Heather Burke facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Heather Burke
FAHA
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| Born | 1966 (age 58–59) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Alma mater | University of New England |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Flinders University |
| Thesis | Investments of Meaning: An Archaeology of Style, Social Identity, Capitalism and Ideology in a Nineteenth Century Australian Town |
Heather Burke is an Australian historical archaeologist and a professor at Flinders University. She was born in 1966. As an archaeologist, she studies the past by looking at things people left behind.
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Early Life and Learning
Heather Burke went to Mount Cotton State School and Marymount College in Queensland. She studied archaeology at the University of New England. She earned her first degree in 1987 and later her PhD in 1997. Her PhD research looked at how building styles in the old Australian town of Armidale, New South Wales showed what people thought and believed between 1830 and 1930. She later published a book about this research.
Family and Fun
Heather Burke was born in Brisbane in 1966. She is the youngest of four children. She has a fun family tradition: every Christmas, they watch the Sharknado movies together in North Queensland.
What an Archaeologist Does
Heather Burke loved archaeology from a young age and decided to make it her career. After finishing her PhD, she worked as an archaeology consultant. This means she helped different groups understand and protect old sites. She also taught at the University of New England before joining Flinders University, where she is now a professor.
From 2011 to 2015, she helped edit a journal called Australian Archaeology. This journal shares new discoveries and ideas in Australian archaeology.
Heather Burke believes it's important for archaeology students to be ready for jobs outside of universities. She co-wrote a book called The Archaeologist's Field Handbook. This book helps students learn how to do archaeological work in the field. She and her co-author, Claire Smith, even won an award for their excellent teaching in 2004!
As an archaeologist, Heather Burke spends her time teaching students in labs and classrooms. She also helps them plan their own research projects. A big part of her job is working in the field across Australia. This means she searches for and records old objects and sites. She also digs at sites to uncover things from the past. Sometimes, she talks to people to learn their stories about why certain places are important today.
In 2022, Heather Burke appeared in an SBS documentary called "The Australian Wars". She shared her knowledge about the early conflicts in Australian history.
Exploring the Past: Research and Projects
Heather Burke's main research looks at how different cultures met and how colonialism affected Australia. She is a lead researcher on a project funded by the ARC. This project studies the "Archaeology of the Native Mounted Police." They are learning about what life was like for the Queensland NMP. They also look at memories of the NMP from both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.
She is also part of a team studying Indigenous food traditions in the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland. In 2021, she was chosen as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. This is a special honor for experts in humanities.
Heather Burke is involved in several exciting research projects:
- A project called "Slow" Digitisation, Community Heritage and the Objects of Martindale Hall". This project is finding new ways to save and share the history and objects from Martindale Hall in South Australia.
- Another project, "Fugitive Traces: Reconstructing Yulluna Experiences of the Frontier", works with Indigenous people, archaeologists, and historians. They are creating the first detailed history of Aboriginal experiences during the frontier period. They use stories from an important Aboriginal family connected to the Queensland Native Mounted Police.
- A third project, "Aboriginal Rock Art and Cultural Heritage Management in Cape York Peninsula", studies ancient rock art. This art helps us understand how Aboriginal Australians lived for generations. It also shows how they dealt with big environmental changes and the arrival of Europeans.
Books and Articles
Heather Burke has written many books and articles about archaeology. Some of her books include:
- The Archaeologist's Field Handbook (with M. Morrison and C. Smith)
- Meaning and Ideology in Historical Archaeology: Style, Social Identity, and Capitalism in an Australian Town
She has also written many articles for archaeology journals. These articles share new discoveries and research findings with other archaeologists.
See also
