Australian Archaeology
Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au
Full Citation Details:
Orchiston, D.W. & Johnson, C.S. 1978. Annual report of the
Archaeological Society of Victoria, 1977. 'Australian Archaeology',
no.8, 43-48.
References
M a r t i n , W i l l i a m A. 1971 S o r t i n g . Computing Surveys 3 ( 4 ) :147-74 Maurer, W.D. and T.G. Lewis 1975 Hash T a b l e Methods. Computing
Sumeys 7(1) : 5-19
l 31 3 A Edgecliff Road WooZZahra NSW 2025 2 OZive S t r e e t
Paddington NSW 2021 Department of Archaeo Zogy University o f Sydney
A N N U A L R E P O R T
O F
T H E A R C H A E O L O G I C A L SOCIETY O F VICTORIA, 1 9 7 7 D. Wayne Orchiston and C.S. JohnsonOn b e h a l f of t h e Committee, we a r e p l e a s e d t o p r e s e n t t h e 1 3 t h Annual R e p o r t o f t h e A r c h a e o l o g i c a l S o c i e t y o f V i c t o r i a .
Commi t t e e
The c o m p o s i t i o n o f t h e Committee underwent s u b s t a n t i a l change d u r i n g t h e y e a r . I n March t h e e l e c t e d A s s i s t a n t S e c r e t a r y , M i s s C y n t h i a Grove, was t r a n s f e r r e d t o Sydney, and t h e Committee s e l e c t e d M i s s B e v e r l e y Webster t o t a k e h e r p l a c e . However, Beverley had t o s t e p down i n J u l y , owing t o evening l e c t u r e commitments, and s h e was r e p l a c e d by M i s s Dianne Saunders. Miss Joan Henderson r e s i g n e d from t h e p o s i t i o n of S y l l a b u s O r g a n i s e r i n A p r i l , and E r i c W i l l a c y was e l e c t e d t o r e p l a c e h e r , and Gavin Low a c t e d a s T r e a s u r e r d u r i n g Frank Hanham's prolonged o v e r s e a s t r i p . F i n a l l y , a s a r e s u l t of Gary P r e s l a n d ' s d e p a r t u r e f o r t h e I n s t i t u t e of Archaeology i n London, t h e Committee g a i n e d t h e s e r v i c e s of D r Nairne E l d e r . Those who remained o n Committee throughout t h e y e a r were D r s Douglas Berryman, P e t e r C o u t t s , and Ron Vanderwal; David Davies, and M i s s Brenda Wallace (as O r d i n a r y Members) ; Ron M i l l e r (Vice-President) ; A l l a n
Waite (Immediate P a s t P r e s i d e n t ) ; C h r i s Johnson ( S e c r e t a r y ) ; and Wayne O r c h i s t o n ( P r e s i d e n t ) .
Comni t t e e Meetings
During t h e p a s t 1 2 months e l e v e n Committee Meetings were h e l d , and f o l l o w i n g i s a l i s t of a t t e n d a n c e f i g u r e s :
D r Berryman D r C o u t t s M r Davies
*Dr E l d e r
%iss Grove
%r Hanham
..kMiss Henderson M r Johnson jmr Low
M r M i l l e r D r O r c h i s t o n
%r P r e s l a n d
*Miss Saunders D r Vanderwal M r Waite M i s s Wallace
%iss Webster
%r W i l l a c y
For each p e r s o n t h e f i g u r e s i n d i c a t e t h e number of m e e t i n g s a t t e n d e d a g a i n s t t h e number o f meetings h e l d , d u r i n g t h e p e r i o d of o f f i c e . Those who s e r v e d on Committee f o r a p a r t of t h e y e a r o n l y a r e i n d i c a t e d by a s t e r i s k s
.
During t h e y e a r 9 8 new members were e l e c t e d t o t h e S o c i e t y . T h e r e were 2 d e a t h s , 7 r e s i g n a t i o n s , and 1 4 p e o p l e were s t r u c k o f f t h e membership l i s t f o r non-payment o f f e e s . Two o f t h o s e who r e s i g n e d took o u t a n n u a l s u b s c r i p t i o n s t o The Artefact. A s of 27 October 1977, t h e f i n a n c i a l membership of t h e S o c i e t y s t o o d a t 215, r e p r e s e n t i n g a v e r y p l e a s i n g n e t t i n c r e a s e f o r t h e y e a r o f 75.
T h i s was mainly achieved a s a r e s u l t o f t h e F o s s i l Man l e c t u r e s e r i e s ; and p u b l i c i t y a t t h e U n i v e r s i t i e s , t h e C o u n c i l o f Adult E d u c a t i o n , and through t h e V i c t o r i a A r c h a e o l o g i c a l Survey.
