Isolation, Insularity and Change in Island Populations - an Interdisciplinary Study of Aboriginal Cultural Patterns in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The project's national benefits centre on its contribution to safeguarding Australia and to an environmentally sustainable Australia. The participation of northern Indigenous people is critical to border protection policies and procedures. This project will help revitalise the Carpentaria Land Council's Aboriginal Rangers scheme, which has a potential ro ....Isolation, Insularity and Change in Island Populations - an Interdisciplinary Study of Aboriginal Cultural Patterns in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The project's national benefits centre on its contribution to safeguarding Australia and to an environmentally sustainable Australia. The participation of northern Indigenous people is critical to border protection policies and procedures. This project will help revitalise the Carpentaria Land Council's Aboriginal Rangers scheme, which has a potential role in safeguarding the nation's northern approaches, including combating feral plant and animal importation, Coastwatch surveillance and marine habitat protection. The geological research on sea level and climatic history in the Gulf of Carpentaria and associated coastal geomorphological impacts will contribute to predictive models on global warming and its consequences (sea-level rise).Read moreRead less
The contribution of South Asia to the peopling of Australasia. This project focuses on the human fossil record from three regions critical to understanding the origins of our species, Homo sapiens. Australia is crucial in view of its diverse array of "gracile" and "robust" human remains of Late Pleistocene/early Holocene age. Equally important are South and Southeast Asia as they lined the tropical route between Africa, our species' Late Pleistocene homeland according to the Out of Africa theory ....The contribution of South Asia to the peopling of Australasia. This project focuses on the human fossil record from three regions critical to understanding the origins of our species, Homo sapiens. Australia is crucial in view of its diverse array of "gracile" and "robust" human remains of Late Pleistocene/early Holocene age. Equally important are South and Southeast Asia as they lined the tropical route between Africa, our species' Late Pleistocene homeland according to the Out of Africa theory, and Australia. Osteological and archaeological evidence of the selection pressures that operated on earlier hunter-gatherers will be employed to explain the observed patterns of morphological evolution throughout the study region.Read moreRead less
The Flores hobbit - Homo floresiensis or microcephalic eastern Indonesian? The hobbit is so controversial as it implies that a tiny hominin with a miniature brain coexisted for 30,000 years with modern humans in our region. This would have immense, fundamental implications for understanding the human colonisation of our region and the role of brain size in human evolution. Our research will determine whether the alternative explanation of microcephalic pathology is viable. If so the hobbit would ....The Flores hobbit - Homo floresiensis or microcephalic eastern Indonesian? The hobbit is so controversial as it implies that a tiny hominin with a miniature brain coexisted for 30,000 years with modern humans in our region. This would have immense, fundamental implications for understanding the human colonisation of our region and the role of brain size in human evolution. Our research will determine whether the alternative explanation of microcephalic pathology is viable. If so the hobbit would still be of unique signficance as the only known microcephalic hunter-gatherer who had survived to adulthood. The role of Australian scientists in spearheading the hobbit discovery places a high priority on resolving the debate objectively.Read moreRead less
Nomadic or sedentary? Determining lifestyle and subsistence of past populations in Central Asia using osteological, bone chemical and genetic techniques. The aim of the research is to apply a range of osteological analytical techniques to investigatge subsistence patterns of past populations from the heart of Central Asia. Morphological, bone chemical and genetic analyses will be undertaken on previously unstudied collections of archaeological human skeletal remains recovered from burial grounds ....Nomadic or sedentary? Determining lifestyle and subsistence of past populations in Central Asia using osteological, bone chemical and genetic techniques. The aim of the research is to apply a range of osteological analytical techniques to investigatge subsistence patterns of past populations from the heart of Central Asia. Morphological, bone chemical and genetic analyses will be undertaken on previously unstudied collections of archaeological human skeletal remains recovered from burial grounds located on the Ustiurt Plateau and the banks of the Amu Dariya, Uzbekistan. In conjunction with the existing archaeological record, these anlyses will reveal the nature of subsistence patterns, economy and inter-relationships of ancient Central Asian peoples, with the ultimate aim of differentiating nomadic and sedentary lifestyles.Read moreRead less
Asia's first people: the role of East Asia in human evolution during the past half million years. A new statement about the importance of East Asia in our evolution is long overdue. The evolutionary development of humans between 500,000 and 20,000 years ago will be examined from archaeological, biological, faunal, ecological, environmental and migrational perspectives. We will synthesise the scattered East Asian literature, examine unpublished material in situ and conduct new fieldwork. Excava ....Asia's first people: the role of East Asia in human evolution during the past half million years. A new statement about the importance of East Asia in our evolution is long overdue. The evolutionary development of humans between 500,000 and 20,000 years ago will be examined from archaeological, biological, faunal, ecological, environmental and migrational perspectives. We will synthesise the scattered East Asian literature, examine unpublished material in situ and conduct new fieldwork. Excavations will take place at two locations in Myanmar, the first in 50 years. Permission has already been granted by the national government and local authorities for our team to have access and to begin work.Read moreRead less
Assessing lithic evidence for the impact of the Toba super-eruption (74,000 years ago) on long-term cultural, biological and ecological histories on the Indian subcontinent. Human evolution in India has significant implications for the origins of the first Australians, and will contribute to understanding our shared and recent common ancestry and the emergence of human diversity. This project demonstrates that Australia is committed to understanding the origins of modern humans and solving resea ....Assessing lithic evidence for the impact of the Toba super-eruption (74,000 years ago) on long-term cultural, biological and ecological histories on the Indian subcontinent. Human evolution in India has significant implications for the origins of the first Australians, and will contribute to understanding our shared and recent common ancestry and the emergence of human diversity. This project demonstrates that Australia is committed to understanding the origins of modern humans and solving research problems within and beyond our geographic region. Australian archaeological innovations, when applied to global issues, will showcase Australian scientific expertise and achievements. The international collaborative nature of the project demonstrates Australian universities are engaged in high-profile research. The project will also train high-quality research students and create new collaborative initiatives. Read moreRead less
Assessing lithic evidence for the impact of the Toba super-eruption (74,000 years ago) on long-term cultural, biological and ecological histories on the Indian subcontinent. Human evolution in India has significant implications for the origins of the first Australians, and will contribute to understanding our shared and recent common ancestry and the emergence of human diversity. This project demonstrates that Australia is committed to understanding the origins of modern humans and solving resea ....Assessing lithic evidence for the impact of the Toba super-eruption (74,000 years ago) on long-term cultural, biological and ecological histories on the Indian subcontinent. Human evolution in India has significant implications for the origins of the first Australians, and will contribute to understanding our shared and recent common ancestry and the emergence of human diversity. This project demonstrates that Australia is committed to understanding the origins of modern humans and solving research problems within and beyond our geographic region. Australian archaeological innovations, when applied to global issues, will showcase Australian scientific expertise and achievements. The international collaborative nature of the project demonstrates Australian universities are engaged in high-profile research. The project will also train high-quality research students and create new collaborative initiatives. Read moreRead less