Dear all,

I'll be making the long trek from Australia to Virginia for the next SHA
conference (not least because my parents live in DC and I owe them a
Christmas).

I plan to present a co-authored paper (authors: myself, Susan Lawrence and
Jane Lennon) on the pre-gold rush settlement of regional Victoria,
Australia, with a particular focus on south Gippsland (the southeastern
part of the state - that gives a fairly tight date range of c.1840 to
1851, btw).

Given how far I'm travelling to be in Williamsburg, I'd vastly prefer to
be in an organised session if at all possible.

To further give you an idea of our basic themes, here's the 100 word
project summary from the original grant application:

"This project will develop archaeological perspectives on pre-gold rush
settlement in Victoria using a community studies approach.  It seeks to
understand the local effects of migration and to trace the acquisition,
use, and discard of material culture within this regional community. 
Household-level archaeological data will be compared from a number of
sites at Corner Inlet, Gippsland.  Artefact analysis will be an integral
part of this process, and the assemblages recovered will be used to
investigate the role of goods in the formation of culture on a British
frontier."

By next January we should have excavated three sites: an 1840s private
township cottage site, the 1840s/50s residence of the first permanent
Anglican minister in the area, and part of the homestead at one of the
earliest agricultural runs in the region. So we should have lots to talk
about.

If you're organising a session where you think a paper on the above would
fit (or if you'd like more details on our work before you commit
yourself), please contact me _off-list_ at my work e-mail address:

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Thanks in advance,

Alasdair Brooks