Arabic version: برنامج تجريبي في علم الآثار يجمع المالكين التقليديين والطلاب

According to ABC News, 11 traditional owners from across Australia are working with Flinders University archaeology students in a new five-day course at Ityamaiitpinna Yarta Glenthorne National Park in Adelaide’s southern suburbs.

The federally funded program, designed by the Australian Resources Sector, Flinders University and traditional owner groups, covers theoretical and practical skills in excavation, archaeological surveying and ground-imaging. It is intended to encourage more First Nations people to consider careers in archaeology while enabling students to learn from cultural knowledge holders.

Participants have uncovered colonial-era items at the former Glenthorne Farm site, including bottles, a medicine bottle, part of a glass pane and a window frame. The park contains colonial history as a former warhorse training ground, colonial house and research station.

Palyku-Jartayi Aboriginal Corporation member Aunty Lorna Corbett said Aboriginal people should be involved early in decisions concerning Country. Palyku and Noongar man Ashley Wedding-Corbett said he hoped the experience would help him undertake field work on Country where he lives.

Professor of Archaeological Science at Flinders University Ian Moffat said traditional owners had been teaching as much as learning through their cultural knowledge and perspectives on heritage management. Participants receive a certificate equivalent to one graduate-level archaeology topic, rather than a formal archaeology qualification. Funding has been secured to run the program for the next five years.