The coming of the dingo and its interaction with Indigenous Australians. This project will identify more precisely the time of the entry of dingoes into Australia and will investigate their impact on the lives of Indigenous Australians. Archaeological and anthropological evidence suggests that Indigenous people rapidly incorporated dingoes into their lives. Dingoes were used for a variety of purposes and were particularly valued as hunters by women, effectively increasing their access to meat. ....The coming of the dingo and its interaction with Indigenous Australians. This project will identify more precisely the time of the entry of dingoes into Australia and will investigate their impact on the lives of Indigenous Australians. Archaeological and anthropological evidence suggests that Indigenous people rapidly incorporated dingoes into their lives. Dingoes were used for a variety of purposes and were particularly valued as hunters by women, effectively increasing their access to meat. Impact would include a re-organisation of gender roles and an associated improvement in women's fecundity. By examining evidence for such changes, this project will significantly contribute to knowledge about implications of the arrival of a living technology in Australia and, more generally, the human/dog relationship.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130101816
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$348,088.00
Summary
Palaeoenvironments and human adaptation in the late quaternary of the semi-arid Murray River Valley, northwestern Victoria. This project involves a multidisciplinary approach to investigating Indigenous settlement and subsistence strategies along the Murray River in northweast Victoria during the last Ice Age. It will examine the palaeoecology and palaeoenvironment of the region, with particular focus on how people and animals responded to climatic varibility.
Molecular Archaeology: Carbon isotope analysis of amino acids as a means to investigate diets, physiology, metabolism and palaeoenvironment. The investigation of the bones of past societies and animals at the molecular level opens up a whole array of alternative data about palaeodiet and environment. Investigating the past in this way provides a unique perspective about how diet and health have changed in humans and about how animals and the environment have changed. When we understand the past ....Molecular Archaeology: Carbon isotope analysis of amino acids as a means to investigate diets, physiology, metabolism and palaeoenvironment. The investigation of the bones of past societies and animals at the molecular level opens up a whole array of alternative data about palaeodiet and environment. Investigating the past in this way provides a unique perspective about how diet and health have changed in humans and about how animals and the environment have changed. When we understand the past in this manner we can better understand current health issues linked to diet and how the environment and climate is changing.Read moreRead less
Toxic Harvest: The antiquity of rainforest Aboriginal occupation and toxic plant use in long-term subsistence patterns. The project aims to investigate the antiquity of human occupation of Australian tropical rainforests and the role that toxic plants played in the adaptation process. International research suggests that people only permanently occupied rainforests in the last 5,000 years with access to agriculture. The fact that Australian rainforest Aborigines were hunter-gatherers using speci ....Toxic Harvest: The antiquity of rainforest Aboriginal occupation and toxic plant use in long-term subsistence patterns. The project aims to investigate the antiquity of human occupation of Australian tropical rainforests and the role that toxic plants played in the adaptation process. International research suggests that people only permanently occupied rainforests in the last 5,000 years with access to agriculture. The fact that Australian rainforest Aborigines were hunter-gatherers using specialised processing technology to exploit toxic plant foods and living at high population densities suggests a more complex situation. Outcomes include contribution to international debates on the origin and antiquity of human rainforest settlement, an understanding of the biological properties of rainforest plants and development of research partnerships with Indigenous communities.Read moreRead less
Chinese Middle to Late Pleistocene hominid behaviour: exploring cultural variability through time and space. This research will contribute to the understanding of the spread of our species out of Africa 2 million years ago into East Asia. It examines the range of hominid behaviours and ecological circumstances that led to the successful colonisation of China by Homo erectus. It also addresses the vexed question of the relationship between H. erectus and H. sapiens. Did the latter evolve in situ ....Chinese Middle to Late Pleistocene hominid behaviour: exploring cultural variability through time and space. This research will contribute to the understanding of the spread of our species out of Africa 2 million years ago into East Asia. It examines the range of hominid behaviours and ecological circumstances that led to the successful colonisation of China by Homo erectus. It also addresses the vexed question of the relationship between H. erectus and H. sapiens. Did the latter evolve in situ from their antecedents as some suggest, or did H. sapiens replace H. erectus, in the great diaspora from Africa 120,000 years ago?Read moreRead less
