Sarah Keiller

Current position

Senior Heritage Advisor, Acting Team Leader - Heritage

Where did you study?

Flinders University

How did you become interested in archaeology?

I loved studying history and science in high school and I wanted a career that ensured that I got to work outside. I really thought about all of this and came up with archaeology. The careers councillor had their work cut out trying to talk me into other options but once I landed on archaeology there was no changing my mind.

What archaeological projects are you working on at the moment?

I have projects in all states and territories as well as some that are under Commonwealth legislation. I am currently working on a project with the largest Cultural Heritage Management Plans (CHMPs) in Victoria.

Tell us about one of your most interesting archaeological discoveries.

We were using a helicopter to fly the team out to the survey area and I was in the second helicopter out. As we were coming into the gully where the first team had been dropped, I heard a team member say on the radio headset that they had found a wooden bowl. I watched them from the helicopter walk into the rockshelter and turn the bowl over as we were coming into land. Then we proceeded to find another wooden bowl in another rockshelter around the corner. This is a very important place that we had the privilege of recording with the Traditional Owners.

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

There are so many! Anytime that fieldwork delirium sets in with the team, maybe you have had too much sun / heat for the day and then you just feel like you are in a comedy routine.

I was recently reminded of a trip where we were recording a granite dome. I had sat down to figure out the size of a grinding patch but then when I went to get up my pants caught on the rock and I ripped a hole in my pants. Immediately like the Traditional Owners knew, they came over to chat and I was trying to hold the butt of my pants together. The Traditional Owners went back to the car. I asked a colleague to safety pin (lucky I had safety pins in my first aid kit) my pants back together. At the same time my other colleague had a big fly in her shirt and she took her shirt off (she was wearing a singlet underneath). I don’t think the Traditional Owners knew where to look as all of this was happening!

The main part here is that we are all laughing and having fun while we are doing our job.

What’s your favourite part of being an archaeologist?

Honestly my favourite part of the job is working with Traditional Owners and learning about culture. I love that we can tell a more holistic story about a place by understanding the archaeology but also talking to Traditional Owners to get an understanding of the plants, landscape, and anything that they choose to share. I think if it was not for the people part of this job I would not have continued with archaeology. Maybe I should study anthropology?