Alice Gorman

Alice Gorman (born 1964) is an Australian heritage consultant and lecturer who is best known for pioneering the field of space archaeology and Dr Space Junk blog. Based in the Department of Archaeology at Flinders University, she is an expert in Indigenous stone tool analysis, but better known for her research into the archaeology of orbital debris, terrestrial launch sites, and satellite tracking stations. Gorman teaches modern material culture studies, cultural heritage management, Australian stone tools, and archaeological laboratory methods, as well as supervising a number of Masters and PhD students.

Traditional archaeology

Gorman graduated from The University of Melbourne in 1986 with a BA (Hons) before working as an archaeological consultant in the Indigenous heritage management sector. She returned to study in the late 90s and obtained a PhD from The University of New England in 2001. Her doctoral thesis examined how archaeologists can identify tools used in body modification through wear and residue analysis. After graduating, she continued working as a heritage consultant before receiving a permanent academic position at Flinders University in 2005. Gorman continues to work in the Indigenous heritage management sector on short-term contracts.

Space archaeology

From an early age, Gorman wanted to be both an astrophysicist and an archaeologist. While she ended up pursuing a career in archaeology, she has reconciled the two by turning her research focus onto the archaeology of space exploration, or simply space archaeology (for the use of satellite imagery to examine archaeological sites and landscapes, see remote sensing). In 2003, she took part in the first conference session on space archaeology at the 5th World Archaeological Congress with John Campbell and Beth Laura O'Leary. Since the mid-00s, she has produced a number of publications on space archaeology and is credited for pioneering the concept of space as a cultural landscape and the application of cultural significance assessment to "space junk". She has also considered the contribution of Indigenous people to global space exploration and the archaeological signatures of this interaction. Gorman's space archaeology research includes the oldest satellite still in orbit, Vanguard 1, the Woomera and Kourou terrestrial launch sites, and the Orroral Valley NASA Tracking Station. In 2013, Gorman received recognition for her work on the archaeology of space when she was invited to present at TEDx Sydney.

Gorman is a member of Faculty of the International Space University, an assessor for the Australian Research Council, and a member of numerous space and archaeology organisations. She writes regularly for The Conversation, where she details much of her space archaeology research for a general audience. Her work has been included in the 2013 Science Online anthology and the Best Australian Science Writing 2013 collection.

Publications

• Gorman, A.C. In preparation Space Archaeology. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press
• Gorman, A.C. and Beth Laura O'Leary 2013 The archaeology of space exploration. In Paul Graves-Brown, Rodney Harrison and Angela Piccini (eds) The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Contemporary World. pp 409–424 Oxford: Oxford University Press
• Gorman, A.C. 2013 Space archaeology In Claire Smith (Editor in chief) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, SpringerReference
• Gorman, A.C. 2012 Space Archaeology. In Neal Silberman, ed. The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. USA: Oxford University Press, pp. 197–200.
• Burke, H.D., Gorman, A., Mayes, Ken and D. Renshaw 2011 The Heritage Uncertainty Principle: Excavating Air Raid Shelters from the Second World War. In Katsuyuki Okamura and Akira Matsuda, ed. New Perspectives in Global Public Archaeology, pp 139–154. New York, USA: Springer
• Gorman, A.C. 2011 The sky is falling: how Skylab became an Australian icon. Journal of Australian Studies, 35(4):529-546.
• Wallis, Lynley and A.C. Gorman 2010 A time for change? Indigenous heritage values and management practice in the Coorong and Lower Murray Lakes region, South Australia. Australian Aboriginal Studies 2010(1):57-73
• Gorman, A.C. 2009 The gravity of archaeology. Archaeologies: The Journal of the World Archaeological Congress 5(2):344-359
• Gorman, A.C. 2009 The archaeology of space exploration. In David Bell and Martin Parker (eds) Space Travel and Culture: From Apollo to Space Tourism, pp 129–142. Wiley-Blackwell
• Gorman, A.C. 2009 The cultural landscape of space. In Ann Darrin and Beth Laura O'Leary (eds) The Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage, p 331–342. CRC Press: Boca Raton
• Gorman, A.C. 2009 Heritage of Earth orbit: orbital debris – its mitigation and heritage. In Ann Darrin and Beth Laura O'Leary (eds) The Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage, pp 377–393. CRC Press: Boca Raton
• Gorman, A.C. 2009 Beyond the Space Race: the significance of space sites in a new global context. In Angela Piccini and Cornelius Holthorf (eds) Contemporary Archaeologies: Excavating Now, pp 161–180 Bern: Peter Lang
• Gorman, A.C. 2008 The primitive body and colonial administration: Henry Ling Roth's approach to body modification. In Iain Davidson and Russell McDougall (eds) The Roth Family: Anthropology and Colonial Administration pp 83–103 Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, CA
• Gorman, A.C. 2007 La terre et l'espace: rockets, prisons, protests and heritage in Australia and French Guiana. Archaeologies: Journal of the World Archaeological Congress 3(2):153-168
• Gorman, A.C. and Beth Laura O'Leary 2007 An ideological vacuum: the Cold War in space. In John Schofield and Wayne Cocroft (eds) A fearsome heritage: diverse legacies of the Cold War, pp 73–92 Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, California
• Gorman, A.C. 2005a The cultural landscape of interplanetary space. Journal of Social Archaeology 5(1):85-107
• Gorman, A.C. 2005b The archaeology of orbital space. In Australian Space Science Conference 2005, pp 338–357, RMIT University, Melbourne