Presented by the Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology.

In this talk, Dr Paul Irish will revisit research undertaken in 2012 with a former colleague about the archaeological evidence of the continuing occupation of Sydney by Aboriginal people after 1788. Looking at these findings, and ongoing archaeological, archival and community research into Sydney’s historical Aboriginal past, Paul will consider how a history once obscured by ignorance, and often overlooked in the artificial divide between ‘historical’ and ‘Aboriginal’ archaeologies, can be made visible.

This 45 – 50 minute talk will be followed by a Q & A session.

About the speaker: Paul Irish is a historian and director of consultancy Coast History and Heritage. He started working about 25 years ago as an archaeological consultant specialising in Aboriginal heritage, before training as a historian. Since 2024 Paul has hung up his trowel to focus fully on working as an Aboriginal history consultant, working collaboratively with Aboriginal community members, particularly in the Sydney area. He is the author of the 2017 book Hidden In Plain View. The Aboriginal People of Coastal Sydney (winner of the 2018 NSW Premier’s History Award for Community and Regional History).

An online seminar, and part of the 2025 National Webinar Series. Find the series details here.

When: 4pm AWST / 5.30pm ACST / 6pm AEST / 8pm NZST, Tuesday 20 May 2025

Where: Online via Zoom

Registration: https://events.humanitix.com/where-s-the-evidence-the-archaeology-of-sydney-s-aboriginal-history

Image: The Circular Quay Government Boatshed: a significance place of Aboriginal history in the shadow of the Sydney Opera House (State Library of NSW, ON 4 Box 80 No 8 / a2825439)