Women in Australian archaeology: challenges and achievements

This chapter outlines how interconnected networks of women have shaped the development of Australian archaeology from 1960 to the present. We have focused on those women who have pioneered particular research areas while simultaneously making outstanding contributions to the empowerment of Indigenous Australians. We introduce their significant achievements and consider the challenges they faced in their personal quests to contribute to the development of archaeology in Australia. We argue that these networks of women in Australian archaeology had two major impacts on the development of Australian archaeology. The first is an insistence on systematic archaeological surveys prior to development and the protection of cultural heritage sites by legislation, policy, and processes. The second is that efforts to decolonise archaeology in Australia were led by women whose work was embedded with deep and lived understandings of the impact of socio-politics on archaeological theory and practice. Throughout our analysis, we emphasise the power of a cohort of like-minded women.