Jane Balme | |
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| Education | University of Western Australia Australian National University |
| Occupation | Archaeologist |
| Employer | University of Western Australia |
| Title | Professor |
Jane Balme FAHA is a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Western Australia. She is an expert on early Indigenous groups and Australian archaeology.
Balme studied for an undergraduate degree in Anthropology at the University of Western Australia, graduating in 1979. [1] Balme worked on cave sites in south west Australia for the Western Australian Museum and became interested in archaeology. [2]
Balme completed her PhD at the Australian National University in 1990. [1]
Her research focuses on early Indigenous groups in Australia, gendered social organisation, and the discipline of archaeology. [1]
Balme has authored a wide range of journal articles, a textbook Archaeology in Practice: A Student Guide to Archaeological Analyses with Alistair Paterson, and the edited volumes Gendered Archaeology with Wendy Beck, and More Unconsidered Trifles : Papers to Celebrate the Career of Sandra Bowdler . [3] A review of Archaeology in Practice states that "It is rare that a book is written as a text book but also provides an important contribution to the discipline and this volume deserves this dual recognition." [4]
Balme has been strongly involved with the Australian Archaeological Association, serving as secretary and chair of the Australian National Committee for Archaeology Teaching and Learning. [1]
In November 2018 Balme was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. [5]
As of 2020 Balme, working alongside Sue O'Connor, is researching Rock art in Australia with a particular focus on carvings (also called dendroglyphs) on Boab trees in the Kimberley Region and in the Tanami Desert. [6] In this study the pair discuss the history of research into this trees as well as present a recent survey; in the Kimberley they worked closely with Nyigina and Mangala Traditional Owners. [7] Their results provide insight into the archaeological and anthropological significance of these carvings. [8]
Gija, also spelt Gidja and Kija, alternatively known as the Lungga, refers to Aboriginal Australians from the East Kimberley area of Western Australia, about 200 km south of Kununurra. In the late 19th century pastoralists were fiercely resisted by Gija people, many of whom now live around localities such as Halls Creek and Warmun.
The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami deserts in the region of the Pilbara, and on the east by the Northern Territory.
The Gwion Gwion rock paintings, Gwion figures, Kiro Kiro or Kujon are one of the two major regional traditions of rock art found in the north-west Kimberley region of Western Australia. Key traditional owners have published their own account of the meaning of the images. However the identity of the artists and the age of the art are contended within archaeology and amongst Australian rock art researchers. A 2020 study estimates that most of the anthropomorphic figures were created 12,000 years ago, based on analysis of painted-over wasps' nests. These aspects have been debated since the works were seen, and recorded, in 1891 by pastoralist Joseph Bradshaw, after whom they were named until recent decades. As the Kimberley is home to many traditional owners, the rock art is referred to and known by many different names in the local languages, the most common of which are Gwion Gwion or Kiro Kiro/Giro Giro. The art consists primarily of human figures ornamented with accessories such as bags, tassels and headdresses.
Adansonia gregorii, commonly known as the boab and also known by a number of other names, is a tree in the family Malvaceae, endemic to the northern regions of Western Australia and the Northern Territory of Australia.
The Fitzroy River, also known as Martuwarra, is located in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia. It has 20 tributaries and its catchment occupies an area of 93,829 square kilometres (36,228 sq mi), within the Canning Basin and the Timor Sea drainage division.
Australian Aboriginal artefacts include a variety of cultural artefacts used by Aboriginal Australians. Most Aboriginal artefacts were multi-purpose and could be used for a variety of different occupations. Spears, clubs, boomerangs and shields were used generally as weapons for hunting and in warfare. Watercraft technology artefacts in the form of dugout and bark canoes were used for transport and for fishing. Stone artefacts include cutting tools and grinding stones to hunt and make food. Coolamons and carriers such as dillybags, allowed Aboriginal peoples to carry water, food and cradle babies. Message sticks were used for communication, and ornamental artefacts for decorative and ceremonial purposes. Aboriginal children’s toys were used to both entertain and educate.
Arborglyphs, dendroglyphs, silvaglyphs, or modified cultural trees are carvings of shapes and symbols into the bark of living trees. Although most often referring to ancient cultural practices, the term also refers to modern tree-carving.
The Kimberley tropical savanna is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in northwestern Australia, covering portions of Western Australia and the Northern Territory south of the Timor Sea.
The Baobab Prison Tree, Derby is a 1,500-year-old, large hollow Adansonia gregorii (Baobab) tree 6 kilometres south of Derby, Western Australia with a girth of 14.7 metres. It had been reputed to have been used in the 1890s as a lockup for indigenous Australian prisoners on their way to Derby for sentencing, but there is no evidence that it was ever used to house prisoners.
Gija Jumulu is a boab tree which was transported 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi) from Telegraph Creek, near Warmun in the Kimberley region of Western Australia to Kings Park in Perth. This was the longest land journey of a similar sized tree in history.
Springvale or Springvale Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. The Springvale Aggregation was created when Springvale was purchased along with Alice Downs, Mabel Downs, and Texas Downs by a South African company in 2003. As of March 2022 the four properties are owned by Harvest Road, an agribusiness owned by Andrew Forrest.
Sandra Bowdler is an Australian archaeologist, emeritus professor of archaeology and former head of the Archaeology Department at the University of Western Australia.
The Wunambal (Unambal), also known as Wunambal Gaambera, Uunguu, and other names, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the northern Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Sue O'Connor is an Australian archaeologist and Distinguished Professor in the School of Culture, History & Language at the Australian National University. Her research focuses primarily on the evidence of Pleistocene settlement and early human migration in the Indo-Pacific region.
Wendy Beck is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of New England in archaeology and cultural heritage.
Wurrwurrwuy stone arrangements is a heritage-listed indigenous site at Yirrkala, Northern Territory, Australia. It is also known as Wurrwurrwuy. It was added to the Northern Territory Heritage Register on 15 August 2007 and to the Australian National Heritage List on 9 August 2013.
Sharon Sullivan is an Australian archaeologist, advocate of Indigenous Australian rights, and author of five books on heritage management. She is best known for her work in establishing protocols and programs for cultural heritage management in Australia.
Charles Eugene Dortch is a US born archaeologist, largely known for his life and works in Western Australia.
Rachel Wood is a specialist in the radiocarbon dating of Pleistocene archaeological sites. She is Director of the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU) at the University of Oxford.
Sally Kate May, usually cited as Sally K. May, is an Australian archaeologist and anthropologist. She is an Associate Professor of Archaeology and Museum Studies at the University of Adelaide, Australia. She is a specialist in Indigenous Australian rock art and Australian ethnographic museum collections.
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