The Society continues to invest in the future of archaeology by inviting students from Monash University, the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University to talk about their work.

Lectures commence at 6.30pm and are held in the Discovery Centre Lecture Theatre at Melbourne Museum, Nicholson Street, Carlton. Entrance is opposite the Royal Exhibition Building.

Thursday 17 November

The 2011 Annual General Meeting

At the Royal Society Hall 8 Latrobe Street, Melbourne (opposite the Royal Exhibition Building Gardens)

The guest speaker is Professor Colin Hope Director, Centre for Archaeology & Ancient History, Monash University, Research Associate, Museum Victoria, and co-ordinator of the Egyptology Society of Victoria.

His topic is Living with Egypt’s past in Australia

The talk will examine the use that has been made of architectural and decorative elements derived from ancient Egyptian culture within Melbourne and Victoria, with some comments on other parts of Australia. It will attempt to understand the reason for this appropriation and to highlight that Australia in a limited way participated in trends encountered in the rest of the world - a process often refered to as Egyptianising or Egyptomania!

The Meeting will be followed by a buffet dinner (includes wine & soft drinks)

$25.00 members $30.00 non-members

Guests are welcome

Please send bookings for dinner to:

SECRETARY AASV PO BOX 203 CARLTON 3053

Cheques made payable to Archaeological & Anthropological Society of Victoria

Thursday 20 October
Monash University Postgraduate Students

Thursday 15 September
The University of Melbourne Postgraduate Students

Roderick White Theories about the collapse of the Neo-Hittites

The end of the Hittite Empire is commonly cited as an example of the collapse of a complex society. But Hittite culture continued for five centuries in a small group of kingdoms which became known as the Neo-Hittites. Current theories of collapse do not offer ready explanations for the survival of the Neo-Hittites. This presentation will outline investigations into why current theories don’t explain the survival of the Neo-Hittites.

Roderick’s research interests include the collapse and regeneration of complex societies and the Bronze and Iron Age archaeology of the Near East. After many years in the IT industry a desire for a career change and a passion for history and archaeology led to post-graduate studies at the University of Melbourne. Rod has a Bachelor of Electronic Engineering degree from Swinburne University of Technology, a Master of Science in Computer Science from Victoria University and a Post-Graduate Diploma of Arts in Classics and Archaeology from the University of Melbourne.

Amanda Rose Walking on Water: Interpreting the Marine Style Floor Paintings of the Late Bronze Age Aegean

The Late Bronze Age (ca. 1700-1100 B.C.E.) palatial buildings at Pylos and Tiryns on the Greek mainland feature floor-paintings within their central rooms which depict marine images such as octopi, dolphins and fish. In addition, the palatial building at Knossos and the shrine at Ayia Triada, which are located on the Greek island of Crete and also date to the Late Bronze Age, each possess a floor-painting located in a central room which depicts marine imagery. Whilst these paintings have been analysed in terms of their date, their location within the buildings, and the techniques utilised to create them, discussion regarding why these marine images are overwhelmingly depicted on floors has avoided scholarly attention. Why is it that marine images abound on floors? Is the viewer supposed to be peering over the edge of a boat and thus seeing the creatures of the ocean from above? Or, is the answer tied to the identity of a political ruler and/or the cosmology of the group of ancient people utilising the site? This paper will explore these possibilities utilising contextual analysis and with reference to ideas about landscape theory and will conclude that the floor-paintings functioned to reinforce the ideological control which the political and religious elites at each site maintained with regard to the use of the sea.

Amanda’s research interests include archaeological theory, particularly landscape archaeology, as well as trade and seafaring within the east Mediterranean region during the Late Bronze Age (ca 1700-1100 BCE).

Thursday 18 August
La Trobe University Postgraduate Students
Caroline Spry, PhD Candidate Refitting a Past: A study of changing technological strategies after 25,000BP at Lake Mungo, south-western New South Wales, Australia

Thursday 15 September
The University of Melbourne Postgraduate Students

Roderick White Theories about the collapse of the Neo-Hittites

The end of the Hittite Empire is commonly cited as an example of the collapse of a complex society. But Hittite culture continued for five centuries in a small group of kingdoms which became known as the Neo-Hittites. Current theories of collapse do not offer ready explanations for the survival of the Neo-Hittites. This presentation will outline investigations into why current theories don’t explain the survival of the Neo-Hittites.

Roderick’s research interests include the collapse and regeneration of complex societies and the Bronze and Iron Age archaeology of the Near East. After many years in the IT industry a desire for a career change and a passion for history and archaeology led to post-graduate studies at the University of Melbourne. Rod has a Bachelor of Electronic Engineering degree from Swinburne University of Technology, a Master of Science in Computer Science from Victoria University and a Post-Graduate Diploma of Arts in Classics and Archaeology from the University of Melbourne.

