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Precisely Dating the Evolution of Complex Societies in Polynesia: The Hawaiian Example. It is of enormous national benefit to develop intellectual innovations that set Australia apart from its neighbours and establish its position as a regional leader in science. Because the Australasian region relies heavily on primary resource exploitation, intellectual developments are crucial for sustainable economic growth. Understanding how societies meet the challenges of resource depletion, landscape de ....Precisely Dating the Evolution of Complex Societies in Polynesia: The Hawaiian Example. It is of enormous national benefit to develop intellectual innovations that set Australia apart from its neighbours and establish its position as a regional leader in science. Because the Australasian region relies heavily on primary resource exploitation, intellectual developments are crucial for sustainable economic growth. Understanding how societies meet the challenges of resource depletion, landscape degradation, drought and population increase can be monitored with archaeological data over hundreds of years. Our research seeks to use an innovative technique for precisely dating major changes in Oceanic societies over the past 500 years, which will provide insights into how modern communities can cope with these problems today. Read moreRead less
Voyaging, Trade and the Development of Ancient Complex Societies in East Polynesia: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Developing a knowledge-based economy has long-term benefits to Australia and is independent of fluctuations in the resource sector on which our nation heavily relies. Intellectual innovations are crucial for sustainable growth and help establish Australia as a regional and world leader in science. We use innovative methods to 'fingerprint' prehistoric stone tools and raw material so ....Voyaging, Trade and the Development of Ancient Complex Societies in East Polynesia: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Developing a knowledge-based economy has long-term benefits to Australia and is independent of fluctuations in the resource sector on which our nation heavily relies. Intellectual innovations are crucial for sustainable growth and help establish Australia as a regional and world leader in science. We use innovative methods to 'fingerprint' prehistoric stone tools and raw material sources for determining the geographic extent of travel between island groups and ascertaining how inter-connected Pacific island communities were about 800 to 200 years ago. Documenting this long-term prehistory will provide insights into our modern neighbours and promote regional understanding, and enhance international collaboration and research training.Read moreRead less
Hellenistic Jebel Khalid on the Euphrates,North Syria: the archaeology and history of a Seleucid settlement. Jebel Khalid, a large fortified town guarding a strategic crossing-point on the Euphrates, appears to have been established as a military colony early in the Seleucid period (?=Syrian Amphipolis). Excavation is revealing how far the immigrant Greek/Macedonian colonists settled down to live with the native populations. It is also revealing much about Greek defence systems; about adaptation ....Hellenistic Jebel Khalid on the Euphrates,North Syria: the archaeology and history of a Seleucid settlement. Jebel Khalid, a large fortified town guarding a strategic crossing-point on the Euphrates, appears to have been established as a military colony early in the Seleucid period (?=Syrian Amphipolis). Excavation is revealing how far the immigrant Greek/Macedonian colonists settled down to live with the native populations. It is also revealing much about Greek defence systems; about adaptations of Greek architecture and town-planning (both public and domestic) to local conditions; about civic amenities as well as domestic and religious life; about economic and trading contacts. Important stratigraphic control is also being established over dating Hellenistic pottery, both imported and local wares.Read moreRead less
Unearthing the roots of agriculture: multi-disciplinary investigations of Pleistocene and Holocene plant exploitation in Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea. The Project will foster greater communication, public understanding and research links between Australia and Papua New Guinea. The Project will also provide archaeological training for students at Australian universities and students and practitioners in Papua New Guinea. The research seeks to understand the development of societie ....Unearthing the roots of agriculture: multi-disciplinary investigations of Pleistocene and Holocene plant exploitation in Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea. The Project will foster greater communication, public understanding and research links between Australia and Papua New Guinea. The Project will also provide archaeological training for students at Australian universities and students and practitioners in Papua New Guinea. The research seeks to understand the development of societies and subsistence practices, particularly plant exploitation and agriculture, in New Guinea from the Pleistocene to the present. The research will chart long-term human-environment relations in New Guinea, which are central to understanding the sustainability of food production and the maintenance of biodiversity in the Australasian region.Read moreRead less
