Charles Dortch

Charles Eugene Dortch (born 1940)^[1] is a US born archaeologist, largely known for his life and works in Western Australia.

Biography

Charlie Dortch was born in Atlanta, Georgia, where he began his interest in the peoples of the first nations, and in history and archaeology. He completed a degree in history from the University of Southern Mississippi and furthered his studies in the United Kingdom at University College London. Dortch was invited to apply for a position as curator of the archaeological department of the Western Australian Museum by Ian Crawford, newly appointed to the museum's anthropology department.

After settling in Western Australia, he joined the palaeontologist Duncan Merrilees in beginning a study of the site at Devils Lair, an important fossil site located in Southwest Australia. Many of the papers to which he contributed concern this site and its evidence of early mammalian fauna.^{[2][1][3][4][5]}

In the early 1970s he was involved in research in the Kimberleys.^[6][7]

He was also interested in the altered coast, shoreline and lakes of the south west where he investigated submerged sites.^[8][1] A significant site was that of Lake Jasper, the first submerged Aboriginal site to be found in Australia.^[9][1]

Dortch completed his PhD at the University of Western Australia in 2001, and retired from the Western Australian Museum in 2003.^[10][11]

References

1. Dortch, J.; Balme, J.; Bowdler, S.; Randolph, P. (17 March 2016). "Charlie Dortch: History and archaeology across three continents". Australian Archaeology. 79 (1): 78–80. doi:10.1080/03122417.2014.11682021. S2CID 148415039.
2. Dortch, Charles (21 December 2005), "Recent Research in South Western Prehistory", Australian Archaeology, Australian Archaeological Association, ISSN 0312-2417
3. Jensen, Michael; Australian Information Service (1975), Mr Charles Dortch holding rock engravings discovered by Miss Jane Balme and Mrs. Jennifer Porter at the Devil's Lair Cave at Augusta, Western Australia in Perth, 11 June 1975, retrieved 19 April 2019
4. Dortch, C. E. (Charles E.); Western Australian Museum (1976), Devils lair : a search for ancient man in Western Australia, W.A. Museum Press, ISBN 978-0-7244-6198-1
5. Dortch, C. E. (Charles E.) (1979), Devil's lair : an example of prolonged cave use in south-western Australia, Routledge & Kegan Paul, retrieved 19 April 2019
6. Dortch, C. E. (Charles Eugene) (1971), Report [to A.I.A.S.] on archaeological work carried out in the Ord Reservoir area, east Kimberley, Perth, retrieved 19 April 2019
7. Dortch, C. E. (Charles Eugene), Archaeological work in the Ord Valley, east Kimberley, August-September 1972, Perth, retrieved 19 April 2019
8. Dortch, C. E. (Charles E.); Western Australian Museum. Anthropology Dept; Heritage Council of Western Australia (1997), Survey and assessment of south-west Western Australian submerged prehistoric land surfaces and associated Aboriginal sites. 29 December 1997 final report : archaeological surveys of submerged and shoreline Aboriginal sites in the south-west of Western Australia October 1995 - September 1997, retrieved 19 April 2019
9. Dortch, C. E. (Charles Eugene) (1997), Prehistory Down Under : archaeological investigations of submerged Aboriginal sites at Lake Jasper, Western Australia, retrieved 20 April 2019
10. Cohn, H. (August 2016). "Dortch, Charlie E. - Biographical entry - Encyclopedia of Australian Science". Encyclopedia of Australian Science. The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research.
11. Dortch, C. E. (Charles Eugene) (2000), Past Aboriginal hunter-gatherer economy and territorial organisation in coastal districts of Western Australia's lower south-west, retrieved 19 April 2019