Lynley Wallis

lynley wallisRole in the Project

As one of the Chief Investigators in the project Lynley’s principal role involves managing and leading the project. She has responsibility for planning and coordinating archaeological fieldwork in the northwest Queensland study area, directing archaeological excavations, helping train Aboriginal field officers in archaeological techniques, carrying out oral history interviews, archival research, directing post-excavation analysis of materials, and preparing papers about the project outcomes.

Why She’s Excited About the Project

When Lynley first began working in northwest Queensland 15 years ago with members of the Woolgar Valley Aboriginal Corporation, she was told about a series of massacres that happened after a Sub-Inspector of the Native Mounted Police was killed by Aboriginal people. All of the people Lynley met and worked with were descended from a single survivor of that massacre. She was astounded at the impact of this single event on the lives of so many people yet confounded that so few people seemed to know about this history.

Her Background

Lynley has worked in Indigenous archaeology for the past 20 years, having undertaken archaeological research with Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley, southwest, Pilbara, goldfields and Great Victorian Desert regions of Western Australia, the Edward Pellew and Wellesley Groups of islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria, and most extensively in arid inland northwest Queensland. This work has typically been community driven, with Aboriginal parties being collaborators on the projects, and oriented towards research goals and outcomes determined to be important by the Aboriginal partners. Lynley has also worked on a variety of historical archaeology and palaeoenvironmental projects.

Qualifications

  • BSc Hons (Archaeology) University of Western Australia (1994)
  • PhD (Archaeology) The Australian National University (2001)

Memberships

  • Australian Archaeological Association
  • Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc.
  • Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

Theses

  • Wallis, L.A. 2001 Phytoliths, Late Quaternary Environment and Archaeology in Tropical Semi-arid Northwest Australia. Unpublished PhD thesis, Department of Archaeology and Natural History, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra.
  • Wallis, L.A. 1994 A Residue Analysis of Artefacts from Widgingarri Shelter 2, Western Kimberley, Western Australia. Unpublished BSc(Hons) thesis, Centre for Archaeology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley.

Select Publications

Select Unpublished Reports

  • Wallis, L.A., J. Huntley, A. Watchman and J. Ralph 2015 Painting the Pilbara: An Overview of the Painted Rock Art of the Hamersley Plateau. Unpublished report prepared for the Banjima Native Title Holders in relation to Project A693_01 for BHP Billiton Iron Ore.
  • Wallis, L.A. and J. Matthews 2015 Archaeological Excavations of Two Rockshelters (PIL_5968 and PIL_6001), Packsaddle Range, Pilbara. Unpublished report prepared for BHP Billiton Iron Ore.
  • Wallis, L.A. 2015 Findings from the Archaeological Investigation of Two Walled Rockshelters, Packsaddle Range, Pilbara. Unpublished report prepared for BHP Billiton Iron Ore.
  • Wallis, L.A. 2014 Wilpinjong Coal Mine Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Management Plan. Unpublished management plan prepared for Wilpinjong Coal Pty Ltd.
  • Wallis, L.A. 2013 Provision of Expert Advice for the Rewan 1 Work Area, Arcadia Valley, Central Queensland. Unpublished report prepared for the Karingbal Endorsed Parties and Santos Ltd
  • Lowe, K.M. and L.A. Wallis 2013 Ground Penetrating Radar Survey of Possible Aboriginal Burial Sites in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia. Unpublished report prepared for Nipapanha Community Inc.

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