Josephine Flood

Biography

Dr Josephine Flood was born in Yorkshire, England. She attended Cambridge University where she gained her BA. In 1963 she moved to Australia and became a lecturer in archaeology at the Australian National University, where she later gained her MA and PhD.In 1978, Dr Flood was appointed Senior Conservation Officer with the Australian Heritage Commission in Canberra, and in 1984 she became an Assistant Director as Head of the Aboriginal Environment Section. In 1991 she took early retirement to devote herself to research and writing. Dr Flood has travelled extensively. She joined two women’s mountaineering expeditions in the Himalayas, and has carried out much archaeological fieldwork in Australia, most recently in the Katherine region in the Northern Territory.She is the author of numerous articles and papers on Australian Aboriginal studies, and five books: Four Miles High (1966), The Moth Hunters: Aboriginal Prehistory of the Australian Alps (1980), Archaeology of the Dreamtime: The Story of Prehistoric Australia and its People (1983, new edition 1995), Moth Hunters of the Australian Capital Territory (1966) and Rock Art of the Dreamtime: Images of Ancient Australia (1997).Josephine was awarded Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for significant service to archaeology, and to the study of Indigenous culture.