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The historical archaeology of the post-European period in the Pilbara, Western Australia. This project aims to investigate the archaeology of the Pilbara, Western Australia, immediately preceding and following European settlement (1860s). The project develops a regional framework within a fieldwork program of site survey and recording, analysis of documentary sources and oral testimony. Central themes of the investigation are identifying different populations (ie: Malay, Japanese, European) and ....The historical archaeology of the post-European period in the Pilbara, Western Australia. This project aims to investigate the archaeology of the Pilbara, Western Australia, immediately preceding and following European settlement (1860s). The project develops a regional framework within a fieldwork program of site survey and recording, analysis of documentary sources and oral testimony. Central themes of the investigation are identifying different populations (ie: Malay, Japanese, European) and Aboriginal adaptations to changes in environment, economics, population and work resulting from a range of European activities. Specific themes of investigation include the pastoral industry, mining and maritime industries. This research contributes to the archaeology of cultural contact, Aboriginal history and interpretations of historic-period archaeological resources.Read moreRead less
Palaeoenvironmental change, resource exploitation and land use relating to a 72,000 year cultural sequence at Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia. This project, involving international collaborative links between Australian universities and Indonesian universities and institutions, is at the cutting edge of palaeoenvironmental research and will provide valuable training as well as information which will be of great benefit to other researchers in the region. Being focused on prehistoric patterns of res ....Palaeoenvironmental change, resource exploitation and land use relating to a 72,000 year cultural sequence at Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia. This project, involving international collaborative links between Australian universities and Indonesian universities and institutions, is at the cutting edge of palaeoenvironmental research and will provide valuable training as well as information which will be of great benefit to other researchers in the region. Being focused on prehistoric patterns of resource exploitation, land use and management issues, it is relevant to current important issues about the environment, human impact and sustainability, and will help promote awareness of these issues in the Australian and Indonesian communities.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0567201
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$77,428.00
Summary
e-Archaeology: Towards an Australian Archaeological Data Grid. The central goal of this pilot project is the development and implementation of an Australian archaeological digital collection platform based on existing High Performance Computing techniques and infrastructure. This collection will facilitate the dissemination and interchange of archaeological data across disciplines and institutions and across the public and private sectors; enhance archaeological research; and contribute to disco ....e-Archaeology: Towards an Australian Archaeological Data Grid. The central goal of this pilot project is the development and implementation of an Australian archaeological digital collection platform based on existing High Performance Computing techniques and infrastructure. This collection will facilitate the dissemination and interchange of archaeological data across disciplines and institutions and across the public and private sectors; enhance archaeological research; and contribute to discourses about Australian cultural heritage and identity. Our case study will be the Mill Point Archaeological Project in southeast Queensland. This initiative will build on existing developments made overseas and through strategic collaborations between UQ, ANU and the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UCSD.Read moreRead less
The Spandrel Hypothesis: Towards a unified theory of stone flaking. The archaeological story of human evolution and prehistory has a strong Old World bias – the impression is that main events were in Africa and Europe and Australasia was mostly irrelevant. This is particularly true where stone tools are concerned: Australasian tools appear not to track the progression in technology that appears to be present in the Old World Standard Sequence. This project will test whether the Standard Sequence ....The Spandrel Hypothesis: Towards a unified theory of stone flaking. The archaeological story of human evolution and prehistory has a strong Old World bias – the impression is that main events were in Africa and Europe and Australasia was mostly irrelevant. This is particularly true where stone tools are concerned: Australasian tools appear not to track the progression in technology that appears to be present in the Old World Standard Sequence. This project will test whether the Standard Sequence has been overinterpreted and the pattern recognised for Australasia is in fact applicable world-wide. The results of the project will enhance the way Australia interprets itself and the Australasian region to the rest of the world. This is a goal of Research Priority 4 (Safeguarding Australia).Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354580
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Sustainable Futures through Understanding Past Human Responses to Environmental Change. This Network brings together researchers within archaeology and environmental sciences to develop cross-disciplinary and internationally comparative approaches to understanding past human responses to rapid environmental change. Integration of skills and perspectives from the Humanities and Sciences will create a generation of scholars able to work across different theoretical frameworks to formulate credible ....Sustainable Futures through Understanding Past Human Responses to Environmental Change. This Network brings together researchers within archaeology and environmental sciences to develop cross-disciplinary and internationally comparative approaches to understanding past human responses to rapid environmental change. Integration of skills and perspectives from the Humanities and Sciences will create a generation of scholars able to work across different theoretical frameworks to formulate credible responses to the challenge of creating sustainable societies in a changing world. Through a greater understanding of past societies' reactions to rapid environmental change, the Network will build on existing leading edge research and create a more informed guide to a sustainable future.Read moreRead less