Amanda Rose Walking on Water: Interpreting the Marine Style Floor Paintings of the Late Bronze Age Aegean

The Late Bronze Age (ca. 1700-1100 B.C.E.) palatial buildings at Pylos and Tiryns on the Greek mainland feature floor-paintings within their central rooms which depict marine images such as octopi, dolphins and fish. In addition, the palatial building at Knossos and the shrine at Ayia Triada, which are located on the Greek island of Crete and also date to the Late Bronze Age, each possess a floor-painting located in a central room which depicts marine imagery. Whilst these paintings have been analysed in terms of their date, their location within the buildings, and the techniques utilised to create them, discussion regarding why these marine images are overwhelmingly depicted on floors has avoided scholarly attention. Why is it that marine images abound on floors? Is the viewer supposed to be peering over the edge of a boat and thus seeing the creatures of the ocean from above? Or, is the answer tied to the identity of a political ruler and/or the cosmology of the group of ancient people utilising the site? This paper will explore these possibilities utilising contextual analysis and with reference to ideas about landscape theory and will conclude that the floor-paintings functioned to reinforce the ideological control which the political and religious elites at each site maintained with regard to the use of the sea.

Amanda’s research interests include archaeological theory, particularly landscape archaeology, as well as trade and seafaring within the east Mediterranean region during the Late Bronze Age (ca 1700-1100 BCE). Topic to be confirmed

Thursday 18 August
La Trobe University Postgraduate Students
Caroline Spry, PhD Candidate Refitting a Past: A study of changing technological strategies after 25,000BP at Lake Mungo, south-western New South Wales, Australia

Existing descriptions of the stone technology from the Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area (WLWHA) conflate assemblages of different age and context. This largely results from the absence of an effective methodology for analysing surface stone assemblages scattered across extensive landforms that accumulated over large time spans, such as the Lake Mungo lunette or water shoreline. This research attempts to present a comprehensive description of stone technology employed at Lake Mungo when its water levels were fluctuating during 25,000-18,000BP, compared to when arid conditions prevailed some time after 18,000BP.

Caroline Spry is currently a PhD Candidate at La Trobe University, Bundoora. She first studied archaeology at the University of Melbourne, where she completed a Bachelor of Arts (Classics and Archaeology), a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing Management), and a Diploma in Modern Languages (Italian) in 2008. She graduated with Honours from La Trobe University in 2009, having written her thesis on the analysis of a collection of pitchstone artefacts excavated at Pamwak Rockshelter, Manus Island in Melanesia. Since commencing her archaeological studies, she has participated in the Samtavro Excavations Project, Georgia (a joint collaboration between the University of Melbourne and Georgian National Museum), the Glenrowan Archaeological Siege Project (the location of the siege of the Kelly Gang by the Victorian Police in 1880), and has been involved in numerous archaeological surveys and excavations across Victoria. She is presently involved in the ARC Discovery Project ‘Human Responses to Long-Term Landscape and Climate Change in the Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area’, which is a collaborative endeavour involving the Elders from the Traditional Tribal Groups from the Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area and an inter-disciplinary research team of staff and students from around Australia. Caroline’s research interests include the archaeology of early Near Eastern writing methods, and the stone technology of Melanesia and south-eastern Australia.

Alexander Donald, PhD Candidate Enkomi, Episkopi and Alashiya - Glyptic iconography and governance in Late Bronze Age Cyprus

This paper presents a limited comparative analysis of the two largest seal assemblages; those of Enkomi and Episkopi. Enkomi on the east of the island has long been held as the most likely centre of a Cypriot state, and has produced the greatest number of seals. Cylinders from Enkomi are compared with those of Episkopi as a means of assessing the likelihood of a distinct south-western cultural or political unit. While it has come to be accepted that the kingdom of Alashiya mentioned in Bronze Age Near Eastern documents refers to Cyprus, the actual political make-up of the island itself is still ill-understood. Scholars disagree on whether the island was governed by a single political entity, or a number of autonomous regional polities. Cyprus is yet to yield comprehensible documents of its own which may clarify the issue, and the archaeological record is at best difficult to reconcile with foreign documentary evidence. In this debate, cylinder seals have not been exploited to their full potential. Though cylinder seals are abundant on Cyprus in the period (presenting the most complex and extensive visual record available) they have been engaged with from a largely art historical point of view. The potential of regional variations in style, or the importance of uniformity has not been assessed.

Alexander Donald attended the University of Newcastle from 2004-2009, completing a combined Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Fine Arts. In 2009 he was lucky enough to secure a place in the Souskiou-Laona Settlement Project, directed by Professor Edgar Peltenburg of the University of Edinburgh. It was during this time in Cyprus that his attention was drawn to seal iconography. He completed his Honours thesis on Cypriot pithos impressions with invaluable guidance from David Frankel and Jenny Webb, before relocating to Melbourne at the beginning of last year to undertake his doctoral research under their tutelage.

Thursday 21 July
Dr Margaret Bullen
The Why? and When? of making marks on rocks with examples from some French caves

Thursday 16 June
Allan Main
The Marquesas: Archaeology and Anthropology

Thursday 19 May
Terrence Twomey, The University of Melbourne
Fire use by early hominids as evidence for the beginnings of human cognition

Thursday 21 April
Dr Chris Davey, Director, Australian Institute of Archaeology
Old Kingdom Egyptian Copper Workshop Practice