Lynley started following the work of Ian Lilley, The University of Queensland, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Support Unit.
Lynley started following the work of Shawn Arnold.
Lynley is about to head off for a couple of weeks in the Pilbara, followed by a couple of weeks in northwest Queensland, followed by another couple of weeks in the Pilbara. And by the time she's back, the next issue of 'Australian Archaeology' should hav... more
Lynley Is just finishing up another week at Camooweal (northwest Queensland) with members of the Dugalunji Aboriginal Corporation recording ethnobotanical information on local plants and their traditional ... more
Visiting fellow, Geography, Planning and Environmental Management
Senior Research Fellow
About
My research interests lie primarily in archaeological science and the interactions between people and their environment. After undertaking an honours degree looking at residues on stone artefacts from the 30,000 yo site of Widgingarri in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, I was somewhat surprised by the quantity of plant residues preserved on artefacts that were typically seen as being 'hunting' tools - and thus began my interests in plants.
Feeling also that we should be able to use newly emerging techniques to better interrogate the archaeological materials we had already excavated, I became interested in phytoliths (silica based plant microfossils). Part of this interest developed from the fact that in northern Australia, where much of my field experience had hitherto been undertaken, we rarely find swamps or lakes from which pollen cores can be collected. What we do have though, in abundance, are archaeological rockshelter sites. And again, while the sediments in such shelters rarely preserve pollen, they generally do preserve phytoliths in abundance. Accordingly, my doctoral research looked at late Quaternary environmental change through phytolith analysis at the site of Carpenter's Gap 1 (excavated by Prof Sue O'Connor) in the Kimeberley.
Since that time I have led a longterm research project in northwest Queensland, working collaboratively with members of the Woolgar Valley Aboriginal Corporation on sites ranging from the contact period back to ca 35,000 years ago. I also spent 5 years based in Adelaide at Flinders University, where I undertook numerous community-driven projects with the Ngarrindjeri Heritage Committee.
As well as projects involving phytoliths, I am also utilising various sedimentological and geophysical techniques to improve our knowledge of how people utilised and adapted to the Australian environment, and have published in the area of cultural heritage management and legislation.
I left full-time employment in the academic sector in July 2011, and am now running my own business, Wallis Heritage Consulting.
