Rivers of Gold: The Legacy of Historical Gold Mining for Victoria's Rivers. By considering rivers as cultural artefacts, this project aims to evaluate how historical gold mining has shaped river systems in Victoria. Victoria’s historic mining industry led to extensive and long-lasting change to waterways across the state. The project plans to integrate approaches from landscape archaeology, physical geography, geomorphology and environmental chemistry to identify and map the extent of changes, i ....Rivers of Gold: The Legacy of Historical Gold Mining for Victoria's Rivers. By considering rivers as cultural artefacts, this project aims to evaluate how historical gold mining has shaped river systems in Victoria. Victoria’s historic mining industry led to extensive and long-lasting change to waterways across the state. The project plans to integrate approaches from landscape archaeology, physical geography, geomorphology and environmental chemistry to identify and map the extent of changes, including increased sedimentation, erosion, and chemical contamination. The project plans to demonstrate how historical mining continues to influence chemical and physical processes in Victorian streams and to develop understanding of the landscapes experienced by Victorians at the height of the mining boom. Project outcomes may provide improved context for catchment and reservoir management and counter prevailing impressions about causes of observed damage to rivers.Read moreRead less
Warfare and the Archaic State in Oceania. The project aim is to investigate warfare in the ancient Tongan state through a study of earthwork fortifications. The conflict record for an Archaic state in Oceania that survived for 650 years contributes a new perspective to global research on warfare in complex societies. The effect of conflict is a prominent issue for Australia and long-term records of warfare in our region will improve our understanding of it. Intra-state conflict is the most press ....Warfare and the Archaic State in Oceania. The project aim is to investigate warfare in the ancient Tongan state through a study of earthwork fortifications. The conflict record for an Archaic state in Oceania that survived for 650 years contributes a new perspective to global research on warfare in complex societies. The effect of conflict is a prominent issue for Australia and long-term records of warfare in our region will improve our understanding of it. Intra-state conflict is the most pressing threat to political stability in South-East Asia and the Pacific and the project would benefit Australia by showing how changes to political systems are associated with phases of conflict and peace.Read moreRead less
Persistence and transformation in Ancestral Oceanic Society: the archaeology of the first 1500 years in the Vanuatu archipelago. Supporting research programs with smaller Pacific Island neighbours fosters Australia's relationship with those countries generally. The project will contribute to regional capacity building in the areas of archaeology, heritage studies and management. This research will enhance understanding of the region's deep human past and the way it articulates historically with ....Persistence and transformation in Ancestral Oceanic Society: the archaeology of the first 1500 years in the Vanuatu archipelago. Supporting research programs with smaller Pacific Island neighbours fosters Australia's relationship with those countries generally. The project will contribute to regional capacity building in the areas of archaeology, heritage studies and management. This research will enhance understanding of the region's deep human past and the way it articulates historically with the rest of the world. It will advance Australia's understanding of its nearest neighbours as well as provide those neighbours with information that goes towards strengthening national identity. The proposed research has direct relevance to ongoing debates within Australian and World archaeology and related disciplines, and fosters international collaborative links. Read moreRead less
Northern Vanuatu as a Pacific Crossroads: The archaeology of discovery, interaction and the emergence of the ethnographic present. The project addresses the National Research Priority Goal of "Understanding our Region and the World". Supporting research programs with smaller Pacific Island neighbours such as Vanuatu fosters Australia's relationship with those countries generally. This research will strengthen our knowledge of the region's deep human past. It will advance Australia's understandin ....Northern Vanuatu as a Pacific Crossroads: The archaeology of discovery, interaction and the emergence of the ethnographic present. The project addresses the National Research Priority Goal of "Understanding our Region and the World". Supporting research programs with smaller Pacific Island neighbours such as Vanuatu fosters Australia's relationship with those countries generally. This research will strengthen our knowledge of the region's deep human past. It will advance Australia's understanding of its nearest neighbours as well as provide those neighbours with information they can use to shape their own views of their past and its relationship to their present. The proposed research has direct relevance to on-going debates within world archaeology and related disciplines.Read moreRead less
Plant use at the dawn of agriculture in central Anatolia. The project will increase collaboration with researchers in the UK, and Turkish archaeological authorities. It will refine our understanding of the process, rate and direction of agricultural origins in Western Asia and improve Australia's profile in origins of agriculture research. It will increase Australia's knowledge base about other regions and help to consolidate and promote archaeobotany/archaeological science in Australia's resear ....Plant use at the dawn of agriculture in central Anatolia. The project will increase collaboration with researchers in the UK, and Turkish archaeological authorities. It will refine our understanding of the process, rate and direction of agricultural origins in Western Asia and improve Australia's profile in origins of agriculture research. It will increase Australia's knowledge base about other regions and help to consolidate and promote archaeobotany/archaeological science in Australia's research community.Read moreRead less
