Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Dr Chris Urwin conducts archaeological and museum-based research with Indigenous communities in Australia and the Pacific. His research focusses on Indigenous voyaging, cross-cultural encounters and exchanges, and how people build places through time. He is currently working on two major research projects:
- Chris is working with Yanyuwa Families and the li-Anthawirriyarra Sea Ranger Unit to understand the history of Makassan (Indonesian) voyaging to Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria, funded by an ARC Discovery Early Career Research Award (2025-2027).
- He is working with the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation and Museums Victoria to investigate poorly understood Aboriginal artefact collections from southeast Australia using archaeological techniques, ethnohistory and traditional cultural knowledge. In 2026-2030 he will lead this project with ARC Linkage funding "Uncovering Aboriginal culture and histories through artefact collections" (LP240200657).
In 2021-2022 he was Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) and in 2019 was Senior Curator for First Peoples archaeology at Museums Victoria (Melbourne Museum). Chris was awarded his PhD in 2019, for which he conducted collaborative ethnoarchaeological research with the people of Orokolo Bay (Papua New Guinea) to understand their ancestral sites. By combining oral traditional and archaeological evidence (e.g., precise radiocarbon chronologies), his research showed how the Papuan Gulf's vast coastal villages were constructed in the past 700 years and how they are remembered today.
His 2022 book Building and Remembering: An Archaeology of Place-Making on Papua New Guinea's South Coast was published by the University of Hawaiʻi Press with Australian Academy of the Humanities funding. It was awarded the 2023 John Mulvaney Book Award by the Australian Archaeological Association.
His research has been funded by the Australian Research Council, Smithsonian Institution, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE). Chris serves his discipline as Book Reviews Editor for Australian Archaeology (2024-) and Webmaster for the Australian Archaeological Association (2023-). He was the AAA Social Media Officer in 2018-2019.
He enjoys communicating archaeology and anthropology for a broad audience. A selection of his magazine articles and media interviews can be found here:
- Men traded wares – but women traded knowledge: what a new archaeological study tells us about PNG sea trade (The Conversation AU)
- Archaeology is Unravelling New Stories about Indigenous Seagoing Trade on Australia’s Doorstep (The Conversation AU)
- Archaeology: Western Science or Global Practice? (Current World Archaeology)
- Culture and Country (What Happens Next? podcast with Dr Susan Carland)
- Cultural heritage key to regional development in PNG and Australia (The Interpreter, Lowy Institute)
- Indigenous Cultures have Archaeology too (Sapiens.org, Wenner Gren Foundation)
- Indigenous Seagoing Trade (ABC Radio National, Counterpoint)
- Magic, Culture and Stalactites: How Aboriginal Perspectives are Transforming Archaeological Histories (The Conversation AU)
Research interests
Chris' research interests include:
- Place-making and social memory: How Indigenous communities build and remember ancestral places through time
- Indigenous voyaging & exchange in Australia's tropical north and New Guinea
- Museum collections of Pacific canoes & navigation technology
- the application of Bayesian chronological models in archaeology
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
External positions
Book Reviews Editor Australian Archaeology, Australian Archaeological Association Inc
Jan 2024 → …
Webmaster, Australian Archaeological Association Inc
May 2023 → …
Research Associate, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
10 May 2022 → …
Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Institution
14 Jan 2021 → 13 Jan 2022
Research Associate, Museums Board of Victoria (trading as Museums Victoria)
18 Feb 2020 → …
Research area keywords
- Social Memory
- Ethnoarchaeology
- Archaeology
- Radiocarbon dating
- Museum Collections
- Oral Traditions
- Indigenous Archaeology
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Asian voyagers and First Nations people in Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria
Urwin, C. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI))
ARC - Australian Research Council
1/01/25 → 31/12/27
Project: Research
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ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage Cadetship
Urwin, C. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)) & Russell AM, L. (Supervisor)
Project: Research
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Papuan Gulf knowledge repatriation
Urwin, C. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI))
1/04/23 → 30/11/23
Project: Research
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Caution Bay pre-Lapita–Lapita–post-Lapita archaeological database and shell reference collections
McNiven, I. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Ulm, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), David, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Leavesley, M. G. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Mate, G. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Urwin, C. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Petchey, F. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Rowe, C. (Associate Investigator (AI)) & Lambridges, A. (Associate Investigator (AI))
1/07/21 → 1/07/23
Project: Research
