Dr Anna Florin wins 2026 Max Crawford Medal for research on ancient food systems, Australian Academy of the Humanities, 6 August 2026

The Australian Academy of the Humanities has awarded the 2026 Max Crawford Medal to archaeobotanist Dr Anna Florin in recognition of her innovative research using plant macrofossils to generate new understandings about ancient food systems, landscape management practices, and human mobility.

“Food can tell us so much about ourselves. Preparing and sharing a meal is both a biological necessity, and a very social act, embedded in our cultural identity and relationships. Studying past food, in my case, past plant foods preserved as tiny pieces of charcoal in ancient fireplaces, we have an exciting opportunity to investigate this whole spectrum of past lived experiences,” says Dr Florin, a lecturer at the Australian National University.

Dr Florin’s research, in partnership with communities in Australia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, combines archaeological science with Indigenous Cultural and Ecological Knowledges to investigate the past.

“Through the analysis of ancient food scraps, we have been able to demonstrate complex food processing and cooking practices occurring with the first peopling of Australia, as well as landscape management practices,” says Dr Florin. “My research with Mirarr Traditional Owners and the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation at Madjedbebe rockshelter (Kakadu Region, NT) has shown long-term resilience in the face of changing climates, sea levels and vegetation and, more recently, British colonisation.”

The Max Crawford Medal is Australia’s most prestigious award for achievement by early career scholars in the humanities. Dr Florin’s research challenges the trope of the “Palaeolithic meat-eater” by showing early humans had the ability to use and process a wide range of plant foods, enabling the expansion of humans and our closest hominin cousins into a range of environments globally.

Academy President Professor Stephen Garton AM FAHA FASSA FRSN FRHistS congratulated Dr Florin on the honour.

“Dr Anna Florin’s exemplary research has implications for global archaeology, including the role of plant foods in early human migrations outside of Africa, ongoing cultural adaptations to climate change and new perspectives on plant and landscape management practices in “hunter-gatherer” and “horticultural” economies. Dr Florin’s scholarship demonstrates the practical value of humanities research, informing contemporary approaches to land management, agriculture and food systems, cultural heritage and tourism, and in highlighting the enduring value of Indigenous Knowledges.”