Has Anything Changed? The Current Role of Archaeo-geophysics in Australian Archaeological Research and Cultural Heritage Management

In 2012, Australian Archaeology published the paper entitled ‘Review of Geophysical Applications in Australian Archaeology’. The goals of the article were to examine the history of archaeo-geophysics in Australian archaeological research and cultural heritage management (CHM) and consider what factors may have prevented these methods from being utilised in many archaeological investigations to date. It concluded that considerations such as cost, time, instrument availability and lack of theoretical knowledge contributed to the limited uptake of these techniques. This paper also offered suggestions on how geophysical applications were used internationally and whether there was potential for their more extensive use in Australian archaeology. Ten years have passed since this review. Since then, there has been a major increase in the uptake of geophysics in Australian archaeology and CHM. This paper discusses these changes and improvements, and what new opportunities have emerged since 2012. This includes a significant increase in the availability of training in archaeo-geophysics in Australian universities, a deeper engagement with Indigenous communities and the increased availability of equipment.