Recent studies in Australian palaeoecology and zooarchaeology: a volume in honour of the late Su Solomon

Abstract

The collection of papers presented in this issue of Environmental Archaeology arose from the sessions ‘Australian Studies in Taphonomy and Archaeofaunas: A Session in Honour of the Late Su Solomon’ at the 2008 annual Australian Archaeological Association Conference held at Noosa, Queensland, 3 to 6 December; and ‘Palaeoecology and its Role in Archaeology: Current Research and Future Directions’ at the 2009 annual Australian Archaeological Association Conference, at Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, 10 to 13 December. The theme for the 2009 conference was ‘Old Guard, New Guard’, where participants were asked to consider the major directions for archaeology as we move into the new millennium. For this reason our session wanted to canvass the current research by Australians that integrated palaeoecological and archaeological approaches. The session drew case studies from within Australia and from a number of overseas study sites. A selection of these presentations and those from the 2008 session are brought together here. It is an apparent eclectic selection of papers, yet they all use palaeoecological approaches to enhance our understanding of the archaeological record, and provide a snapshot of the range of research endeavour’s being pursued by Australian-based investigators. Australian archaeology is a relatively young disci