Beyond stone: experiencing the shared and exploring the contested narratives of archaeology on Taungurung Country, Victoria, Australia

Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century archaeological studies of stone artefacts in Australia were part of colonial pursuits that categorized Aboriginal people as ‘stone-age’. This paper examines the history of archaeology in Australia to expose and expel such negative portrayals and focuses on changing narratives which centre on Indigenous communities working with researchers to revisit archaeological collections with new approaches. Such work began 40 years ago when Isabel McBryde published research on greenstone axes in World Archaeology. The publication alerted a global audience to the past greenstone axe exchange systems of Victoria’s Traditional Owners. Here, we share a story of re-connection driven by collaborative research in which the community have re-discovered McBryde’s archaeological work and re-visited colonial museum collections. We also contextualize our work alongside current debates over Indigenous cultural heritage in Australia.