Flinders University in Adelaide
Mapping Indigenous Cultural Landscapes Using Advanced Archaeological Geophysics (ICHDR#5 Year 2)
This PhD project will develop innovative approaches and best-practice frameworks for detecting and mapping large archaeological landscapes using advanced geophysical survey techniques. Geophysical methods are powerful tools for identifying buried archaeological features that leave little or no visible trace on the surface. Traditionally, however, archaeological geophysics has been applied at small scales for highly targeted investigations due to limitations in equipment coverage and the time required to conduct surveys.
Recent technological advances in geophysical instrumentation and survey platforms now allow vastly larger areas to be investigated, opening new possibilities for mapping extensive archaeological landscapes. Working together with our industry partners, this project will explore how these emerging capabilities can be used to detect, map and analyse broad cultural landscapes rather than focusing solely on individual sites.
The research will focus on Australian Indigenous landscapes, where archaeological traces can be subtle yet distributed across very large areas. By combining cutting-edge geophysical survey techniques with advanced analytical methods such as signal processing, computer vision and machine learning, the project aims to develop new methods for identifying and interpreting large-scale archaeological patterns.
The outcomes of this research have the potential to significantly expand our understanding of Australia’s archaeological landscapes while improving our capacity to detect, manage and protect Indigenous cultural heritage across vast and challenging environments.
As a fundamentally normative construction, CSR speaks to what social responsibility should look like, who it should apply to, and how it should be demonstrated. By contrast, the analytic position of the corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) discourse is evidence-based, and objects to the notion that companies can claim to be responsible while at the same time act irresponsibly. Though the turn to corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) is not an easy one, this evidence-based project will seek to engage with a more exacting empirical basis for describing corporate actions without the need to reference distracting aspirational statements used in CSR discourse, and in line with the ARC Training Centre’s desire to create a practicum for archaeology and cultural heritage management (CHM) in the resources sector.
Based at the University of Queensland, this postdoctoral research project will undertake in-depth research working with the Training Centre’s industry partners to analyse the organisational ecosystem within which archaeology and CHM in the mining industry is practiced – under the aegis of social responsibility. Embedding archaeology and CHM as integral to the mining industry’s “core business” means improving organisational structures and systems and supporting professionals across the disciplinary spectrum to forge stronger connections. It also involves building knowledge about remedy processes, where breaches or poor practices may have caused loss and damage for Traditional Owners. You will be responsible for collaborating with the full range of partners to support the development of these connections.
By closely engaging with the organisational eco-system within which archaeology and CHM is embedded, this research will help re-balance power dynamics between the social and physical sciences and between Traditional Owners and mining industry professionals in the organisational domain. Up to two positions are available.
