Jim Allen (archaeologist) facts for kids
Jim Allen is a famous Australian archaeologist. An archaeologist is like a history detective. They study human history by digging up old things. Jim Allen is an expert in the history of the South Pacific region.
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What Jim Allen Discovered
Jim Allen has made many important discoveries. He led the first professional dig at a European site in Australia. This was a military camp from the 1840s called Victoria. It was located at Port Essington in Australia's Northern Territory.
Tracing Ancient People
He also studied something called the Lapita culture. This was an ancient group of people. They were the ancestors of today's Polynesian people. Jim Allen helped trace how these people spread across the Pacific. He did this by studying their unique pottery. This pottery style helps us understand their journeys.
Important Discussions
In the 1990s, Jim Allen was part of a big discussion. This was about returning the ancient remains of Aboriginal people. This process is called repatriation. It means bringing back important cultural items or remains to their original communities.
Jim Allen's Career
Jim Allen has had a long and successful career. He helped start the Department of Archaeology at La Trobe University. He was a professor there from 1985 to 1993. Before that, he taught at the Australian National University.
Later Work and Recognition
After 1993, he became a special research fellow. This was with the Australian Research Council. He also continued his research at La Trobe University. In 2012, he received a special honor. He was chosen as a foreign associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences. This is a very important group of scientists.
New Discoveries About Australia
In 2018, Jim Allen was a Professor Emeritus. This means he was a retired professor, but still very respected. He helped write a paper that year. This paper showed new evidence. It suggested that humans arrived in Australia much earlier than people thought.
