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3000 Years of settlement and interaction in southern Vanuatu. This project aims to conduct an archaeological survey of Vanuatu. One of archaeology's most significant contributions is providing models for the emergence of cultural diversity through time. Vanuatu is one of the most diverse regions on Earth. The southern islands were an important hub in early settlement and long-term inter-island interactions of Island Melanesia. Yet little is known about the origins of cultural contacts and divers ....3000 Years of settlement and interaction in southern Vanuatu. This project aims to conduct an archaeological survey of Vanuatu. One of archaeology's most significant contributions is providing models for the emergence of cultural diversity through time. Vanuatu is one of the most diverse regions on Earth. The southern islands were an important hub in early settlement and long-term inter-island interactions of Island Melanesia. Yet little is known about the origins of cultural contacts and diversity in the area. A major archaeological survey of the Polynesian outliers Futuna and Aniwa and neighbouring islands Tanna and Aneityum would greatly improve our knowledge of settlement patterns, long-distance exchange, and cross-cultural interaction in the region, from initial Lapita settlement 3000 years ago through to the arrival of Christian missionaries in the 1860s.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100187
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$391,950.00
Summary
Ethnoarchaeological investigation of religious systems in Ancient Polynesia. This project aims to document and compare the long-term historical trajectories of Eastern Polynesian chiefdoms by developing a new perspective on ancient ritual practices and monuments. Using archaeological, historical and ethnographic material, the project expects to increase our knowledge of Polynesia’s archaeological history. Anticipated outcomes of this project include a better understanding of traditional religiou ....Ethnoarchaeological investigation of religious systems in Ancient Polynesia. This project aims to document and compare the long-term historical trajectories of Eastern Polynesian chiefdoms by developing a new perspective on ancient ritual practices and monuments. Using archaeological, historical and ethnographic material, the project expects to increase our knowledge of Polynesia’s archaeological history. Anticipated outcomes of this project include a better understanding of traditional religious systems in Polynesia, and the development of a theoretical and methodological framework for the study of ancient rituals. It should further create a new model of collaborative research with Pacific Islanders for whom their legacy of ritual monuments bear a critical cultural significance; it thus informs a better understanding of Australia’s role in Pacific studies.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100291
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,516.00
Summary
Archaeology of long-term cultural adaptation in the Papuan islands. This project aims to explore the antiquity of human settlement in the Massim islands of eastern Papua New Guinea and investigate the long-term adaptive strategies prehistoric people used to live in changing island environments. Ecological constraints shaped indigenous cultural identities as sea levels fluctuated and island sizes varied after initial colonisation of Sahul (Ancient New Guinea-Australia). This project will examine ....Archaeology of long-term cultural adaptation in the Papuan islands. This project aims to explore the antiquity of human settlement in the Massim islands of eastern Papua New Guinea and investigate the long-term adaptive strategies prehistoric people used to live in changing island environments. Ecological constraints shaped indigenous cultural identities as sea levels fluctuated and island sizes varied after initial colonisation of Sahul (Ancient New Guinea-Australia). This project will examine how exchange networks facilitated settlement of resource impoverished island ecosystems. The anticipated outcome is to incorporate empirical data into a theoretical framework of adaptive cultural plasticity to develop a temporal-spatial model for human settlement in the Massim, New Guinea and Sahul with multi-disciplinary benefits for understanding climatic and human effects on flora, fauna and ecology.Read moreRead less
The archaeology of ritual architecture on the islands of Malakula, Vanuatu. This project will define the historical trajectory, function and role of ritual architecture across Malakula, Vanuatu, furnishing crucial comparative data and contributing to debates on the dynamics and manifestations of long-term social changed across the Pacific. Contemporary issues such as population growth, land and food security will be addressed.
Kuwae 1452 AD: multi-disciplinary perspectives on a Pacific super-eruption. This project seeks to resolve the question of whether the mid-15th century eruption of Kuwae in Vanuatu can be confirmed as one of the largest global volcanic and climatic events of the last 2000 years. Through archival, field and laboratory research, an experienced transdisciplinary team from archaeology, volcanology and history aims to conduct collaborative research over three seasons in central Vanuatu. Project goals ....Kuwae 1452 AD: multi-disciplinary perspectives on a Pacific super-eruption. This project seeks to resolve the question of whether the mid-15th century eruption of Kuwae in Vanuatu can be confirmed as one of the largest global volcanic and climatic events of the last 2000 years. Through archival, field and laboratory research, an experienced transdisciplinary team from archaeology, volcanology and history aims to conduct collaborative research over three seasons in central Vanuatu. Project goals include dating the eruptive event, defining its scale, reconstructing Kuwae’s local social and environmental conditions prior to and after the eruption, and developing practical volcanic risk reduction strategies together with local communities and authorities in Vanuatu.Read moreRead less
Dimensions of value: Understanding the role and meaning of shell valuables in the Melanesian past and present. Shell valuables are fundamentally important in many Melanesian societies, linking people to each other, the land and their ancestors. Although shell artefacts are frequent in Melanesian archaeological sites, presently it is not possible to discriminate between types and levels of value. Through ethnoarchaeological enquiry in the Solomon Islands and intensive studies of museum ethnograph ....Dimensions of value: Understanding the role and meaning of shell valuables in the Melanesian past and present. Shell valuables are fundamentally important in many Melanesian societies, linking people to each other, the land and their ancestors. Although shell artefacts are frequent in Melanesian archaeological sites, presently it is not possible to discriminate between types and levels of value. Through ethnoarchaeological enquiry in the Solomon Islands and intensive studies of museum ethnographic collections, this project aims to develop tools to allow archaeologists to better interpret the nature of different shell artefacts and the social contexts of their production, use and discard. In doing so, it will enhance understandings of Melanesian societies and their transformations through time.Read moreRead less
Climate change in the abandonment of islands: a high-resolution case study from the tropical Pacific. Climate change in the last 1000 years is thought to have had negative environmental and societal consequences in the Pacific, particularly in Palau through the occupation and abandonment of limestone islands. This project uses high-resolution data to establish the palaeoclimate and the cultural mechanisms used to cope with climate events.
The original field anthropologist: Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay in Oceania, 1871-1883. This project restores the nineteenth-century Russian anthropologist Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay to a central position in the histories of anthropology and of the European exploration of Oceania. Interviews with the source communities amongst which he lived will be used to analyse his field drawings and journals, most never previously published in English.