Humanities

Community Archaeology Field School

When
6-13th July 2025
6-13th July 2026

Mode of delivery
In-person

Duration
7 weeks

Location
Barunga Aboriginal Community, Northern Territory, Australia

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Who should attend?

Anyone from any discipline interested in learning about working with Aboriginal people, but especially people studying or working in archaeology, anthropology and Indigenous studies.

Tuition fees and field costs

Domestic students: A$2,650 (inc GST) (approx. US $1,737)
International students: A$4,612 (inc GST) (approx. US $3,024)
Field school costs: A$1,320 (inc GST) (approx. US $866)

This fee includes food, camping fees, 4WD hire and a contribution towards payments to Indigenous teachers.

What you will study

This topic will teach students how to undertake ethical and culturally sensitive research in remote Aboriginal communities.

Under the guidance of Barunga community members and Aboriginal Elders, this field school provides a unique opportunity for learning and personal growth while sharing daily life with Aboriginal Australians.

The themes for this topic are:

Rock art and cultural landscapes
Heritage, health and wellbeing
The sophistication of Aboriginal social systems
Aboriginal people in the modern world

Further information.

Assessment

Successful completion of the Community Archaeology Field School comprises of a blog (15%), field journal (15%), field test (10%), community report (40%) and teamwork (20%)

Learning outcomes

The major aim of the topic is:

To develop skills used in Indigenous fieldwork, such as inter-cultural communication, the ethics and protocols of working with Indigenous peoples, rock art recording, site recording, and oral histories.

Credit

Successful completion of this course is equivalent to a Flinders University 4.5 unit topic.

All participants will receive a Certificate of Achievement which records this, which participants should be able to use to negotiate credit with another institution if required.

Program facilitator

Professor Claire Smith is an eminent archaeologist. She was President of the World Archaeologist for ten years (2003-2014), and is the Editor of the Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology.

Professor Smith has worked on Jawoyn lands in the Northern Territory annually since 1990 and with the Ngadjuri people since 1998.