Abridged Resume
Michael Jon Slack,
Phone
Fax
Mobile
E-mail
(02) 9662 7260
(02) 9662 7273
0413 807 229
Michael.Slack@scarp.com.au
Professional Background
Qualifications
2008 PhD Department of Archaeology, University of Sydney.
2002 M.A. School of Archaeology, Australian National University.
1998 B.A. (Hons) Department of History, University of New South Wales.
1992 B.A. University College (ADFA) of the University of New South Wales.
Professional Standing
Australian Archaeological Association, Member 1998 – present; Secretary 2004 – 2006
Society of American Archaeology, Member 2002 – present
Australasian Quaternary Association, Member 2004 – present
Professional experience
Ten years experience in NSW, Queensland and Western Australia as a consultant archaeologist,
research archaeologist, government administrator, historian.
Consulting
Lead archaeologist providing heritage survey and excavation services with a particular focus on large
area projects often in remote areas and predominantly for extractive industry clients (NSW and
Western Australia).
Provision of experts historical services for State and Commonwealth land claims
Research
Doctoral research funded by an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant to the University of
Sydney, the Australian Museum and the Queensland Environment Protection Agency.
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies funded projects 2003, 2004.
Supervision of archaeology honours students and projects
Government
Two years as the DECC archaeologist responsible for Metropolitan Sydney.
Archaeological Employment History
2006-8
Scarp Archaeology (co-director with Dr Richard Fullagar)
Archaeological consulting including excavation and survey across Australia
Recent Projects
Warkworth Sands Archaeological Project (Coal Australia, Hunter Valley)
Large scale excavations across a sandsheet supervising a team of 15 people, including 12 Aboriginal
team members.
Brockman 4 Project (Pilbara Iron/Rio Tinto, Pilbara Region of Western Australia).
Survey of over 100km2 and subsequent excavations with traditional owners at the proposed
Brockman 4 iron ore mine in Western Australia over the last 2 years.
This work entails organization and management of fieldwork with traditional owner groups in
remote locations. It also involves post fieldwork analysis of lithic and other cultural materials, and
production of final reports. The research focus of this consulting is to utilise an evolutionary
framework to local and regional prehistory.
Waanyi Native Title Report
Research and production of the experts historical report for the Waanyi Native Title Claim.
Compilation of report for inclusion in the Waanyi claim involving archival research, archaeological
data, and fieldwork collecting oral history with Waanyi traditional owners. Provision of
archaeological services to the Carpentaria Local Aboriginal Land Council.
2005-6
NSW Department of Environment and Conservation, Government Archaeologist for
the Sydney Region.
Responsible for assessment of all applications for cultural heritage permits in the Sydney region,
provision of specialist advice to DEC and other NSW State Government Departments
2004-5
Barrick Gold Pty Ltd., Lake Cowal Gold Project, NSW.
Project archaeologist working in collaboration with Dr. Colin Pardoe and Prof. Jim Allen. Extensive
archaeological surveys in collaboration with Wiradjuri Nation.
Refereed Publications
Slack, M.J., Fullagar, R., Border, A., Field, 2005 J. “Late Holocene occupation at Bunnengalla1,
northwest Queensland”, Australian Archaeology vol.60.
Slack, M.J., Fullagar, R.L.K., Field, J.H., and Border A. 2004 “New Pleistocene dates for backed
artefact technology in Australia”, Archaeology in Oceania, 39, 131-137.
Slack, M.J. 2002 “The ‘Plains of Promise’ revisited: A reassessment of the frontier in North West
Queensland”, Journal of Australian Studies, 75, 71-85.
Slack, M.J., 1999 “Frontier” in Cremin, A. (ed.), 1901 Australian Life at Federation, UNSW Press,
Sydney.
Selected Invited Seminars and Conference Papers
2006 Australian Archaeological Association, Beechworth, Victoria. Slack, M., Title: There aint no
easy road: settlement of inland tropical Australia.
2005 Department of Archaeology, University of Queensland, National Archaeology Week Invited
Public Lecture, Title: Early Human Occupation in northwest Queensland.
Department of Archaeology, La Trobe University, invited seminar. Title: Early Human Occupation in
northwest Queensland.
2004 Society for American Archaeology, Montreal, Canada, Title: Subsistence Strategies in Late
Pleistocene Northern Australia.
Australian Museum People and Place Centre Symposium, Title: The archaeology of Waanyi Country:
Riversleigh station.
Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas USA, Title: Colonisation
of Australia and the extinction debate.
2003 Australian Archaeological Association, Jindabyne, NSW, Slack, M., Fullagar, R., Field, J., and
A. Border, Title: Late Pleistocene settlement in northwest Queensland.
Selected Reports and Unpublished Theses (2002 – 2007)
2008 Scarp Archaeology, Preliminary Advice of an archaeological survey at Marandoo Mine, Pilbara,
Western Australia, (Stages 1 - 3), Report prepared for ATAL, Pilbara Iron and PKKP Representatives
2007 Scarp Archaeology, Preliminary Advice (x2) of archaeological surveys at Silvergrass, Pilbara,
Western Australia, (Stages 1 - 2), Report prepared for ATAL, Pilbara Iron and PKKP Representatives
2007 Scarp Archaeology, Preliminary Advice (x3) of archaeological survey at Brockman 4 Syncline,
PKKP survey areas, Pilbara, Western Australia, (Stages 1 - 3), Report prepared for ATAL, Pilbara Iron
and PKKP Representatives
2007 Scarp Archaeology, Preliminary Advice (x5) of archaeological surveys at Brockman 4 Syncline
Eastern Guruma survey areas, Pilbara, Western Australia, Stages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (February - June 2007),
Report prepared for ATAL, Pilbara Iron and the Eastern Guruma Representatives
2006 M. Slack, Historical Report: Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill National Park) Waanyi Claim Under the
Aboriginal Land Act (1991), Report prepared for the Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal
Corporation, PO Box 71, Burketown, QLD, 4830.
2004 Fullagar, R., Slack, M., Cultural assessment and cultural heritage management plan in
relation to the establishment of infrastructure at Lawn Hill (Creek) Resource Reserve, northwestern
Queensland, unpublished report to QPWS.
2004 Fullagar, R, Slack, M, Field, J., Border, A. Riversleigh Archaeological Project Field Report June
– July. Unpublished report to Waanyi People, QPWS, EPA.
2003 Fullagar, R, Slack, M, Field, J., Border, A., Riversleigh Archaeological Project Field Report May
– July, unpublished report to Waanyi People, QPWS, EPA.
Theses
2008 Between the Desert and the Gulf: Prehistory of Lawn Hill and Riversleigh, PhD thesis,
Department of Archaeology, University of Sydney.
2002 Aboriginal Responses to European Contact in Northwest Queensland: the historical
archaeology of the Waanyi people, MA thesis, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian
National University, Canberra.