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Dr
Judith Field
What
is your current position?
I am a Research Fellow/Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Sydney.
Where
did you study archaeology?
I have a BA from the University of Sydney and a BA Hons and PhD from the University of New South Wales.
How
did you become interested in archaeology?
I came to archaeology late after years of working in vision, and musculoskeletal physiology and botanical research. While an undergraduate at university studying botany and prehistory I became interested in human/environmental interactions that led me to start working in this area. My previous background in science, specifically electron microscopy as well as extensive laboratory research experience have given me a very broad and solid base to work from.
What
archaeological projects are you working on at the moment?
I am working on a number of sites across Australia and also on a number of methodological studies in archaeology. For example, at Cuddie Springs near Brewarrina, colleagues and I are trying to determine if Aboriginal people were hunting and/or butchering megafauna. We are also analysing blood and plant residues, associated with use from stone tools to help in our work. I am also involved in a very interesting study of the use of toxic plants in the rainforests of North Queensland. One of our main aims here is to determine when toxic plants may have first been used as food. I am also working in the Riversleigh region of North–West Queensland well known for its diversity of megafaunal remains and we are looking for evidence of humans and megafauna in a different environmental setting to Cuddie Springs.
Tell
us about one of your most interesting archaeological discoveries.
It was very exciting to find Aboriginal stone tools beside the jaw of a giant extinct marsupial, the Diprotodon (at Cuddie Springs). This suggests that Aboriginal people and megafauna coexisted and megafauna were probably exploited for food although, for some, this remains controversial.
Tell
us about a funny/disastrous/amazing experience that you have had
while doing archaeology.
Nothing quite matches the look on the face of a male colleague when working in a remote field location and ‘choosing’ to wear red lipstick to protect his lips from windburn because we forgot the Vaseline, when unexpected visitors (locals) turned up. The decision not to remove the lipstick resulted in significant distances being kept by the visitors from us, (we were choking with suppressed laughter …).
The amazing experiences are mostly related to Cuddie Springs, where every field season turns up more megafauna and new and interesting species that have rarely been seen before.
Disasters … rain causing inundation of the site in the middle of an excavation.
What’s
your favourite part of being an archaeologist?
Discovering new things. Also fieldwork, living and working in places you would never normally see or visit, working with indigenous communities, developing new friendships and sharing great experiences; providing opportunities for learning and personal growth of students, researchers and indigenous colleagues.
Follow
up reading:
Field, J. & Fullagar, R. 2001 Archaeology and Australian Megafauna. Science, 294: 5540.
Wroe, S., Field, J. & Fullagar, R. 2002 Lost Giants. Nature Australia 27 (5): 54-61.
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