Research Staff Dr Liam Brady
Postdoctoral Research
Fellow
Gallery Building, Room 221
990 54205
liam.brady@arts.monash.edu.au
Biography
I received my undergraduate training in Anthropology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and began postgraduate studies in the Programme for Australian Indigenous Archaeology in the School of Geography and Environmental Science in 2001. My recently completed doctoral thesis (2005) examined rock paintings from the Western and Central Torres Strait islands in far northeast Queensland through a series of community-based archaeological projects. I was particularly concerned with how patterning in the style of rock paintings reflected interaction between different islands in Torres Strait, Cape York, and southwest Papua New Guinea.
In addition to my ongoing archaeological research with Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal communities, I have been working with Anishinabe (Algonquin) Elders in northern Ontario, Canada to document rock-art sites across Algonquin Provincial Park. Upcoming research projects include an extensive rock-art recording project with the Yanyuwa Aboriginal community in southwestern Gulf of Carpentaria (with Dr. John Bradley). My rock-art research uses the latest in digital photography and computer enhancement techniques to obtain a comprehensive record of heavily deteriorated rock paintings that are no longer visible to the naked eye. I am also a member of the Executive Committee for the Australian Archaeological Association (co-Membership Secretary), and have lectured on a wide range of Indigenous Studies subjects including Social Justice and Indigenous Australians, and Theories and Controversies in Indigenous Archaeology (with Dr. Ian McNiven).
Publications
Books
Brady, L.M. In Press. Pictures, Patterns and Social Interaction: Rock-Art from the Torres Strait Islands, NE Australia. Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing (Indigenous Australia: contemporary debates and issues Monograph Series)
Book Chapters
BRADY, L.M. In Press. “Mua’s Rock-Art: Design Patterning and Interregional Interaction”, in Gelam’s Homeland: cultural history on the island of Mua, Torres Strait. (eds. B. David, D. Tomsana, & M. Quinnell) Brisbane: Queensland Museum [Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, Cultural Heritage Series]
BRADY, L.M. In Press. “Postcolonial Archaeology with Indigenous Communities: Partnership Research and Ancestral Engagement in Torres Strait, NE Australia”, in Handbook to Postcolonialism and Archaeology (eds. J. Lydon & U. Rizvi) Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press. REFERRED JOURNAL ARTICLES BRADY, L.M. In Press. Symbolic Language in Torres Strait, NE Australia: images from rock-art, portable objects, and human scars. Antiquity
BRADY, L.M. 2007. A Different Look: Comparative Rock-Art Recording from the Torres Strait Using Computer Enhancement Techniques. Australian Aboriginal Studies 1:98-115. BRADY, L.M. 2006. Documenting and Analyzing Rock Paintings from Torres Strait, NE Australia, with Digital Photography and Computer Image Enhancement. Journal of Field Archaeology. 31(4):363-379.
BRADY, L.M. & Kaurareg Aboriginal Community. 2007. A Middle Ground? Recent Archaeological Investigations from the Kaurareg Archipelago, South-Western Torres Strait, Queensland. Australian Archaeology. 65:17-29
BRADY, L.M. David, B., Manas, L, & Mualgal Native Title Group. 2003. Community Archaeology and Oral Tradition: Commemorating Cultural Awareness on Mua Island, Torres Strait. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. 31:41-49.
BRADY, L.M., David, B., Manas, L., Mualgal Native Title Group, & McNiven, I.J. 2004. Rock-Paintings of Mua Island: Initial Results from Torres Strait. Rock-Art Research. 21(1):27-46.
David, B., Mura Badulgal Native Title Association Committee, McNiven, I.J., Crouch, J., & BRADY, L. 2004. The Argan Stone Arrangement Complex, Badu Island: Initial Results from Torres Strait. Australian Archaeology. 58:1-7.
David, B., McNiven, I.J. Mitchell, R., Orr, M., Haberle, S., BRADY, L., & Crouch, J. 2004. Badu 15 and the Papuan-Austronesian Settlement of Torres Strait. Archaeology in Oceania. 39(2):65-78.
David, B., McNiven, I.J., Manas, L., Manas, J., Savage, S., Crouch, J. Nelleman, G., & BRADY, L. 2004. Goba of Mua: archaeology working with oral tradition. Antiquity. 78(299): 168-172.
David, B., McNiven, I.J., Bowie, W., Nomoa, M., Ahmat, P., Crouch, J., BRADY, L., Quinnell, M., & Herle, A. 2004. The Archaeology of Torres Strait Turtleshell Masks: The Badu Island Cache. Australian Aboriginal Studies. 1:18-27.
McNiven, I.J., Crouch, J., Kemp, N., Martinez, L.C., Stanisic, J., Orr, M., BRADY, L., Hocknull, S., & Boles, W. In Press. Tigershark Rockshelter (Baidamau Mudh): Marine Specialisation and Settlement Flux on Pulu, Zenadh Kes (Torres Strait). Australian Archaeology.
McNiven, I.J., David, B., BRADY, L., & Brayer, J. 2004. Kabadul Kula rock-art site, Dauan Island, Torres Strait. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, Cultural Heritage Series. 3(1):227-256.
Conference Proceedings
Allen, W., BRADY, L.M., & Decontie, P. In Press. “Honouring the Spirits of the Sacred Pictographs”, in Proceedings of a Conference, Symposium 2007 – Preserving Aboriginal Heritage: Technical and Traditional Approaches, Ottawa, Canada, September 24-28, 2007. (eds. Dignard, C., Helwig, K., Mason, J., Nanowin, K., & Stone, T.) Ottawa: Canadian Conservation Institute.Conference and Symposium Presentations (Papers)
2008 (upcoming): American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, USA
2008 (upcoming): World Archaeological Congress, Dublin, Ireland
2007: Canadian Conservation Institute Symposium, Ottawa, Canada
2007: “The Production and Collection of Indigenous Drawings” Symposium, Australian National University, Canberra
2006: “Theory and Practice of Community Archaeology” Manchester, UK
2006: Canadian Archaeological Association Conference, Toronto, Canada
2005: Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference, Glasgow, Scotland
2005: Society for American Archaeology Conference, Salt Lake City, USA
2005: Victorian National Archaeology Week Lecture Series, Melbourne
2004: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Lecture Series, Cambridge University, UK
2004: “Dialogues Across Cultures: Identity, Place, Culture” Conference, Melbourne
2003: Monash University Environmental Forum, Melbourne