Michelle Langley

Name

Michelle Langley

Current position

Senior Research Fellow

Director of Griffith Experimental Archaeology Research (GEAR) Lab

Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University.

Where did you study?

Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and Master of Philosophy (MPhil) at The University of Queensland

Doctor of Philosophy (Dphil/PhD) at the Institute of Archaeology, the University of Oxford

How did you become interested in archaeology?

I have always been interested in archaeology! I wanted to be an archaeologist since I was just 5 years of age and have no memory of ever not wanting to be one!

What archaeological projects are you working on at the moment?

Currently I am working on a range of projects focused on exploring the use of hard animal materials such as bone, teeth, antler, ivory, and shell in creating various tools and ornaments by communities around the globe over the past 100,000 years.

I am also very interested in looking for traces of children in our deep past -- in particular, I am developing methods for identifying children's materials culture and spaces within the archaeological record.

Tell us about one of your most interesting archaeological discoveries.

There are too many to choose just one! I have had the privilege of studying many of the oldest pieces of personal ornamentation (beads, pendants, etc.) found in our region -- all of these artefacts are beautiful and it's amazing to think about who made and wore them.

Tell us about a funny / disastrous / amazing experience that you have had while doing archaeology.

Probably the most amazing experience I have had so far was the opportunity to enter a famous Upper Palaeolithic painted cave known as Tuc d'Audoubert in France. This cave houses some spectacular art work dating back some 20,000 years -- as well as the footprints of the people who made them. Being in that space and seeing these traces was liking going into a time machine.

What’s your favourite part of being an archaeologist?

I love learning new things about past peoples and how human evolved -- and I get to do this almost every day. I also get the opportunity to travel to many different places to see interesting archaeological sites and meet with a lot of different people.

Follow up reading.

https://experts.griffith.edu.au/8914-michelle-langley