Monthly Meetings
Nine Ordinary monthly meetings of t h e S o c i e t y were h e l d , i n t h e S i s a l k r a f t T h e a t r e a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f Melbourne. I n March D r N i c h o l a s P e t e r s o n (Department of P r e h i s t o r y and Anthropology, a t t h e ANU) addressed a j o i n t meeting of o u r S o c i e t y and t h e A n t h r o p o l o g i c a l S o c i e t y o f V i c t o r i a on ' A u s t r a l i a n E t h n o g r a p h i c S t u d i e s and t h e i r r e l e v a n c e t o Archaeology'. Gordon G a r n e r of t h e A u s t r a l i a n I n s t i t u t e of Archaeology spoke o n Lachish a t t h e A p r i l m e e t i n g , and i n J u n e Mrs J u l i e C a r t e r and Gary P r e s l a n d , l o c a l p o s t - g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t s i n P r e h i s t o r y , spoke on t h e i r r e s e a r c h programs i n d i f f e r e n t a r e a s of V i c t o r i a n archaeology. The June meeting was a l s o a d d r e s s e d by two s p e a k e r s , Drs Angus Martin (Zoology Department, U n i v e r s i t y of Melbourne) and Andrew Gleadow (Geology Department a t t h e same
i n s t i t u t i o n ) , on r e c e n t hominid f i n d s from, and f i s s i o n t r a c k d a t i n g of t h e sediments n e a r Lake Turkana i n E a s t A f r i c a . La Trobe
U n i v e r s i t y ' s new l e c t u r e r i n P r e h i s t o r y , D r P a u l O s s a , d i s c u s s e d h i s S o u t h American P a l a e o i n d i a n r e s e a r c h a t t h e J u l y m e e t i n g , a n d i n August J o n P a t r i c k (Department o f Computer S c i e n c e a t Monash U n i v e r s i t y ) s p o k e o n h i s computer a n a l y s e s o f B r i t i s h m e g a l i t h i c s i t e s . The September m e e t i n g t o o k p l a c e d u r i n g t h e 4 8 t h ANZAAS C o n g r e s s , which was h e l d i n Melbourne, and one of t h e o v e r s e a s v i s i t o r s , P r o f e s s o r Teuku J a c o b from Gadjah Mada U n i v e r s i t y i n I n d o n e s i a , l e c t u r e d o n h i s new ' S o l o an' f i n d s from Ngandong. The s p e a k e r a t t h e O c t o b e r m e e t i n g , D r Ted T r e l o a r from t h e Department o f P h y s i c a l C h e m i s t r y a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y of Melbourne, spoke a b o u t
t h e r m o l u m i n e s c e n c e d a t i n g , and a t t h e f i n a l m e e t i n g of t h e y e a r ( i n November) G r e e k a n d Roman s i t e s i n L i b y a were d i s c u s s e d by D r Frank S e a r from t h e Department of C l a s s i c s a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y of A d e l a i d e . A l t h o u g h a t t e n d a n c e s ranged from 40 t o 1 0 0 , between 50 and 70 w e r e u s u a l l y p r e s e n t a t m e e t i n g s . We a r e g r a t e f u l t o a l l t h e s p e a k e r s f o r t h e i r e f f o r t s , t o t h e S y l l a b u s O r g a n i s e r s f o r p l a n n i n g s o v a r i e d a n d s u c c e s s f u l a program, and t o a l l t h o s e who s o w i l l i n g l y h e l p e d w i t h t h e s u p e r a r r a n g e m e n t s .
Lecture s e r i e s
I n March, t h e S o c i e t y began a 12-week l e c t u r e s e r i e s o n ' ~ u m a n E v o l u t i o n i n A f r i c a and A s i a
-
An A r c h a e o l o g i c a l and B i o l o g i c a l p e r s p e c t i v e ' o n Tuesday e v e n i n g s i n t h e Zoology L e c t u r e T h e a t r e a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f Melbourne. F i f t y - n i n e p e o p l e e n r o l l e d f o r t h i s c o u r s e , and D r s Angus M a r t i n and Wayne O r c h i s t o n s h a r e d t h e l e c t u r i n g . W e a r e g r a t e f u l t o Angus f o r making t h e Zoology L e c t u r e T h e a t r ea v a i l a b l e f o r t h i s c o u r s e .
Research seminars ; pub1 i c l e c t u r e
D u r i n g 1977 t h e S o c i e t y o r g a n i s e d two a l l - d a y Research Seminars.
