Social Archaeology of Australian Indigenous Societies.

B. DAVID, I. Mcniven & B. Barker(editors), 2006.Social Archaeology of Australian Indigenous Societies.
Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra

$39.95

Published March 2006
400 pp, 235 x 154 mm , pb, ISBN 0 85575 499 05
sales@aiatsis.gov.au
www.aiatsis.gov.au/asp

"Insightful, interesting and at times provocative. This is a key text for understanding the development of Australian archaeology."
- Claire Smith President, World Archaeological Congress

The Social Archaeology of Australian Indigenous Societies presents original and provocative views on the complex and dynamic social lives of Indigenous Australians from an historical perspective.

Building on the foundational work of Harry Lourandos, this collection critically examines and challenges traditional approaches which have presented Indigenous Australian pasts as static and tethered to ecological rationalism.

The Social Archaeology of Australian Indigenous Societies reveals the ancient past of Indigenous Australians to be one of long-term changes in social relationships and traditions, as well as the active management and manipulation of the environment. It encourages a deeper appreciation of the ways Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders have engaged with, and constructed their worlds. It solicits a more reflexive understanding of the contemporary political and social context of research and the insidious impacts of colonialist philosophies. In short, it concerns people: both past and present.

Ultimately, The Social Archaeology of Australian Indigenous Societies looks beyond the stereotype of Aboriginal peoples as 'hunter-gatherers' and charts new and challenging agendas for Australian Aboriginal archaeology.

Go to the AIATSIS website www.aiatsis.gov.au/asp for Contents and a sample chapter.