A reappraisal of Western European Mousterian tools from Australian perspectives. Intense debates in human evolution surround Neanderthals in France, where archaeological deposits provide abundant evidence of their lives. Were Neanderthals complex cultural beings comparable to our ancestors or did they possess less complex cultures? This question has often been addressed through analysis of Neanderthal, or ?Mousterian?, stone tools. Previous studies follow a tradition of dividing tools into types ....A reappraisal of Western European Mousterian tools from Australian perspectives. Intense debates in human evolution surround Neanderthals in France, where archaeological deposits provide abundant evidence of their lives. Were Neanderthals complex cultural beings comparable to our ancestors or did they possess less complex cultures? This question has often been addressed through analysis of Neanderthal, or ?Mousterian?, stone tools. Previous studies follow a tradition of dividing tools into types such as ?scrapers? or ?points?. This study employs non-type-based Australian perspectives, incorporating new analytical techniques, to re-describe Mousterian tools, review what they tell us of Neanderthal capabilities, and evaluate conventional type-based systems of analysis. Significant new information about hominid evolution will result.Read moreRead less
A study of ancient jade trading networks in prehistoric southern China and Southeast Asia, 3000 BC to AD 500. This project will make a significant intellectual contribution to enhancing Australia's awareness of the histories of neighbouring populations in Southeast Asia that in total exceed 750 million people. It will thus contribute to a better understanding of our region and the world. The project will also benefit the indigenous populations and future researchers of neighbouring Asian countri ....A study of ancient jade trading networks in prehistoric southern China and Southeast Asia, 3000 BC to AD 500. This project will make a significant intellectual contribution to enhancing Australia's awareness of the histories of neighbouring populations in Southeast Asia that in total exceed 750 million people. It will thus contribute to a better understanding of our region and the world. The project will also benefit the indigenous populations and future researchers of neighbouring Asian countries, through research collaboration and the dissemination of original research results, enhancing Australia's status as a supportive neighbour in the region.Read moreRead less
Transformations and Persistence in the Holocene in East Timor: Unpacking the Island Southeast Asian Neolithic and Metal Age Cultural Packages. This project will be of great benefit in understanding culture interaction and change in our region. The close relationship between Timor and Greater Australia throughout the Holocene, and its place in Southeast Asia link it both east and west through time. In addition to understanding the nature of interaction between communities, we seek to understand ....Transformations and Persistence in the Holocene in East Timor: Unpacking the Island Southeast Asian Neolithic and Metal Age Cultural Packages. This project will be of great benefit in understanding culture interaction and change in our region. The close relationship between Timor and Greater Australia throughout the Holocene, and its place in Southeast Asia link it both east and west through time. In addition to understanding the nature of interaction between communities, we seek to understand how the Timorese responded, through time, to environmental variability and how this affected local culture. Furthermore, our particular focus on production technologies, as well as testing theories of migration and replacement for the Neolithic, allow us to see the nature of innovation within Timorese society.Read moreRead less
The archaeology of northern New Guinea, a cultural corridor between Asia, Island Melanesia and the Pacific. The project seeks to define the chronology, and clarify the dynamics of prehistoric human colonisation, settlement, subsistence and exchange in northern New Guinea. Integrated archaeological and palaeoenvironmental sequences will show settlement, environmental change and development of agriculture across 40,000 years. The significance is in understanding a key area in the settlement of gre ....The archaeology of northern New Guinea, a cultural corridor between Asia, Island Melanesia and the Pacific. The project seeks to define the chronology, and clarify the dynamics of prehistoric human colonisation, settlement, subsistence and exchange in northern New Guinea. Integrated archaeological and palaeoenvironmental sequences will show settlement, environmental change and development of agriculture across 40,000 years. The significance is in understanding a key area in the settlement of greater Australia and the Pacific.Read moreRead less
The Creation of Southeast Asian Peoples and Cultures, 3500 BC to AD 500. This project will make a significant intellectual contribution to enhancing Australia's awareness of the histories of neighbouring populations in Southeast Asia that in total exceed 350 million people. It will thus contribute to a better understanding of our region and the world. The project will also benefit the indigenous populations and future researchers of neighbouring Southeast Asian countries, through training, resea ....The Creation of Southeast Asian Peoples and Cultures, 3500 BC to AD 500. This project will make a significant intellectual contribution to enhancing Australia's awareness of the histories of neighbouring populations in Southeast Asia that in total exceed 350 million people. It will thus contribute to a better understanding of our region and the world. The project will also benefit the indigenous populations and future researchers of neighbouring Southeast Asian countries, through training, research collaboration and the dissemination of original research results, enhancing Australia's status as a supportive neighbour in the region.Read moreRead less