Mining and transformation in Jawoyn country, southern Arnhem Land. This project integrates archaeological, documentary and oral evidence about the Maranboy and Yeuralba mines' role in the transformation of Aboriginal people living in southern Arnhem Land from a hunter-gatherer way of life to the community residence patterns of today. The collaborative project includes direct participation and direction by Indigenous custodians and will produce an Aboriginal perspective about the impact of the ....Mining and transformation in Jawoyn country, southern Arnhem Land. This project integrates archaeological, documentary and oral evidence about the Maranboy and Yeuralba mines' role in the transformation of Aboriginal people living in southern Arnhem Land from a hunter-gatherer way of life to the community residence patterns of today. The collaborative project includes direct participation and direction by Indigenous custodians and will produce an Aboriginal perspective about the impact of the mines on their lives. The results will contribute to knowledge about the ways in which Aboriginal society changed and adapted to European settlement in this part of Australia and will produce a range of interpretative materials for the Jawoyn Association's nascent tourism enterprises.Read moreRead less
An Archaeology of Institutional Confinement: the Hyde Park Barracks 1848-1886. This project has three benefits. First, it will help Australians understand more about the history of government care for the sick and the destitute, an issue that strongly resonates in the contemporary community. Second, by focusing on the archaeology of migration we can improve our understanding of its consequences. Third, the visitors to the Hyde Park Barracks Museum will be better able to understand the richness ....An Archaeology of Institutional Confinement: the Hyde Park Barracks 1848-1886. This project has three benefits. First, it will help Australians understand more about the history of government care for the sick and the destitute, an issue that strongly resonates in the contemporary community. Second, by focusing on the archaeology of migration we can improve our understanding of its consequences. Third, the visitors to the Hyde Park Barracks Museum will be better able to understand the richness and diversity of the archaeological and historical records of early Australian history. This will enhance the heritage value of archaeological assemblages that present significant challenges to those who seek to display or interpret them. Read moreRead less
Development and application of the Uranium-series method for dating ancient rock engravings. Radiocarbon dating has been used to establish the age of relatively recent Australian rock art, but the ages of ancient engravings cannot be measured beyond the limit of this method. Comparative radiocarbon and uranium-series assays will be made on pairs of test samples collected from natural mineral deposits at engraving locations constrained by the ages of lakes, lava flows, sedimentary deposits or ic ....Development and application of the Uranium-series method for dating ancient rock engravings. Radiocarbon dating has been used to establish the age of relatively recent Australian rock art, but the ages of ancient engravings cannot be measured beyond the limit of this method. Comparative radiocarbon and uranium-series assays will be made on pairs of test samples collected from natural mineral deposits at engraving locations constrained by the ages of lakes, lava flows, sedimentary deposits or ice. Using test samples with independent and radiocarbon age controls will give confidence in the uranium dating approach for reliably measuring the ages of similar coatings associated with ancient carvings and exposed rock surfaces throughout the world.Read moreRead less
Making Room for the Past: Determining significance in archaeological collections from historic sites. As a consequence of a recent rapid increase in archaeological excavations, Australian museums no longer have resources to store or conserve all archaeological material and require a systematic means of establishing collection management priorities. Through industry and academic consultation and case studies of particular collections, this research will develop criteria for assessing the research ....Making Room for the Past: Determining significance in archaeological collections from historic sites. As a consequence of a recent rapid increase in archaeological excavations, Australian museums no longer have resources to store or conserve all archaeological material and require a systematic means of establishing collection management priorities. Through industry and academic consultation and case studies of particular collections, this research will develop criteria for assessing the research potential or scientific significance of individual artefacts and entire collections from historic sites. Along with recognised measures of social and historical significance, the criteria will provide guidelines with which museums can develop national management strategies for this unique heritage.Read moreRead less
The Port Adelaide Historical Archaeology (PAHA) project. The aim of this project is to investigate the concept of neighbourhood archaeology in relation to the working class of Port Adelaide. There has been limited previous research on the residents of Port Adelaide and what has been done has mainly been from a town planning and sociological perspective. The traditional history of Port Adelaide has marginalised the role of the residents in the development of Port Adelaide. Archaeological excavati ....The Port Adelaide Historical Archaeology (PAHA) project. The aim of this project is to investigate the concept of neighbourhood archaeology in relation to the working class of Port Adelaide. There has been limited previous research on the residents of Port Adelaide and what has been done has mainly been from a town planning and sociological perspective. The traditional history of Port Adelaide has marginalised the role of the residents in the development of Port Adelaide. Archaeological excavation, therefore, along with extant collections, can provide information not available from other sources. Comparison with previous work undertaken outside Port Adelaide will also provide useful insights into life in early Port Adelaide.Read moreRead less