What archaeological projects are you working on at the moment?
I am working on several projects that relate to my special interest in finding out how stone tools were used, and what kinds of food and other resources were exploited at different times and places in the past. I am based at the University of Sydney in projects with Judith Field, Michael Slack, Joe Dortch and others. Our projects intersect with others from the Australian Museum, La Trobe University and the Environment Protection Authority, Queensland. I am currently studying stone artefact assemblages excavated in:
· early agricultural and other sites in Papua New Guinea;
· a site called Cuddie Springs in northern NSW, where we found tools that were used to grind seeds and butcher large extinct marsupials and giant birds;
· northeastern Queensland rainforests, where grinding stones were used to process toxic fruits, nuts and tubers; and
· Riversleigh, in northwestern Queensland, where limestone sediments have preserved shell middens and other old Aboriginal sites.
I have also been studying seed grinding implements from early modern human sites in Africa. I believe that the history of plant food processing can tell us a lot about human evolution and adaptation to particular environments.

Tell us about one of your most interesting archaeological discoveries.
When Aboriginal people first took me to the extraordinary, engraved rocks in the Keep River area of the Northern Territory, I was stunned at the extent of the engravings: boulders the size of a Volkswagen covered in cupules; and engraved rock shelter walls, covered in layers of red and white paintings, prints and stencils. Initial research suggested that the engravings and buried artefacts at one site called Jinmium were the oldest in Australia, but subsequent work has rejected this claim. We still do not know the age of the oldest rock engravings.

Tell us about a funny/disastrous/amazing experience that you have had while doing archaeology.
There are too many funny stories, so here is disaster. I had been working at a Victoria Archaeological Society Summer School along the Murray River, and a group of us had driven to Lake Mungo for the day. It was a long way, and we were exhausted when we got back to Red Cliffs. Dan Witter wanted to visit Jim Hogg, so we all went in, but I retired early, and fell asleep in the back of the car. Iain Stuart wanted field notes or something from the car, so he quietly opened the door, silently got his things out, and gently leaned on the back door, careful not to wake me up. But my leg had slipped down and my big toe was neatly wedged in the door hinge. That woke me up. Iain is a big guy. The toe is deformed, and it still hurts! Archaeologists have been involved in too many accidents with cars.

What’s your favourite part of being an archaeologist?
I still enjoy the mix of work options: field trips, the laboratory, and writing it all down.

Follow up reading:
I edited a book on Australian stone tools which describes the techniques I helped develop:
Fullagar, R. (ed.) 1998. A Closer Look: Recent Studies of Australian Stone Tools. University of Sydney: Archaeological Computing Laboratory, School of Archaeology. SUAMS 6.

I also write a regular column, called ‘Being human’, for Nature Australia (published by the Australian Museum): the most recent is: Fullagar, R. 2004. Hunter, scavenger, grandmother, yam. Nature Australia 27(11):74-75.