Jim Allen

Who is Jim Allen?

Professor Jim Allen is a prominent Australian archaeologist who has specialized in the archaeology of the South Pacific. In 1966 Jim Allen undertook the first professional excavation of a European site in Australia, the 1840s military settlement of Victoria, which was established at Port Essington, the northernmost part of the Northern Territory. He published extensively on the Lapita project, which aimed to trace expansion of Polynesian settlement through the distinctive pottery style.

He taught in the department of Prehistory at the Australian National University before becoming the foundation Chair of Archaeology at La Trobe University appointed to the Chair in 1985 and has recently held the position of Australian Research Council Senior Research Fellow at La Trobe. In the 1990s he played a prominent role in the debate over the forced repatriation of Aboriginal remains.