Cirrus@Austlit

'Billy Griffiths, a non-Indigenous Australian historian, has written a comprehensive historical overview of the main characters involved in Australia’s modern-day archaeology and their excavations. Griffiths’ narrative style of writing allows his story to be read by the general population not just those in the scholarly world. Indeed, Griffiths has weaved, with overwhelming historical research data and evidence, a yarn that is accessible to all Australians. In the introduction, Griffiths clearly identifies his purpose for engaging in a field, archaeology, outside of his profession, history. Griffiths feels that undertaking an historical account of recent archaeology provides him the opportunity to belong to a land that his forebears conquered. He believes that Australia’s original inhabitants were discoverers, explorers and colonists, not unlike his ancestors. Griffiths succinctly explains the title, “Deep Time” and “Dreaming”, as a twin revolution and accommodating two intellectual traditions. Griffiths believes he is attempting to merge the relationship between Australia’s past and present, while at the same time acknowledging his limited understanding of Aboriginal cultural, legal and historical information. Griffiths hopes his story creates an international perspective conveying that Indigenous Australian history is dynamic, diverse and ancient.'  (Introduction)