Investigating the world's first maritime network in Pleistocene Wallacea. This project will investigate the world’s first maritime exchange network located in the islands to Australia’s north. From ~16,000 years ago, tools made from exotic obsidian (volcanic glass) appear in the archaeological assemblages of three southern Wallacean islands, as do standardised items of personal decoration and fishhooks. Where the obsidian was acquired and how far the network extended are currently unknown. This ....Investigating the world's first maritime network in Pleistocene Wallacea. This project will investigate the world’s first maritime exchange network located in the islands to Australia’s north. From ~16,000 years ago, tools made from exotic obsidian (volcanic glass) appear in the archaeological assemblages of three southern Wallacean islands, as do standardised items of personal decoration and fishhooks. Where the obsidian was acquired and how far the network extended are currently unknown. This project hopes to resolve this and determine how the network relates to other aspects of culture and changing sea levels. Through geological sourcing, geo-chemical analysis and multi-island excavations we will reveal the intensity and reach of this remarkable network to understand the origins of trade in our region. Read moreRead less
Megalithic Connections: Imperilled Cultural Heritage in Laos and India. This interdisciplinary project aims to document and explore the cultural connections between the geographically disparate megalithic cultures of Laos and India and create an enduring digital record of these threatened cultural assets. Integrating archaeological science and pioneering data capture technologies, the project will create globally significant new knowledge; advance heritage management processes including transfer ....Megalithic Connections: Imperilled Cultural Heritage in Laos and India. This interdisciplinary project aims to document and explore the cultural connections between the geographically disparate megalithic cultures of Laos and India and create an enduring digital record of these threatened cultural assets. Integrating archaeological science and pioneering data capture technologies, the project will create globally significant new knowledge; advance heritage management processes including transferrable exploratory technologies; and help underpin economic, social and cultural benefit in these regions. With an increasing awareness of the need to conserve global cultural assets, Australia will take the lead in developing breakthrough technological solutions and new cross-country research and practitioner capability.Read moreRead less
Prosperity along the sea in the Asia Pacific at 5000-3000 BC. This project aims to address how complex hunter-gatherers sustained large villages along the South China Coast for 2 millennia. About 7000 years ago, the people and landscape of this region began a long journey of transformation when affluent village systems appeared. Combining archaeology with archaeo-botany, palaeo-landscape reconstruction, and bio-archaeology, this project seeks to learn how these early coastal societies contribute ....Prosperity along the sea in the Asia Pacific at 5000-3000 BC. This project aims to address how complex hunter-gatherers sustained large villages along the South China Coast for 2 millennia. About 7000 years ago, the people and landscape of this region began a long journey of transformation when affluent village systems appeared. Combining archaeology with archaeo-botany, palaeo-landscape reconstruction, and bio-archaeology, this project seeks to learn how these early coastal societies contributed to regional social-economic developments, in a time long prior to written chronicles. The project expects to support new comprehension of these unique coastal communities and their relationship with others in the broader Asia-Pacific region.Read moreRead less
The Missing Millennium and the Origins of Agriculture in Southeast Asia. This project aims to investigate the missing millennium – a significant gap in our understanding of the arrival of food producing populations into northern Vietnam between 5000 and 4000 years ago, before their expansion across the rest of Mainland Southeast Asia. Substantial new insights will include information on cultural development and population ancestry, an enhanced archaeological chronology, and details of the subsis ....The Missing Millennium and the Origins of Agriculture in Southeast Asia. This project aims to investigate the missing millennium – a significant gap in our understanding of the arrival of food producing populations into northern Vietnam between 5000 and 4000 years ago, before their expansion across the rest of Mainland Southeast Asia. Substantial new insights will include information on cultural development and population ancestry, an enhanced archaeological chronology, and details of the subsistence economies of both farmers and hunter-gatherers in the region. Significant benefits are expected in understanding the population history behind modern Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam.Read moreRead less
Community Rule-Making in the Pacific Islands as Regulatory Innovation. Our study investigates the widespread phenomena of ‘community rule-making’ in Pacific Island countries, in which local communities engage in deliberative processes oriented towards development of new normative orders. Occurring largely outside of state-sanctioned authority, such processes may address social problems such as gender based violence, crime and poverty, and frequently occur in the context of other locally-driven ....Community Rule-Making in the Pacific Islands as Regulatory Innovation. Our study investigates the widespread phenomena of ‘community rule-making’ in Pacific Island countries, in which local communities engage in deliberative processes oriented towards development of new normative orders. Occurring largely outside of state-sanctioned authority, such processes may address social problems such as gender based violence, crime and poverty, and frequently occur in the context of other locally-driven attempts at community regeneration. Through collaborative empirical research in PNG, Solomon Islands and Samoa, our project will build an evidence base to better understand the potential and the dangers of community rule-making, and develop ‘responsive hybridisation’ as a new analytical framework to theorise about it.
