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Dr Rebecca Repper is a research associate working with archaeological and cultural heritage collections at the University of Western Australia. She has previously worked with the Aerial Archaeology in Jordan project, the Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East, Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa, and Aerial Archaeology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia projects.

Congratulations on the recent publication of your fascinating book,聽Reframing the 鈥淒esert Frontier鈥�! How did this project begin?

Thank you. This project was born out of a discussion with my co-editor Mike Bishop while we worked together on the Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA) project at the University of Oxford. David Kennedy, who was one of the co-founders of that project with the book鈥檚 other co-editor, Bob Bewley, had just announced to the team that he was starting to step back and move towards retirement. Mike and I immediately thought that the legacy of his career should be acknowledged in some way, and Mike suggested we organise a festschrift.

Reframing the 鈥淒esert Frontier鈥� honours the work of archaeologist and professor David Kennedy. Can you tell us a bit about how David Kennedy鈥檚 work influenced your own work in archaeology and academia?

How much time and space do you have? David has been a wonderful influence and support to my career since I was an undergraduate in Classics and Ancient History at UWA. The shortened version is while I was an undergrad, David was the Director of the Roman Archaeology Group of Perth, which offered a travel scholarship to undergraduate students who wished to undertake fieldwork in Roman archaeology. I was awarded the scholarship and spent a month excavating a Roman Republican period fort on the island of Menorca, Spain. This gave me a taste for working with material culture and I really haven鈥檛 swayed from that path since. After completing my Masters in Museum Studies and Collection Management, I did intend to find a career in the GLAM sector, but David employed me as a Research Assistant on the Aerial Archaeology in Jordan project and I started managing the Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East. This gave me the most amazing exposure to the many wonderful people working in the field in Jordan, experience in fieldwork planning, research and publication, and also managing and research using collections 鈥� especially photograph collections which has become a particular interest of mine. Opportunities to work with the EAMENA project in Oxford and then the Aerial Archaeology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (AAKSA) project followed. The skills I have acquired through these experiences, and the many friends and colleagues, are really thanks to the opportunities and influence of David. While my PhD research and current roles have taken me away from Western Asia, the archaeology and heritage of that region will always be incredibly dear to me thanks to David, and I hope to return, someway, somehow.

With contributions from archaeology experts around the world, this book brings together a wide range of insights. What were some of the challenges and rewards of coordinating a project of this scope?

This project was not for the faint of heart, and it was possibly a bit ambitious to attempt it while also completing a PhD! One of the greatest rewards was to have such an overwhelming response to the call for papers and then having the pleasure of reading these original contributions for the first time and finding the threads that related them to each other and to the career of David Kennedy. The challenges were mostly in editing 鈥� to find a cohesive voice for the volume that also respected the individual voices of each of the contributions, and also to find avenues for publication that would be an appropriate forum for the body of work (thanks, Adapa Monographs!). Also, transliteration/translation of Arabic placenames is not for the faint of heart, especially where there are layers of historical, modern, and common placenames (some of which people seem particularly attached to). My advice to anyone attempting to do something similar is to work with good people (hats off to my co-editors Bob Bewley and Mike Bishop) and have a firm idea of where you are wanting to publish and the style guide before you start. Also useful is a bit of a budget 鈥� publishing in colour was a priority for us to honour the visual legacy of David鈥檚 career of aerial archaeology, but finding financial support for that was particularly difficult (we extend our thanks to the PAKEP project at the University of 宅男导航 for helping us).

How do you see the study of frontier regions evolving in the coming years?

The idea of frontier can be an amazing tool with which to analyse the archaeology or heritage of a region, but it can also be inappropriate as it can create the idea of difference or boundary when in fact there isn鈥檛 one. This volume speaks to that 鈥� where the notion of an eastern frontier of the Classical or Roman world in Western Asia created boundaries in thinking and enquiry. It is wonderful to see the progress in challenging these notions in the last few decades. Areas previously thought of as boundaries or frontiers are amazing areas for new research, and I think we are going to see continual developments to the amazing work in this area across the board, whether that is breaking down dichotomies between socio/economic behaviour, such as between "hunter/gatherer" and "agro/pastoral", recognising continuation between cultural periods, such as "Roman" and "Islamic", or challenging geographical or geological boundaries, such as studies of arid environments and between the desert and the sea.

What advice would you give to aspiring archaeologists or historians interested in this field?

Be open to opportunities, and work with and be respectful of the people already working, and past scholarship, in the area. This extends to the local community. Research and utilise the existing collections, historical accounts, and archives 鈥� they have a surprising amount of information.

For readers interested in learning more about the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire, or about the advancement of archaeological methods, what other resources might you recommend?

That is a broad question 鈥� there are many international journals and societies of course, too many to list here. In Australia, I recommend you follow the Near East Archaeological Foundation at University of 宅男导航 and, if you are interested in ancient numismatics, the Australian Centre for Ancient Numismatic Studies at Macquarie University. Also, most university departments have excellent public seminars and lectures about current research (e.g. UWA Archaeology Seminar Series) that, if you can, you should attend. If you are interested in the "Near East" or "Levant", I would recommend following or becoming members of the American Center of Research, the Centre for British Research in the Levant, the Palestine Exploration Fund, and the International Association for the Study of Arabia. Lastly, always keep an eye on the BAR series, Oxbow Books, and Sidestone Press.