The f i r s t , o n 'The M t W i l l i a m Axe ~ u a r r i e s ' , took p l a c e on 1 May, and was a t t e n d e d by 75 members and f r i e n d s . F o l l o w i n g l e c t u r e s o n t h e
g e o l o g i c a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n s o f s t o n e a r t e f a c t s , t r a d e n e t w o r k s i n a r c h a e o l o g y , a n d t h e M t W i l l i a m s i t e , by Gus Ferguson (Geology D e p a r t m e n t , U n i v e r s i t y o f Melbourne)
,
Ron Vanderwal ( P r e h i s t o r y a t La T r o b e ) a n d Ron M i l l e r (Head o f t h e E d u c a t i o n Department a t t h e N a t i o n a l Museum of V i c t o r i a ) r e s p e c t i v e l y , we journeyed t o L a n c e f i e l d O v a l by b u s , and a f t e r l u n c h proceeded t o t h e s i t e i t s e l f .The s e c o n d S e m i n a r f o c u s s e d o n 'Man and Megafauna i n A u s t r a l i a '
,
a n d was h e l d o n 2 O c t o b e r . A f t e r a n i n t r o d u c t o r y l e c t u r e b y Dan W i t t e r o f t h e V i c t o r i a A r c h a e o l o g i c a l Survey, Edmund G i l l ( D i v i s i o n o f A p p l i e d Geomechanics, CSIRO) spoke o n Q u a t e r n a r y e n v i r o n m e n t a l c h a n g e s i n V i c t o r i a and Bass S t r a i t . J o s e p h Leach, a n h o n o u r s s t u d e n t i n Geology a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f Melbourne, t h e n d i s c u s s e d h i s r e c e n t i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f megafauna from Lake Corangamite, and Lindy Cochrane a n d P e t e r C o u t t s ( b o t h from t h e V i c t o r i a A r c h a e o l o g i c a l S u r v e y )
summarised Holocene man-environment r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n Western V i c t o r i a . F i n a l l y , Wayne O r c h i s t o n ended t h e Seminar w i t h a r e v i e w o f t h e e x t a n t a r c h a e o l o g i c a l e v i d e n c e f o r a n a s s o c i a t i o n between man and megafauna i n A u s t r a l i a . T h a t b o t h Seminars were a s u c c e s s is l a r g e l y a t r i b u t e
t o t h e s p e a k e r s ' e f f o r t s , and t o t h o s e who manned t h e door o f t h e Zoology B u i l d i n g , and a s s i s t e d w i t h t h e morning and a f t e r n o o n t e a s . I n a d d i t i o n t o thanking them, we a r e g r a t e f u l t o D r M a r t i n f o r making t h e Zoology L e c t u r e T h e a t r e a v a i l a b l e o n b o t h o c c a s i o n s .
The S o c i e t y was a l s o involved i n a P u b l i c L e c t u r e , i n a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h t h e C l a s s i c a l A s s o c i a t i o n o f V i c t o r i a , and t h e Department of C l a s s i c a l S t u d i e s and t h e Off i c e f o r C o n t i n u i n g E d u c a t i o n a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y of Melbourne. On 2 4 March, a b o u t 150 p e o p l e were p r e s e n t i n t h e Laby T h e a t r e t o h e a r P e t e r C a l l a g h a n from t h e B r i t i s h S c h o o l a t Athens l e c t u r e on h i s 1976 e x c a v a t i o n s a t Knossos.
V i s i t s
The f i r s t o f f i c i a l S o c i e t y f u n c t i o n o f 1977 was a v i s i t by 40 members and f r i e n d s t o t h e Chinese E x h i b i t i o n a t t h e N a t i o n a l G a l l e r y on 8 February. T h i s was followed, on 26 J u n e , by a n i n t e r e s t i n g a f t e r n o o n v i s i t by a p a r t y of 21 t o Ancient Times House, through t h e c o u r t e s y of Gordon Garner, D i r e c t o r o f t h e A u s t r a l i a n I n s t i t u t e o f Archaeology. F i n a l l y , on 23 J u l y , D r I a n McPhee from t h e Department o f F i n e A r t s a t La Trobe U n i v e r s i t y l e d a group o f 25 on a n
e n t e r t a i n i n g and e n l i g h t e n i n g guided t o u r o f t h e C l a s s i c a l H a l l i n t h e N a t i o n a l G a l l e r y .
