Professor Peter Veth (BA '81, BA '83, PhD '90) is a Professor of Archaeology, an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and a world-renowned archaeologist who has made significant contributions to the study of Australia’s ancient history and heritage.

Professor Veth Surveying in Ningaloo rock shelter.

Having worked on various projects across the country, as diverse as the Murujuga rock art estate, the Bounty shipwreck, and projects along the Ningaloo coast, Professor Veth has also been involved in setting up and leading academic programs in archaeology and marine studies at different universities. 

His journey as an archaeologist began at UWA, where he discovered his passion for the discipline and learned from some of the best in the field.

With diverse early interests in biology, music and literature, Professor Veth studied at UWA in the late 1970s. After some time studying, he switched to anthropology and archaeology, and was grateful to have the opportunity to learn from experts such as Professorss Catherine and Ronald Berndt, Professor Sylvia Hallam, Dr Charlie Dortch and Professor Sandra Bowdler.

“I was inspired by the large and enthusiastic student body that attended the lectures at the Octagon Theatre,” Professor Veth said. 

“UWA’s strong program integrated archaeology with other social sciences and humanities disciplines, which gave me a broader perspective and a deeper understanding of the field.”

Currently Professor Veth is embarking on a five-year project, leading a team of researchers, to explore the ancient history of Australia's arid lands.

The project is funded by the Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship scheme, which supports outstanding researchers to pursue ground-breaking research projects. 

Professor Veth is one of only 16 Laureate Fellows awarded in 2022, and his project is one of the largest archaeological projects of its kind ever undertaken in the deserts of Australia.

The project involves working with ten different Aboriginal native title corporations and World Heritage Management boards from Ningaloo through the Pilbara all the way out to the Canning stock route, aiming to answer some of the most fundamental questions about the human occupation and adaptation of these vast and diverse landscapes.

One of the main goals of the project is to reveal the age of desert occupation in Australia, which is of global significance. 

“We believe that we can find evidence of human presence in these regions dating back to 50,000 or 60,000 years ago, which would be some of the earliest desert adaptations by modern people in the world,” Professor Veth said.

“This would shed new light on how people survived and thrived in these harsh environments, and how they interacted with each other and with the natural resources.”

Another aspect of the project is to investigate the long distance trade and exchange networks that connected the coast to the interior. 

The team has found traces of items such as large marine shells from the coast that were traded over 1,000 kilometres inland, as well as evidence of seed grinding technologies that started very early in some parts of the arid zone.

“We see people trading things like large Baler shells from the coast right into the middle of the Western desert over 1,000 kilometres inland,” Professor Veth said.

“And these people have song lines and stories and knowledge of areas that are many hundreds of kilometres away from where they live. 

“These findings suggest that people had sophisticated economic and technological systems, as well as artistic expressions, that spanned vast distances.”

The project also aims to document and celebrate significant sites and places profiling the cultural continuity and diversity of Aboriginal people across these vast north-west deserts. It also aims to provide the content and tools for better site protection in these increasingly accessed regions.    

If you are interested in learning more about Professor Veth’s work, you can visit his UWA research repository webpage here. 

Also, see here his recent public lecture for National Archaeology Week on Desert People.