AAIA Podcast “Left Outta Field” Episode 2

When the global Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020 Australia closed its international borders. Domestically, many state borders also closed. These closures had a dramatic impact on archaeological research.

Archaeological fieldwork had to be suspended for many projects, both at home and abroad. For the past two years, archaeologists have been challenged by these trying global circumstances.

This podcast explores the ways in which the Covid-19 pandemic and other factors have disrupted archaeological fieldwork. We speak with archaeologists about how they have managed these disruptions, what they have been doing while they have been kept out of the field, how these disruptions have affected their research and teaching, and how they plan to move forward from here.

Episode Two: Dr Susan Lupack and the Perachora Peninsula Archaeological Project

In our second episode, Dr Susan Lupack (Macquarie University) shares her experiences of leading one of the few Australian-run archaeological projects that was able to conduct fieldwork in 2020, shortly before the world went into lockdown.

Dr Lupack’s planned sabbatical in Vienna was subsequently thrown into chaos as the pandemic went into full swing.

Episode One: Dr James Flexner and the Virtual Field School

In our first episode we speak with Dr James Flexner (University of Sydney) about the impacts of Covid lockdowns on his archaeological field school, and what it was like to try and conduct field training remotely via Zoom. Dr Flexner also has some fantastic advice for archaeology students who may be feeling left behind in their skills training.