We a r e g r a t e f u l t o Gordon and I a n f o r g i v i n g up t h e i r t i m e , and r e g r e t t h a t t h e s e v i s i t s were n o t b e t t e r s u p p o r t e d . They were e s p e c i a l l y scheduled s o a s t o p r o v i d e a b a l a n c e f o r t h e p r e h i s t o r y o r i e n t a t i o n o f t h e monthly l e c t u r e s y l l a b u s .
Annual Dinner
The Annual Dinner was h e l d a t U n i v e r s i t y House, U n i v e r s i t y of Melbourne, on F r i d a y 1 2 August, and was a t t e n d e d by 32 members and f r i e n d s . D e s p i t e t h e s m a l l a t t e n d a n c e and a b s e n c e o f a s p e a k e r , a n e n j o y a b l e time was had by a l l , thanks l a r g e l y t o t h e o r g a n i s a t i o n a l e f f o r t s of Brenda Wallace, Doug Berryman, and C h r i s Johnson.
Pub1 i cations
Over t h e p a s t 1 2 months t h e S e c r e t a r y produced f i v e BuZZetins, which c o n t a i n e d n o t i c e s o f meetings; summaries of l e c t u r e s ( c o u r t e s y of Brenda Wallace) ; announcements; l i s t s of new members, and L i b r a r y a c q u i s i t i o n s .
The E d i t o r i a l Subcommittee, comprising Mark J u r i s i c h , Ron M i l l e r , Ron Vanderwal and Wayne O r c h i s t o n , b r o u g h t o u t f o u r i s s u e s of The Artefact i n t h e 12 months s i n c e t h e l a s t AGM. These were: Volume 1, Number 4 (December 1976); and Volume 2, ,Numbers 1, 2 and 3. Between
them, t h e s e f o u r numbers t o t a l j u s t o v e r 200 p a g e s , and c o n t a i n 9 r e s e a r c h p a p e r s and 4 book reviews. Local b i a s i s a p p a r e n t i n t h a t s i x of t h e a r t i c l e s r e l a t e d i r e c t l y t o V i c t o r i a . T h a t The Artefact i s g a i n i n g a c c e p t a n c e a s a pro£ e s s i o n a l r e s e a r c h j o u r n a l i s m a n i f e s t by i t s rapidly-expanding c i r c u l a t i o n
-
i t now goes t o a l l S t a t e s of A u s t r a l i a and t o 11 o v e r s e a s c o u n t r i e s ; t h e exchange a r r a n g e m e n t s madew i t h o v e r s e a s i n s t i t u t i o n s ; and t h e o r d e r s coming i n f o r back numbers and r e p r i n t s . The E d i t o r i a l Subcommittee is g r a t e f u l t o J o a n Ogden and Lyn Ramsay f o r t h e i r e f f i c i e n t t y p i n g of t h e g r i d s h e e t s , and t o Andlon R e p r o d u c t i o n s who f a c e t h e arduous t a s k o f p r i n t i n g a small-budge t p u b l i c a t i o n , u s u a l l y on s h o r t n o t i c e
.
L i b r a r y
Over t h e p a s t 1 2 months t h e l i b r a r y h a s grown r a p i d l y , w i t h t h e d o n a t i o n and p u r c h a s e of many new i t e m s . A number of j o u r n a l s and monographs were a l s o o b t a i n e d i n exchange f o r The Artefact.
T r a n s p o r t o f t h e L i b r a r y t o t h e monthly meetings became a major problem d u r i n g t h e y e a r and was only overcome when we were g r a n t e d p e r m i s s i o n t o house t h e c o l l e c t i o n i n t h e k i t c h e n a d j a c e n t t o t h e S i s a l k r a f t T h e a t r e . The L i b r a r i a n , Andrew P e r r y , devoted a g r e a t d e a l o f t i m e t o r e l o c a t i n g and r e o r g a n i z i n g t h e e n t i r e c o l l e c t i o n ; c a t a l o g u i n g new a c c e s s i o n s ; p r o v i d i n g books, j o u r n a l s and r e p r i n t S
w i t h l o a n c a r d s ; and s t r e a m l i n i n g t h e borrowing procedure. The workload e v e n t u a l l y became such t h a t we had t o a p p o i n t an A s s i s t a n t L i b r a r i a n , and B i l l Thomas k i n d l y took o n t h i s t a s k .
The f r u i t s o f t h i s i n d u s t r i o u s a c t i v i t y a r e s e e n i n t h e g r e a t p o p u l a r i t y o f t h e L i b r a r y , which c o n t i n u e s t o be one of t h e b e s t s u p p o r t e d f a c i l i t i e s o f f e r e d by t h e S o c i e t y . W e would l i k e t o c o n g r a t u l a t e Andrew and B i l l f o r t h e m a g n i f i c e n t job t h e y have done d u r i n g t h e y e a r , and t h a n k a l l t h o s e who donated m a t e r i a l t o t h e L i b r a r y .