Earliest Village People: the shift to sedentary life in the Natufian period. This project aims to investigate the shift to sedentary life by excavating one of the earliest villages, founded by hunter-gatherers around 12,500 BCE. Of key interest are foundational burials at Wadi Hammeh 27 in Jordan and their role in the establishment of this new kind of settlement. Well-preserved deposits present a rare opportunity to track a community in the act of settling down so significant knowledge about the ....Earliest Village People: the shift to sedentary life in the Natufian period. This project aims to investigate the shift to sedentary life by excavating one of the earliest villages, founded by hunter-gatherers around 12,500 BCE. Of key interest are foundational burials at Wadi Hammeh 27 in Jordan and their role in the establishment of this new kind of settlement. Well-preserved deposits present a rare opportunity to track a community in the act of settling down so significant knowledge about the transition to sedentism should be generated. An interdisciplinary approach combining archaeology, bioanthropology and archaeogenetics may provide new explanations of early social organisation. Potential benefits include the building of international collaborations and the development of Australia’s role in the Middle East.Read moreRead less
Ice Age Villagers of the Levant: sedentism and social connections in the Natufian period. This project will advance theories on early sedentism by investigating Wadi Hammeh 27 in Jordan, settled by Natufian hunter-gatherers at 12,500 BC. This site is claimed as a pre-agrarian, sedentary village but archaeological indicators of sedentism remain ambiguous. This project will resolve the issue by applying new technologies to human skeletal remains from the site to establish the length and frequency ....Ice Age Villagers of the Levant: sedentism and social connections in the Natufian period. This project will advance theories on early sedentism by investigating Wadi Hammeh 27 in Jordan, settled by Natufian hunter-gatherers at 12,500 BC. This site is claimed as a pre-agrarian, sedentary village but archaeological indicators of sedentism remain ambiguous. This project will resolve the issue by applying new technologies to human skeletal remains from the site to establish the length and frequency of residential occupations. Wadi Hammeh 27 also exemplifies trends towards the dispersal of Natufian social interactions. They will be investigated by tracing the exchange of artefacts and materials between Wadi Hammeh 27 and small, seasonal Natufian sites because these links underlie theories about the advent of agriculture and settled life.Read moreRead less
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
Technological Advances in Large-scale Roman Concrete Buildings during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. How were the Romans able to build monuments which are still standing after 2,000 years? Skills to achieve this were clearly not developed overnight. A multidisciplinary team from the University of Melbourne has identified the 1st century BC as a time of tremendous technological change in Roman architecture. Was it that the Romans used a technologically advanced type of concerete? Was it that they ....Technological Advances in Large-scale Roman Concrete Buildings during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. How were the Romans able to build monuments which are still standing after 2,000 years? Skills to achieve this were clearly not developed overnight. A multidisciplinary team from the University of Melbourne has identified the 1st century BC as a time of tremendous technological change in Roman architecture. Was it that the Romans used a technologically advanced type of concerete? Was it that they had perfected the structural design of vaults and domes? Was it simply their organisational ability or the enormous wealth which flowed from their vast Empire? A team of experienced archaeologists,architects and engineers seeks to answer these questions by survey and material analysis of a number of key Roman monuments.Read moreRead less
Life ways of the first Australians. The project will enhance national cultural heritage assessment and management in the west Kimberley. This is a Australian Government priority because of planned Liquid Natural Gas and other developments in this region. Through the project officer positions, Indigenous communities will gain training and skills that will lead to sustainable livelihoods in cultural tourism or employment opportunities in government cultural heritage agencies. The project directly ....Life ways of the first Australians. The project will enhance national cultural heritage assessment and management in the west Kimberley. This is a Australian Government priority because of planned Liquid Natural Gas and other developments in this region. Through the project officer positions, Indigenous communities will gain training and skills that will lead to sustainable livelihoods in cultural tourism or employment opportunities in government cultural heritage agencies. The project directly addresses the National Research Priority goal of responding to climate change and variability by advancing knowledge and understanding of past climates, and assisting in better modelling of future climate change in our region. The project will provide postgraduate training in fieldwork and analysis for four APAIs.Read moreRead less