Old Guard New Guard - Australian Archaeological Association Annual Conference 2009

Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia

11th to 14th December 2009

The Annual AAA Conference for 2009 will be held over four days from Friday 11th to Monday 14th December 2009 at Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia. Prior to the conference, a one-day course in Archaeological Geophysics is scheduled for 10th December. AAA conference registration will open with welcome drinks and a BBQ on the evening of Thursday 10th. The conference dinner will be held at the National Wine Centre on Monday 14th. Post-conference tours are planned for Tuesday 15th December.

Adelaide has a world-renowned museum, the South Australian Museum, which has the largest Indigenous collections in Australia, and is located close to the wine regions of the Clare, Barossa, Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale, as well as the World Heritage-listed Naracoorte Caves.

Conference Theme: Old Guard, New Guard

The last decade has seen major changes in the environment of Australian archaeology. The mining boom has created new job markets, with new requirements for education and training in archaeology. In several states, new heritage legislation has been introduced, and more heritage Acts are currently under review. Australian archaeology and archaeologists have gained a wider global audience in the wake of controversies such as those over the Flores hominids and rock art management on the Burrup peninsula, and global issues such as climate change have permeated academic and public discourses about the past.  At the same time, academic baby boomers have been approaching retirement, leading to predictions of a shortfall of experienced people in the tertiary education sector, as well as a general change in the complexion of professional archaeology. In the 2009 AAA Conference "Old Guard, New Guard", we ask participants to consider what will be the major directions for archaeology as we head into the second decade of the 21st century. How will new generations of archaeologists build on - or deconstruct - the research and practice of the past 50 years?

Keynote Speaker The confirmed keynote speaker for the conference is Professor Geoff Bailey , University of York. Professor Bailey has conducted research on shell middens in Spain, Australia and Denmark, and is currently working on submerged landscapes on the European continental shelf. His research on coastal economies and human responses to long-term environmental change is especially relevant to current Australasian research.  His participation at the conference is being partially funded by the Society of Antiquaries of London and the South Australian Museum.