Deaths
During t h e y e a r we were a d v i s e d o f t h e d e a t h of two members of t h e S o c i e t y , M r s E. Henderson of South Y a r r a , and M r Hamilton Ferguson o f Essendon. M r Ferguson h a s been a major f o r c e i n t h e S o c i e t y f o r many y e a r s , and o n l y r e s i g n e d from t h e o f f i c e of Honorary S e c r e t a r y a t t h e 1976 AGM, a t which t i m e he was g r a n t e d Honorary Membership. With h i s p a s s i n g we have l o s t a v a l u e d f r i e n d and c o l l e a g u e .
We s h o u l d a l s o mention t h e d e a t h o f P r o f e s s o r H.K. Hunt, who was made a n Honorary Member i n 1975. S h o r t l y b e f o r e h i s d e a t h i n A p r i l of t h i s y e a r P r o f e s s o r Hunt r e s i g n e d from t h e S o c i e t y , owing t o ill h e a l t h .
W e o f f e r o u r s i n c e r e s t condolences t o t h e family and f r i e n d s o f t h e s e deceased former members. An O b i t u a r y f o r Hamilton Ferguson a p p e a r s i n the September i s s u e o f The Artefact.
The ' K e i l o r
Collection'
I n J a n u a r y o f t h i s y e a r D r Alexander G a l l u s confirmed h i s g i f t t o t h e S o c i e t y of t h e c o l l e c t i o n of a r t e f a c t s and o t h e r m a t e r i a l e x c a v a t e d a t a number o f s i t e s a l o n g t h e banks of Dry Creek n e a r K e i l o r between 1966 and 1972.
S y s t e m a t i c c a t a l o g u i n g of t h i s s o - c a l l e d ' K e i l o r C o l l e c t i o n ' was c o n t i n u e d by Doreen and B i l l C r o s s , Frank Hanham, and t h e l a t e Hamilton Ferguson d u r i n g t h e y e a r , and a s p e c t s o f t h e c o l l e c t i o n were r e s e a r c h e d by D r G a l l u s , David D a v i e s , J o n P a t r i c k and Wayne O r c h i s t o n . Midway through t h e y e a r t h e e n t i r e c o l l e c t i o n was moved
from i t s home i n t h e o l d K e i l o r S h i r e H a l l (which was s c h e d u l e d f o r r e n o v a t i o n ) t o a new s t o r e a t t h e Melbourne and M e t r o p o l i t a n , Board of Works' Brimbank Park n e a r K e i l o r . W e a r e g r a t e f u l t o t h o s e members who gave up t h e i r time t o a s s i s t w i t h t h e move, b u t p a r t i c u l a r l y David Davies and E r i c W i l l a c y , who o r g a n i z e d t h e p r o j e c t .
Research by members
A s i g n o f t h e growing s t a t u s o f t h e S o c i e t y is t h e i n c r e a s i n g p r o p o r t i o n of members involved i n a c t i v e r e s e a r c h , e i t h e r i n d e p e n d e n t l y , o r e l s e through t h e V i c t o r i a A r c h a e o l o g i c a l Survey, t h e N a t i o n a l
Museum o f V i c t o r i a , o r t h e U n i v e r s i t i e s . By t h e end o f O c t o b e r 1977, n e a r l y 15% o f t h e membership was working on p u b l i s h a b l e p r o j e c t s i n v a r i o u s branches of a r c h a e o l o g y o r c l o s e l y a l l i e d d i s c i p l i n e s . T h i s i s a p l e a s i n g a s p e c t of t h e S o c i e t y ' S development.
Acknowledgements
T h i s has been a y e a r of s u b s t a n t i a l growth and c o n s o l i d a t i o n , a s a r e s u l t o f t h e combined e f f o r t s of many i n d i v i d u a l s . I n
a d d i t i o n t o p e o p l e a l r e a d y mentioned i n d i v i d u a l l y , we would l i k e t o thank a l l t h o s e who c o n t r i b u t e d i n any way towards t h e s u c c e s s f u l f u n c t i o n i n g of t h e S o c i e t y i n 1977. S p e c i a l t h a n k s must go t o t h o s e who s e r v e d on subcommittees d u r i n g t h e y e a r ; t o t h e V i c t o r i a
A r c h a e o l o g i c a l Survey and i t s D i r e c t o r , P e t e r C o u t t s
