Historical Archaeology in Australia In reply to Anita's query here is some information on historical archaeology in Australia. Historical archaeology is generally held to have begun with three individuals' work, Judy Birmingham's work at Wybalena (Flinders island) and at Irrawang (Hunter Valley NSW), Bill Culican's work at Fossil Beach (Melbourne, Victoria) and Jim Allens work at Port Essington (Northern Territory) all were conducted in the late 1960's. The 1970's were the period in which historical archaeology established itself particularlly around the work of Judy Birmingham at Sydney University. There were a large number of projects and numerous talented students. The 80's saw the establishment of historical archaeology in other states and the undertaking of large urban excavations in almost every state capital city. The ASHA Journal was first published in 1983 and provided an outlet for publication of historical archaeological work in Australia and New Zealand. The annual AHSA conferences also helped focus the discipline and provided some unique memories. Much of the work done up to about 1988 is dicusssed in Grahame Connah's book The Archaeology of Australia's History recently reprinted by Cambridge University Press. Historical Archaeology is taught at the University of Sydney, University of New England (both in New South Wales), Flinders University in South Australia and at La Trobe University in Victoria. Post-Grad students have also studied at the University of Western Australia and at The Australian National University. Virtually every State government has historical archaeologists on there staff as cultural resource managers. There is also a flourishing consulting scene. The degree structure is a bit different from that of the USA with a honours year (4th year) thesis required on an independant research project of up to 25,000 words. Quite significant pieces of research have been done by honours students. Ph. D's. are still fairly sparse on the ground. A recent article in the ASHA journal listed theses completed at Sydney University. Recent visitors to our shores have included Mark Leone who liked the Hunter Valley red wines, Mary Beaudry who was jet lagged and Bob Schyler who liked my cat! There is little practical separation between industrial archaeology and historical archaeology and strong links with maritime archaeology. There are also several individuals working on contact sites, more properlly called Aboriginal historical sites. As we move into the 90's the Historical Archaeology scene looks reasonably interesting especially as a number of Ph. D. projects have begun, several by senior archaeologists from outside the academic circle. We still have to battle for our own position principally against historian suspicious of our worth and prehistorians convinced that if it is written down then it's not archaeology. I can send further information such as bibilographies if required. My colleagues Claire and Kylie have read this and think that I am glossing over numerous problems and frustrations we all have with historical archaeology in Australia. Yes there are problems particularlly as the scene here is very small and research poorly funded but it's been interesting enough for me to maintain a career and interest for the last 10 years. Yours Iain Stuart P.H.A. University of Sydney e-mail [log in to unmask]