''The Artefact'' is a

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

published annually by the

Archaeological and Anthropological Society of Victoria The Archaeological and Anthropological Society of Victoria or AASV is an incorporated association formed in 1976 in Melbourne, Australia through the amalgamation of two earlier societies, the Anthropological Society of Victoria formed in 1934, an ...

. The

Archaeological Society of Victoria The Archaeological Society of Victoria was formed in 1964 from the efforts of University of Melbourne academic William (Bill) Culican in response to the enthusiastic response to his archaeology lectures run through the Centre for Adult Education, C ...

was founded in 1964 and printed its first newsletter in September 1965. When Newsletter Number 3 was published on 17 June 1966, it was the first to bear the name of ''The Artefact''. This was subtitled ''the official newsletter of the Archaeological Society of Victoria'' until 1975. From March 1976, renumbered Volume 1, Number 1, it was officially upgraded to a research journal specialising in the "...ethnohistory and archaeology (prehistoric, ethno- and historical) of the Pacific region, with the intention to include major papers, short research reports, and book reviews relating to discoveries, claims, hypotheses and publications in both Australian and world archaeology and anthropology". While it is a small publication from a volunteer- and amateur-run society, its reach has been extensive, having published some of the first evidence of the great antiquity of Aboriginal occupation in Australia with the Keilor excavation reports of Dr Sandor Gallus, and being cited by scholars around the world. As early as 1977, Wayne Orchiston noted "...That The Artefact is gaining acceptance as a professional research journal is manifest by its rapidly-expanding circulation - it now goes to all States of Australia and to 11 overseas countries; the exchange arrangements made with overseas institutions; and the orders coming in for back numbers and reprints". The journal is abstracted and indexed in the

Australian Public Affairs Information Service Informit is most well known as an online database that provides access to over 100 databases, some of which provide full-text sources. The online versions of the Australian Public Affairs Information Service (APAIS) subject index, and the Austra ...

, now provided via the Informit database, and is available in most state and academic libraries in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and many other countries.OCLC World Cat
/ref> It ia also indexed on the

Anthropological Literature Anthropological Literature (AL) is an online database of citations to journal articles and articles in edited volumes and symposia held by the Tozzer Library (previously the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology), the anthropology library a ...

and

Anthropological Index Online The Anthropological Index Online is an academic journal indexing service for anthropology. Overview The service indexes the journals received by The Anthropology Library at The British Museum (formerly at the Ethnography at the British Museum#M ...

databases.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Artefact, The Archaeology journals Biannual journals English-language journals Publications established in 1974 Historiography of Australia Academic journals published by learned and professional societies