Crossing Borders: The Use and Distribution of Volcanic Glass Artefacts in Northeast Asia. Our project contextualises the development and nature of exchange relationships across vast areas and potentially different peoples in order to maintain sustainable and successful life-ways in prehistory. Tracing the distribution of volcanic glass artefacts from Paektusan Volcano, located on the border of China and N.Korea, into Far East Russia and S.Korea provides insights into the rapid colonisation of no ....Crossing Borders: The Use and Distribution of Volcanic Glass Artefacts in Northeast Asia. Our project contextualises the development and nature of exchange relationships across vast areas and potentially different peoples in order to maintain sustainable and successful life-ways in prehistory. Tracing the distribution of volcanic glass artefacts from Paektusan Volcano, located on the border of China and N.Korea, into Far East Russia and S.Korea provides insights into the rapid colonisation of northeast Asia and Northern America during the Late Palaeolithic and brings Australia to the forefront of new international areas of research. Through its collaborative nature this project will broaden our contact with China on an academic level; gaining a better appreciation of cultural, economic and political issues in the region.Read moreRead less
Astride the Wallace Line: 1.5 million years of human evolution, dispersal, culture and environmental change in Indonesia. This project will address major turning points in human evolution, dispersal, culture and palaeoenvironmental change in Southeast Asia. It will focus on two Indonesian islands (Flores and Java) that lie east and west of a major biogeographical boundary: the Wallace Line. Turning points in the last 1.5 million years include the initial arrival of hominids; the extinction of ea ....Astride the Wallace Line: 1.5 million years of human evolution, dispersal, culture and environmental change in Indonesia. This project will address major turning points in human evolution, dispersal, culture and palaeoenvironmental change in Southeast Asia. It will focus on two Indonesian islands (Flores and Java) that lie east and west of a major biogeographical boundary: the Wallace Line. Turning points in the last 1.5 million years include the initial arrival of hominids; the extinction of early hominids; the appearance of fully modern humans; the beginnings of plant cultivation and animal domestication; and major faunal changes over time. We will develop and apply new dating techniques to tackle some of the most fundamental questions in world archaeology.Read moreRead less
The Power and Reach of Chiefly Societies in Fiji-West Polynesia. Australia as a Pacific Ocean nation must understand and engage with its Central Pacific island neighbours. The 2nd millennium AD saw the growth of the powerful Tongan maritime chiefdom, arguably the most complex Pacific society of its time. The titles and individuals associated with the ancient Tongan chiefdom are politically prominent even today. Archaeological investigations will benefit modern regional relationships by establish ....The Power and Reach of Chiefly Societies in Fiji-West Polynesia. Australia as a Pacific Ocean nation must understand and engage with its Central Pacific island neighbours. The 2nd millennium AD saw the growth of the powerful Tongan maritime chiefdom, arguably the most complex Pacific society of its time. The titles and individuals associated with the ancient Tongan chiefdom are politically prominent even today. Archaeological investigations will benefit modern regional relationships by establishing the antiquity and significance of prehistoric interaction. The benefit lies in building collaboration between Australian and Pacific Islander heritage organisations, contributing to Pacific scholarship and maintaining Australian expertise in the politically fractious Fiji-West Polynesia region.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
The archaeology of cultural interaction: The working lives of Greek colonists and indigenous Syrians in Seleucid Syria. The discovery of the unique importance of Jebel Khalid is well known internationally and the project has brought considerable overseas recognition of the contribution of Australian archaeology to Levantine studies. The project fosters research collaboration between Australian and Syrian researchers and institutions and establishes Australia as a major centre for the study of th ....The archaeology of cultural interaction: The working lives of Greek colonists and indigenous Syrians in Seleucid Syria. The discovery of the unique importance of Jebel Khalid is well known internationally and the project has brought considerable overseas recognition of the contribution of Australian archaeology to Levantine studies. The project fosters research collaboration between Australian and Syrian researchers and institutions and establishes Australia as a major centre for the study of the archaeology of Syria. It also fosters goodwill between Australia and an important member of the Arab world and contributes to improving local perceptions of that region.Read moreRead less
Dhenia: A study of regionalism, population and society in Bronze Age Cyprus. The cemetery complex at Dhenia in Cyprus was in use for 2500 years, from the beginning of the Bronze Age (2,400 BCE) to the end of the Iron Age. This project is designed to sample this extensive site to assess its changing size and structure during periods of major social transformation. Comparative studies of contemporary sites will provide the basis for monitoring and explaining local, regional and island-wide relatio ....Dhenia: A study of regionalism, population and society in Bronze Age Cyprus. The cemetery complex at Dhenia in Cyprus was in use for 2500 years, from the beginning of the Bronze Age (2,400 BCE) to the end of the Iron Age. This project is designed to sample this extensive site to assess its changing size and structure during periods of major social transformation. Comparative studies of contemporary sites will provide the basis for monitoring and explaining local, regional and island-wide relationships, viewed in a context of expanding population and increasing interaction with the wider Mediterranean world. New data and approaches will contribute significantly to Cypriot archaeology and to broader archaeological theory.Read moreRead less