Attenbrow, Valerie (Val) (1942 - )

Summary

Val Attenbrow trained as an archaeologist with a research focus on subsistence patterns, resource use and stone tool technology of the Holocene in south eastern Australia. Her first major project, which ran from 1979 to 1987, centred on the Upper Mangrove Creek on the New South Wales central coast. This was followed by the extensive fieldwork in the Port Jackson district, the first detailed systematic investigation of Aboriginal life in the Sydney region before European settlement. In this study she concentrated on differences in diet and material life between the various peoples who lived in the area. Attenbrow's early career was as a consultant archaeologist, and a cultural heritage officer with the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service. Since 1989 she has been Principal Research Scientist in the Anthropology Research Section of the Australian Museum. Attenbrow has been actively involved in professional organisations, including serving a term as President of the Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists. In 2004 she won the inaugural John Mulvaney Book Award from the Australian Archaeological Association for her book Sydney's Aboriginal past) (2002)

Details

Chronology

1976

Education - Bachelor of Arts (BA), University of Sydney

1984

Career Position - President, Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists

1987

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Sydney

1989 -

Career Position - Principal Research Scientist, Anthropology Research Section, Australian Museum

2003 -

Award - Life member, Australian Archaeology Association

2004

Award - Inaugural John Mulvaney Book Award (for Sydney's Aboriginal past), Australian Archaeological Association

2009 -

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA)

2019

Award - Rhys Jones Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Australian Archaeology, Australian Archaeology Association

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Attenbrow, Val, Sydney's Aboriginal past: investigating the archaeological and historical records (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2002), 225 pp. Details
• Attenbrow, Val, What's changing: population of land use patterns? The archaeology of Upper Mangrove Creek, Sydney Basin (Canberra: Pandanus Press, 2004), 380 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Attenbrow, V.; and Kahn, K., 'F. D. McCarthy his work and legacy at the Australian Museum' in Archaeology in the north: proceedings of the 1993 Australian Archaeological Association Conference, Sullivan, M., Brockwell, S. and Webb, A., eds (Darwin: North Australian Research Unit, Australian National University, 1994), pp. 5-16. Details
• Attenbrow, Val, 'Ethnographic and Archaeological Collections by FD McCarthy in the Australian Museum' in The Makers and Making of Indigenous Australian Museum Collections, Peterson, Nicolas, Allen, Lindy and Hamby, Louise, eds (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2008), pp. 472-507. Details
• Attenbrow, Val, 'Aboriginal Fishing in Port Jackson' in The Natural History of Sydney, Lunney, Daniel, Hutchings, Pat A and Hochuli, Dieter, eds (Mosman, N.S.W.: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, 2010), pp. 16-34. Details

Edited Books

• Specht, Jim; and Torrence, Robin eds, Changing perspectives in Australian archaeology (papers in honour of Val Attenbrow) (Sydney: Australian Museum, 2011), 174 pp. Details
• Specht, Jim; Attenbrow, Val; and Allen, Jim eds, From field to museum: studies from Melanesia in honour of Robin Torrence (Sydney: Australian Museum, 2021), 258 pp. https://doi.org/10.3853/j.1835-4211.34.2021.1756. Details

Journal Articles

• Attenbrow, V., 'The Aboriginal Prehistory and Archaeology of Royal National Park and Environs: a Review', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 134 (2012), B39-B64. Details