As part of the 2019 National Archaeology Student Conference, we invite you to join us for a relaxed evening of wine, cheese and presentations by two of our esteemed researchers with the archaeology department at Flinders University. All are welcome at this event (16 years and over only please). 

A presentation of visual art and research posters by student delegates at NASC will also feature during the evening. 

Our special guest speakers for this session are:

Dr Martin Polkinghorne is a lecturer in archaeology at Flinders University. Martin will share with us elements of his ongoing research at Angkor, Cambodia.

Dr Daryl Wesley is currently a Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) Fellow at Flinders University. He will share with us research from ongoing work in Arnhem Land.

Schedule for the evening:

6:00 pm Event open, wine and cheese/nibbles served in the foyer. Student posters and art exhibited. 

6:30 pm Acknowledgement of Country (Andrew Wilkinson, NASC treasurer 2019)

6:35 pm: Welcome to Event (Jenna Walsh, NASC Chair 2019).

6:45 pm: Dr Martin Polkinghorne

Old narratives and new evidence: revisiting the end of Angkor

Angkor is often typecast as a definitive "Collapsed Civilisation". Descriptions of a grand city of nearly one million inhabitants ruined by catastrophe and left to the jungle is challenging to address in popular perspectives of Cambodia. Invasion by a foreign power was the first and most intelligible explanation, while recent research has laid responsibility at the feet of severe climatic fluctuations. Angkor's demise remains a contemporary fascination, however local narratives describing loss and failure developed over many hundreds of years. It is regrettable, but pejorative descriptions of "collapse" continue to obscure interpretations of continuity, adaptation and renewal. Martin will discuss the latest archaeological research at Angkor, question long-held constructions of Cambodian history, and demonstrate how innovative, inclusive, and interdisciplinary archaeological research has contributed to understanding the past.

7:30 Brief intermission (more wine!)

7:45pm: Dr Daryl Wesley

Animals and the Archaeozoology of Bim (rock art), Arnhem Land, Australia

Animals depicted in rock art can provide important information that helps us understanding past human, animal, and ecological relationships. Exploring the abundant rock art of western Arnhem Land, Australia and engaging with Indigenous communities can provide us with tangible insight into human-animal interactions. Archaeology in tropical northern Australia is constrained by the loss of the bones from rockshelters that would normally inform us on the types of animals that made up Indigenous economies from very early times. Extinct animals such as Thylacines and Tasmanian Devils are found in both the rock art and in archaeological deposits, however identifying the presence of examples of Australia’s megafauna is far more elusive. If megafauna and humans cohabited Australia in the Pleistocene this may have implications for representations of these animals in rock art. Conversely if megafauna cannot be reliably identified in rock art then there are implications for the timings for inscribing the Arnhem Land landscape. This paper will discuss the various reasons why identifying animals proves to be challenging, various approaches on the application of archaeozoology to rock art and discuss how Indigenous human-animal relationships and environmental change is applicable in a global rock art context.

8:45: Cessation of evening. 

Free soft drinks and drinking water will be available throughout this event. Flinders Victoria Square is fully accessible. Appropriately identifiable assistance dogs are more than welcome. 

For any accessibility queries, please contact nascenquiries@gmail.com.

This is a non-smoking event. 16 years and over (unless by prior arrangement with the NASC Executive Committee at nascenquiries@gmail.com). Alcohol will NOT be provided to minors.