Judy Birmingham facts for kids

Jean (Judy) Birmingham AM is a famous English historical archaeologist who has spent most of her career in Sydney, Australia. She is well known for helping to develop historical archaeology and cultural heritage management in Australia. In 2017, she received a special award called a Member of the Order of Australia for her important work in this field.

Judy Birmingham's Early Life and Studies

Judy Birmingham studied Classics at the University of St Andrews in 1953. Later, she studied archaeology at the UCL Institute of Archaeology and earned her Master's degree in 1959.

In 1961, a job opened at the University of Sydney for an expert in the Iron Age. Judy Birmingham was suggested for the position. She moved to Australia with her husband and began teaching. At that time, she focused on the Iron Age in Cyprus and Anatolia, which are areas in the Mediterranean and West Asia.

Discovering Australia's Past: Early Digs

Around 1966, Birmingham started looking for places near Sydney where her students could learn basic archaeological skills, like how to dig carefully. In 1967, she began leading excavations (digs) at a place called Irrawang Pottery. This was an old pottery factory owned by James King, located just north of Newcastle. This project is seen as one of the first examples of historical archaeology in Australia.

One of her former students, David Frankel (archaeologist), remembers that Judy Birmingham believed that "theory had to be matched by practice." This meant she thought students needed to do hands-on work, not just read about archaeology. This was different from how many other archaeologists thought at the time.

Birmingham also led digs at Wybalenna Island. Her work there helped us understand the place where George Augustus Robinson housed the displaced Aboriginal Tasmanians. It was important that several Aboriginal people took part in these digs, which was not common practice back then.

Starting a New Course: Historical Archaeology

In 1973, Judy Birmingham and historian Ian Jack suggested teaching a course in historical archaeology at the University of Sydney. Ian Jack explained that some older members of the archaeology department did not like the idea. However, the course was approved! It became the first historical archaeology course in Australia.

Birmingham, Jack, geographer Dennis Jeans, and historian Ken Cable taught the course. It included a lot of fieldwork, which gave students important practical training.

Helping Archaeology Grow: Professional Groups

Birmingham was very important in creating the Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology (ASHA). This group started in 1970 and grew because of her strong interest in historical archaeology. She helped edit the early newsletters, organized special publications, and planned conferences. She was the society's first secretary from 1970 to 1980, and later its president from 1980 to 1991.

Birmingham was also a founding member of Australia ICOMOS. She helped write the Burra Charter, which is a set of rules for managing heritage places. She was also an active member of the National Trust of Australia, even leading its Industrial Archaeology Committee from 1969 to 1985.

Awards and Special Recognitions

Because of her great work for ASHA, Judy Birmingham was made an Honorary Life Member of the group. ASHA also created an annual award in her honor, called the "Judy Birmingham Award for Best Historical Archaeology Consulting Report."

In 2001, the Australian Government gave Birmingham a Centenary Medal. This was for her "service to Australian society and the humanities in prehistory and archaeology." In 2017, she received a Member of the Order of Australia for her "significant service to higher education, particularly to historical archaeology, as an academic, and to professional associations." In the same year, she received a lifetime achievement award at the National Trust of Australia's Heritage Awards.

See also

• Industrial archaeology
• A Life in Archaeology: In Conversation with Judy Birmingham.