University of Sydney

Honorary Research Associate, Archaeology

Other Affiliations: Macquarie University, Ancient History

About

My field of expertise can be defined as social history as evidenced by material culture – an archaeological approach which integrates other evidence types, especially numismatic and literary, to construct a holistic picture of past societies. My principal research focuses on cultural and political interactions between settler and indigenous populations in colonial contexts with special reference to the relationship between ethnicity, culture and power.

I attained a BA (Hons 1) in Classical Archaeology at the University of Sydney in 2004 and my PhD at Macquarie University in 2010. I have worked extensively as a field archaeologist in Australia, Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. I have been a tutor and casual lecturer at Macquarie University since 2009 and am currently a Research Officer at the Australian Centre for Ancient Numismatic Studies.

My doctoral dissertation 'Religion in Seleukid Syria: gods at the crossroads (301-64 BC)', took an integrative approach to the study of Hellenistic cult and cultic practices in western Asia employing a combination of archaeological, numismatic and historical evidence. The research used religion as a lens through which to explore the processes of acculturation and rejection within a colonial context. It discusses the state attitude towards, and manipulation of, both Hellenic and indigenous beliefs and places this within a framework developed out of a series of case studies exploring evidence for religion at a regional level. A digital copy is available on request.