An archaeological eye not only allows us to dream of deep time

Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient Australia by Billy Griffiths was Book of the Year at the 2019 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and won numerous other awards. I love this idea from the book of the power of the archaeological eye.

An archaeological eye not only allows us to dream of deep time, it adds a palpability to our understanding of the more recent past. It gives agency to those who exist on the margins of the documentary record and often destabilises established historical narratives. Over the past three generations, archaeologists and historians have worked together to illuminate the profound roles played by Indigenous individuals in the pastoral and whaling industries, on the colonial frontiers and in the world wars, on the Victorian goldfields and in the heart of early Sydney. These histories of cultural entanglement are just as wondrous as the global story told in the lowest layers at Madjedbebe. They link the deep past more immediately with the present, enlivening our understanding of the social, economic and spiritual worlds of the people who thrived on these shores at the moment of invasion, and who continue to shape Australian society today.
Billy Griffiths, Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient Australia

Acknowledgement: Photo by Arun Clarke on Unsplash.

Please share. Let’s get the past and present talking.