Derek John Mulvaney (26 October 1925 – 21 September 2016), known as John Mulvaney and D. J. Mulvaney, was an Australian

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

. He was the first qualified archaeologist to focus his work on Australia.

Life

Mulvaney was born in

Yarram The township of Yarram (formerly Yarram Yarram) is in Victoria, Australia, in the Shire of Wellington, located in the southeast of Gippsland. At the , the population of the town was . The town is the regional centre of a prosperous farming distri ...

, Victoria, on 26 October 1925. He began his academic career at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

in Roman history, writing an MA thesis on ''State and Society in Britain at the time of Roman conquest''. In consciously preparing himself to begin the field of Australian archaeology, he entered

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

as an undergraduate, studying British, Irish, German and Danish prehistoric archaeology. He obtained his PhD from Cambridge in 1970. His first excavation in Australia was at Fromm's Landing (Tungawa) on the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, from 1956 to 1960. During his academic career, he co-authored and/or edited 17 books. He was for many years a Commissioner of the

Australian Heritage Commission The Australian Heritage Commission (AHC), was the Australian federal government authority established in 1975 by the ''Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975'' as the first body to manage natural and cultural heritage in Australia until its de ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australia ...

in 1969, the year of its foundation, serving on its Council from 1972 to 1974 and again, this time as Honorary Secretary, from 1989 to 1996. Mulvaney died in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

at the age of 90 on 21 September 2016.

Legacy

Known as the "father of

Australian archaeology Australian archaeology is a large sub-field in the discipline of archaeology. Archaeology in Australia takes four main forms: Aboriginal archaeology (the archaeology of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia before and after ...

", Mulvaney was the "first university-trained archaeologist to make Australia his field of study". In March 2019 the

launched the John Mulvaney Fellowship for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

early career researchers working in the humanities. The John Mulvaney Book Award was established by the

Australian Archaeological Association The Australian Archaeological Association (AAA) is an archaeological organisation in Australia. Membership is open to anyone interested in furthering archaeology in Australia. Sometimes referred to by the nickname ''Triple A'', the association w ...

in 2004 in honour of Mulvaney, "to acknowledge the significant contribution of individual or coauthored publications to Australian archaeology, either as general knowledge or as specialist publications". In 2018, ''Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient Australia'' by Billy Griffiths (which describes some of Mulvaney's work and applauds the way he " uiltbridges between the disciplines of history and archaeology") won the award, and in 2019,

Alice Gorman Alice Gorman (born 1964) FSA is an Australian archaeologist, heritage consultant, and lecturer, who is best known for pioneering work in the field of space archaeology and her Space Age Archaeology blog. Based at Flinders University, she is an ...

's ''Dr Space Junk vs the Universe: Archaeology and the Future'' won the award.

Awards

* Fellow of the

, 1969 * Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG), 1982 * Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AO), 1991 *

Grahame Clark Medal The Grahame Clark Medal is awarded by the British Academy every two years "for academic achievement involving recent contributions to the study of prehistoric archaeology". It was endowed in 1992 by Sir Grahame Clark, an eminent prehistorian and a ...

of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

, 1999 * Centenary Medal, 2001 * Rhys Jones Medal, 2004

Works

* * *

Life

Legacy

Awards

Works

References

Further reading