speaking truth to power in response to ensuring social justice for the past?
• what is responsible advocacy?
• when is it irresponsible to not address a situation that appears unethical, sub-standard or illegal in the course of research or consulting work?
• how should a responsible ethic of advocacy work in practice?

In this session we seek papers that critically address these ethically constituted questions. We are not looking for papers on examples of advocacy per se, but papers that analyse the ethical approaches we need to bring to our advocacy. How should advocacy be constructed? How do we avoid speaking for others, thereby jeopardising FPIC, ICIP and IDS?

Convenors:
Annie Ross, The University of Queensland / CIEHF
Neale Draper, Neale Draper & Associates
Uncle Jeffrey Newchurch, Kaurna Yerta Aboriginal Corporation
Galiina Ellwood, James Cook University

This session aims to bring together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities who are driving exploration and understanding of submerged palaeolandscapes around the continent.

Research into submerged palaeolandscapes in Australia has, historically, been predominantly conducted by white, non-Australian archaeologists (such as myself!), with input from and consultation with Indigenous communities. The program for AAA-AIMA 2025 included several presentations by representatives from Indigenous communities about their research on submerged Aboriginal cultural heritage, which was Indigenous designed and led, with input from and in consultation with non-Aboriginal archaeologists. These papers, however, were spread across a number of sessions, missing an opportunity for sharing knowledge and experience between projects, communities, and collaborative discussions about development of the field from Indigenous perspectives.

This session offers a space for Indigenous communities and Indigenous led projects to come together to present their work on submerged Aboriginal cultural heritage and palaeolandscapes, to discuss successes, perspectives, challenges, and anything in between and beyond.

Convenor:
Hanna Steyne, Wessex Archaeology