Archaeology and World Heritage: Where are we at?
Abstract
The World Heritage system has been trying to balance the World Heritage List for some decades now, to include a wider variety of sites, including more archaeological sites. This seminar will discuss this effort, focussing on recent work by archaeologists to:
- Help a system historically focussed on architecture and monuments to understand archaeology better,
- To ensure that a geographically and chronologically comprehensive sample of archaeological sites is listed, and
- To improve the management of sites once they are listed.
Lastly, this seminar will consider how future efforts to improve the listing and management of archaeological sites might better grapple with the World Heritage system.
About the presenter
Professor Ian Lilley has worked in Australasian and Indo-Pacific archaeology and cultural heritage for 40 years. In addition to his UQ role in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Ian is the Willem Willems Chair in Archaeological Heritage Management in the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden (Netherlands) He currently does fieldwork across Australasia and the Indo-Pacific and leads major Australian and international projects on Indigenous issues and human rights in World Heritage management. He is Secretary-General of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management, serves on two IUCN Commissions and is an ICOMOS and IUCN World Heritage Assessor. He is Vice President of the Australian Academy of Humanities, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and a member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. He is Convenor of the International Heritage Group, Secretary-General of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, and Chair of the Society for American Archaeology’s International Government Affairs Committee. He has been Secretary of the World Archaeological Congress and President of the Australian Archaeological Association. His recent books include the Routledge Handbook on Archaeology and Globalization (2016), a heritage-management volume on Early Human Expansion and Innovation in the Pacific (ICOMOS 2010) and the university textbook Archaeology of Oceania: Australia and the Pacific Islands (Blackwell 2006).
About Archaeology Working Papers
The Working Papers in Archaeology seminar series provides a forum for dissemination of archaeological research and ideas amongst UQ archaeology students and staff. All students are invited to attend the series and postgraduate students, from honours upwards, are invited to present their research. The aim is to provide opportunities for students, staff and those from outside UQ, to present and discuss their work in an informal environment. It is hoped that anyone interested in current archaeological directions, both within and outside the School and University, will be able to attend and contribute to the series.