• The University of Western Australia (M257), 35 Stirling Highway,

    6009 Perth

    Australia

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Personal profile

Biography

Professor Alistair Paterson is an ARC Future Fellow in archaeology at the University of Western Australia. His research examines the historical archaeology of colonial coastal contact and settlement in Australia’s Northwest and the Indian Ocean. His key interests are Western Australia and Indian Ocean history, Aboriginal Australia, Dutch East India Company, colonialism and exploration, rock art, and the history of collecting in Western Australia in collaboration with the Western Australian Museum, State Library, Art Gallery, and the British Museum.

He is CI on several ongoing ARC projects: (1) Collecting the West: Reimagining Western Australia from its collections; (2) Coastal Connections: dynamic societies of Australia's Northwest frontier, (3) Collecting at the Crossroads: Anthropology, Art & Cultural Change (1939-85), and (4) Entangled Knowledges in the Robert Neill Collection.

He is the author of A Millennium of Cultural Contact (Left Coast, 2011), The Lost Legions: Culture Contact in Colonial Australia (Alta Mira, 2008) and editor with Jane Balme of Archaeology in Practice: A Student Guide to Archaeological Analyses (2nd edition, Blackwell Publishing, 2013).

In 2015-2016 was a visiting researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford. In 2009 he was a visiting researcher ay the University of Copenhagen and at the National Museum of Denmark. He is past President of the Australian Archaeological Association (2005-2007), past Head of the School of Social Sciences (2013-15), and past Archaeology Discipline Chair (2010-2012). He has been involved with editing for, and publishing in, key archaeology journals including Antiquity, World Archaeology, Historical Archaeology, Archaeology in Oceania, Australasian Historical Archaeology, Internet Archaeology, and Australian Archaeology.

Roles and responsibilities

* ARC Future Fellow
* Associate Investigator, Oceans Institute (UWA)
* Member: Center for Rock Art Research and Management (UWA)

* Chair of Maritime Archaeology Advisory Committee, WA Museum
* Affiliate member: Australian Association for Consulting Archaeologists Inc

Future research

- The historical archaeology of colonial coastal contact and settlement in Australia’s Northwest and the Indian Ocean
- Macassan contacts with the Kimberley
- Pearling and Aboriginal labor/Slavery in WA
- Collections studies

Funding overview

Current only:
Collecting the West: How collections created Western Australia
ARC Linkage Project LP160100078. Administering Organisation: The University of Western Australia (UWA). Project leader: Prof Alistair Paterson. Investigators: Prof Andrea Witcomb, Adj/Prof Alec Coles, Prof Jane Lydon, Prof Stephen Hopper, Prof Jenny Gregory, Dr Shino Konishi, Dr Jacqueline Van Gent, Dr Toby Burrows, Dr Tiffany Shellam, Dr Jeremy Hill, Dr Sarah Longair, Dr Gaye Sculthorpe, Dr Katherine (Kate) Gregory, Mr Damien Webb, Ms Corioli Souter, Ms Amy Wegerhoff, Ms Patricia McDonald, Dr Moya Smith, Ms Diana Jones, Ms Melissa Harpley. ($750,000)

Coastal Connections: dynamic societies of Australia's Northwest frontier
ARC Future Fellowship FT150100168. Administering Organisation: The University of Western Australia (UWA). Investigators: Prof Alistair Paterson ($917,637)

Collecting at the Crossroads: Anthropology, Art & Cultural Change (1939-85). ARC Linkage Project LP200100045.     Administering Organisation: Deakin University. Project leader: Dr Jason Gibson. Investigators: Prof Alistair Paterson, Prof John Carty, Ms Carly Lane. ($487,222)

Entangled Knowledges in the Robert Neill CollectionARC Linkage Project: LP200200239. Administering Organisation: Deakin University. Project leader: Dr Tiffany Shellam. Investigators: Prof Alistair Paterson, Dr Shino Konishi, Miss Shona Coyne, Dr Glenn Moore, Dr Alison Clark, Dr Ian Coates, Dr Ross Chadwick, Dr Andrew Kitchener. 

 



Previous positions

* Councillor of the National Trust (Western Australia)
* Head of School of Social Sciences
* Discipline Chair, Archaeology

Industrial relevance

I collaborate with various heritage stakeholders including communities, government, and industry. Recent collaborations have been with Ngarluma Aboriginal people, Murujuga Rangers, Mineng Noongar community, WA Museum, State Library, Art Gallery WA, British Museum, BHP Billiton Iron Ore, and Rio Tinto.

Teaching overview

I am currently on a research intensive fellowship, and as such am not teaching.Typically I teach:
* First year archaeology
* Archaeology Field Methods
* Archaeological Laboratory Methods
* Archaeology of Colonisation and Contact
* Historical Archaeology
* Making History

I supervise PhD and MA candidates, as well as honours students. I have several projects suitable for postgraduate research and am happy to discuss them with interested researchers.

Research

The focus of my research is the historical archaeology of colonial coastal contact and settlement in Australia’s Northwest and the Indian Ocean.

Keywords: Western Australia and Indian Ocean history, Aboriginal Australia, historical archaeology, Dutch VOC shipwrecks,
Colonialism and exploration, rock art, history of collecting in Western Australia

Languages

Danish
English

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 13 - Climate Action
  • SDG 14 - Life Below Water
  • SDG 15 - Life on Land
  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Research expertise keywords

  • Historical Archaeology
  • Australian Studies
  • Indian Ocean
  • Maritime Archaeology
  • Musuems
  • Historical archaeology
  • Historical rock art
  • Australia's North West
  • Culture contact, archaeology of
  • Maritime archaeology

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