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Applying high-resolution chronological modelling to historicise the recent archaeological past (past 500 years): Jiwarrjiwarra 1, Marra Country, Northern Territory
Ash, J. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Urwin, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Hua, Q. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Brady, L. (Chief Investigator (CI))
19/02/21 → 31/07/21
Project: Research
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Agency amongst the entrepôts: negotiating exchange associations between Motu hiri and Mailu seafaring exchange networks at Hood Bay on Papua New Guinea’s south coast
Skelly, R., Urwin, C., Petchey, F., Leavesley, M. & Beni, T., Apr 2025, In: Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology. 20, 2, p. 371-398 28 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Citations (Scopus) -
Difficult temporalities: Indigenous and Western archaeological ways of knowing the past in Oceania
Urwin, C. & Russell, L. W., 2025, Deep History: Country and Sovereignty. McGrath, A. & Huggins, J. (eds.). Sydney NSW Australia: NewSouth Publishing, p. 90-102 13 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
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Equity in publication is paramount: Editorial
Ross, A., Litster, M., Monks, C., Urwin, C. & Rogers, A., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Australian Archaeology. 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › Other › peer-review
Open Access -
Uncovering hidden dynamics of past kinship and exchange relations on Papua New Guinea’s south coast (650–300 cal BP) through scanning electron microscopy automated mineralogy analyses of pottery sherds
Skelly, R., Etschmann, B., Brugger, J., Urwin, C., Petchey, F. & Beni, T., Jun 2025, In: Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. 32, 2, 28 p., 41.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Archaeological evidence of an ethnographically documented Australian Aboriginal ritual dated to the last ice age
David, B., Mullett, R., Wright, N., Stephenson, B., Ash, J., Fresløv, J., Delannoy, J. J., McDowell, M. C., Mialanes, J., Petchey, F., Arnold, L. J., Rogers, A. J., Crouch, J., Green, H., Urwin, C., Matheson, C. D. & Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation, Aug 2024, In: Nature Human Behaviour. 8, 8, p. 1481-1492 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access6 Citations (Scopus)
Prizes
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Australia-PNG Emerging Leaders Dialogue (2019), Lowy Institute
Urwin, C. (Recipient), 5 Nov 2019
Prize: Other distinction
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John Mulvaney Book Award, Australian Archaeological Association
Urwin, C. (Recipient), Dec 2023
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellowship, Smithsonian Institution
Urwin, C. (Recipient), 11 Mar 2020
Prize: Competitive Fellowships
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Postgraduate Publication Award, Monash University (Arts)
Urwin, C. (Recipient), Jan 2019
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Postgraduate Publication Prize, Monash University (Arts)
Urwin, C. (Recipient), 19 Oct 2020
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Australian Archaeological Association Conference 2024
Urwin, C. (Session chair)
3 Dec 2024Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to conference
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Australian National University Centre for Archaeological Research Seminar Series
Urwin, C. (Invited speaker)
2 May 2024Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to conference
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Australian Archaeological Association Conference 2024
Urwin, C. (Session chair)
3 Dec 2024Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to conference
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Collecting at the Crossroads: Exploring Frontiers, Encounters and Cultures through Museums, Art, and Archives
Urwin, C. (Invited speaker)
10 May 2022Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to conference
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National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution) all Science Meeting
Urwin, C. (Invited speaker)
2 Feb 2022Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to conference
Press/Media
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Men traded wares – but women traded knowledge: what a new archaeological study tells us about PNG sea trade
Skelly, R., Etschmann, B., Urwin, C., Brugger, J. & Beni, T.
30/06/25
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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ABC Radio (Darwin) Interview: What archaeology can tell us about when Makassan voyagers first visited the Top End
26/06/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Profile/Interview
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ABC Radio (Darwin) Interview: Using archaeology to research the history of interactions between Yanyuwa people and Makassan voyagers
6/06/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Profile/Interview
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Documenting Smithsonian Institution canoe collections from the Pacific Islands
15/02/23
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Blogs, Podcasts and Social Media › Blogs
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What Happens Next? Hosted by Dr Susan Carland: Culture and Country
25/01/21
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Blogs, Podcasts and Social Media › Podcasts