Telling stories about the past – theory and method in Australian Archaeology

Abstract

In this article, we present a brief examination of the overall lack of concern with archaeological theory in Australian archaeology and consider the privileging of ‘doing’ archaeology, i.e. conducting fieldwork, collecting data and dates, over developing interpretation and deeper understanding. This article also introduces a small collection of papers that derive from the AusTAG session held at the 2016 Australian Archaeological Association conference in Terrigal, NSW, one of a handful of AusTAG sessions that have taken place in Australia since 2012. The papers featured in this section reflect a sense of growth and potential of theory and high-level interpretation in Australian archaeology. The refreshing aspect of this particular collection is the way these authors have been able to ground often quite complex theoretical ideas in the practices of archaeology. We look with anticipation towards the future of Australian archaeology, one which we hope continues to develop in interesting, innovative, and theoretically informed directions.