Acheulian to Middle Stone Age transition at Amanzi Springs, South Africa. This project aims to excavate and date the Amanzi Springs archaeological complex. From 600 to 300,000 years ago, Acheulian stone tool technology, defined by large generalised cutting tools, changed to a Middle Stone Age industry dominated by smaller, specialised technology (points/blades). This transition is poorly defined throughout Africa due to lack of layered archaeological sites at high resolution that can be dated. T ....Acheulian to Middle Stone Age transition at Amanzi Springs, South Africa. This project aims to excavate and date the Amanzi Springs archaeological complex. From 600 to 300,000 years ago, Acheulian stone tool technology, defined by large generalised cutting tools, changed to a Middle Stone Age industry dominated by smaller, specialised technology (points/blades). This transition is poorly defined throughout Africa due to lack of layered archaeological sites at high resolution that can be dated. The project will provide a detailed record of changes in technology across the Early to Middle Stone Age transition. The project could increase our understanding of the climatological, ecological and biological processes that shaped our shared ancestry.Read moreRead less
Indian Ocean globalisation and the westward Austronesian expansion. This project aims to apply a multi-analytical archaeological science approach to investigate how cross-cultural interaction transformed peoples, societies and environments in the Indian Ocean. It plans to trace the movement of people, plants, animals, goods and practices to Madagascar and the Comoros over 1000 years ago in order to critically assess evidence for early long-distance contacts between Southeast Asia and Africa. The ....Indian Ocean globalisation and the westward Austronesian expansion. This project aims to apply a multi-analytical archaeological science approach to investigate how cross-cultural interaction transformed peoples, societies and environments in the Indian Ocean. It plans to trace the movement of people, plants, animals, goods and practices to Madagascar and the Comoros over 1000 years ago in order to critically assess evidence for early long-distance contacts between Southeast Asia and Africa. The project seeks to enhance Australia’s capacity for archaeological science and deliver significant social and cultural benefits by shedding light on the history of the diverse but interconnected Indo-Pacific world in which Australia now occupies a central geopolitical position.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100492
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,336.00
Summary
Early human cultural diversity and adaptive responses to resource stress. This project will test novel hypotheses about human behavioural strategies and responses to resource stress in central Africa at the time of early human dispersals out of Africa. It aims to examine how behavioural complexity observed in the stone artefact records of southern and eastern Africa relate to those in northern Malawi, which lies at a key crossroads for these dispersals. The study area contains rare archaeologica ....Early human cultural diversity and adaptive responses to resource stress. This project will test novel hypotheses about human behavioural strategies and responses to resource stress in central Africa at the time of early human dispersals out of Africa. It aims to examine how behavioural complexity observed in the stone artefact records of southern and eastern Africa relate to those in northern Malawi, which lies at a key crossroads for these dispersals. The study area contains rare archaeological deposits that offer a unique opportunity to address problems of early human resource use at all scales: site, landscape, and region. This project aims to contribute to human origins research through investigation of why and how local geophysical and climatic constraints shaped past human behaviour relative to other regions.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100068
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$344,120.00
Summary
Dwellers on the threshold: the evolution of human behavioural complexity in peripheral regions of southern Africa. This project will clarify the causes and contexts under which Homo sapiens evolved and began to display our species-defining behavioural complexity through an analysis of archaeological sites located on the fringes of southern Africa's arid interior. The project will significantly enhance understandings of the behavioural evolution of our species.
A new chronological framework to access regional variability in mid-Pleistocene archaeological, palaeoecological and palaeoclimatic data from Africa. This project will enable us to understand, for the first time, the contribution of South Africa to human origins between 1.8 and 0.6 million years ago. It will help us understand how major changes in climate have influenced our evolutionary history, the animals around us and how our behaviour and tools have changed to adapt to such changes.
The emergence of early modern human behaviour and technology in Central Africa. This multidisciplinary project will build a detailed archaeological sequence in northern Malawi that is uniquely suited for testing hypotheses about the linkages between environment, demography, technology, and human behaviour in central Africa. This will provide a rare understanding of the processes that drove the emergence of our species.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100030
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$379,536.00
Summary
Becoming human: archaeological excavations at Lukenya Hill, Kenya. This project aims to refine our understanding of when and why early Homo sapiens began to display the behaviours that define us as human. Two questions central to modern human origins research will be addressed through archaeological excavations at Lukenya Hill in Kenya: firstly was the emergence of behavioural modernity the outcome of an abrupt behavioural revolution or instead a long-term process? secondly, what was the role of ....Becoming human: archaeological excavations at Lukenya Hill, Kenya. This project aims to refine our understanding of when and why early Homo sapiens began to display the behaviours that define us as human. Two questions central to modern human origins research will be addressed through archaeological excavations at Lukenya Hill in Kenya: firstly was the emergence of behavioural modernity the outcome of an abrupt behavioural revolution or instead a long-term process? secondly, what was the role of environmental change in driving our behavioural evolution? This project aims to provide a 50 000-year case study documenting the response of humans and past ecosystems to environmental change, which may provide a long-term perspective important to predicting and ameliorating the effects of such change in the future.Read moreRead less
Chronology of Lower Palaeolithic settlements across the Mediterranean. The project seeks to contribute to our understanding of early human evolution in the Mediterranean and provide tested dating methods for Early Pleistocene sites. It aims to answer a major question in Quaternary geochronology and Mediterranean archaeology – when hominins reached the edges of the Mediterranean – by building more robust chronologies for Early Pleistocene sites located in non-volcanic context. After testing a ser ....Chronology of Lower Palaeolithic settlements across the Mediterranean. The project seeks to contribute to our understanding of early human evolution in the Mediterranean and provide tested dating methods for Early Pleistocene sites. It aims to answer a major question in Quaternary geochronology and Mediterranean archaeology – when hominins reached the edges of the Mediterranean – by building more robust chronologies for Early Pleistocene sites located in non-volcanic context. After testing a series of dating protocols at known-age localities, the project plans to apply a new multi-technique dating approach combining different numerical methods and Bayesian modelling on a range of Lower Palaeolithic sites in three key areas: Southern Spain, Northern Africa and the Near East.Read moreRead less
The evolution of landscape use among modern humans. This project aims to understand the evolution of humans’ adaptive landscape use. The dispersal of modern humans from Africa occurred relatively late in our evolutionary history, which suggests a complex pattern of behavioural evolution in our species. Flexible systems of landscape use underpin human adaptation to different environments resulting in our late expansion and modern global distribution. The project will use a configuration of archae ....The evolution of landscape use among modern humans. This project aims to understand the evolution of humans’ adaptive landscape use. The dispersal of modern humans from Africa occurred relatively late in our evolutionary history, which suggests a complex pattern of behavioural evolution in our species. Flexible systems of landscape use underpin human adaptation to different environments resulting in our late expansion and modern global distribution. The project will use a configuration of archaeological and environmental information recovered from around the Doring River, South Africa. The project is expected to open a new avenue of research into the evolution of human behaviour, and address key scientific and general-interest questions about humanity’s emergence.Read moreRead less