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Resolving the archaeological enigma of Indonesia’s ‘Toalean’ culture . Archaeologists have long puzzled over the identity and origin of the 'Toalean' people from Sulawesi, Indonesia. These prehistoric hunter-gatherers produced a unique culture that emerged in the south of this island about 7500 years ago, and some scholars believe they introduced the dingo to Australia. Little is known about these early foragers despite a century of research. This project aims to investigate a significant new ca ....Resolving the archaeological enigma of Indonesia’s ‘Toalean’ culture . Archaeologists have long puzzled over the identity and origin of the 'Toalean' people from Sulawesi, Indonesia. These prehistoric hunter-gatherers produced a unique culture that emerged in the south of this island about 7500 years ago, and some scholars believe they introduced the dingo to Australia. Little is known about these early foragers despite a century of research. This project aims to investigate a significant new cave site in Sulawesi that is the richest, most well-dated Toalean locality yet uncovered. Through detailed archaeological excavations and analyses, this project expects to advance scientific knowledge of an important but poorly understood Indonesian culture that is often connected with the early human story in Australia.Read moreRead less
Urbanising Western China: Nation-building on the Sino-Tibetan frontier. This project aims to explore urbanisation as a key part of the Chinese Communist Party's policies in Tibet and the novel opportunities it affords for Tibetan identity, language, and culture. An international, multidisciplinary team will combine analysis of key government texts, interviews with government officials and ethnic minority elites, as well as observations of daily life amongst urban Tibetans. The project will produ ....Urbanising Western China: Nation-building on the Sino-Tibetan frontier. This project aims to explore urbanisation as a key part of the Chinese Communist Party's policies in Tibet and the novel opportunities it affords for Tibetan identity, language, and culture. An international, multidisciplinary team will combine analysis of key government texts, interviews with government officials and ethnic minority elites, as well as observations of daily life amongst urban Tibetans. The project will produce new understandings of the challenges of governing diversity in China, and will benefit Australia by exploring a fundamental aspect of the changing social fabric of our region’s dominant power.Read moreRead less
Political Representation in Indonesia. The project aims to understand political representation in Indonesia, asking how far politicians resemble voters in both their policy views and backgrounds (gender, religion, education etc.) It will generate new knowledge on a major potential source of fragility in the world’s third largest democracy, and pioneer a new multi-method approach for explaining how representation varies. Expected outcomes include a new framework that extends analysis of represent ....Political Representation in Indonesia. The project aims to understand political representation in Indonesia, asking how far politicians resemble voters in both their policy views and backgrounds (gender, religion, education etc.) It will generate new knowledge on a major potential source of fragility in the world’s third largest democracy, and pioneer a new multi-method approach for explaining how representation varies. Expected outcomes include a new framework that extends analysis of representation to illiberal democracies, and a tranche of public data on Indonesia for cross-national comparisons. Benefits will include a new set of analytical tools to help policy makers in Australia and the region assess sources of weakness in representative institutions in illiberal settings.Read moreRead less
The infrastructure of China's international influence. This project aims to investigate how China uses infrastructure-driven development to wield international influence, by studying how Chinese ideas of ‘developmentalism’ interact with nation building and regime security imperatives in Indonesia, Myanmar and Laos. The project expects to generate new comparative knowledge about development logics and competing sectoral interests around major infrastructure projects that breaks new conceptual gro ....The infrastructure of China's international influence. This project aims to investigate how China uses infrastructure-driven development to wield international influence, by studying how Chinese ideas of ‘developmentalism’ interact with nation building and regime security imperatives in Indonesia, Myanmar and Laos. The project expects to generate new comparative knowledge about development logics and competing sectoral interests around major infrastructure projects that breaks new conceptual ground on analysing international influence and the economic-security nexus in Asia. Enhanced understanding of the conditions under which China’s development model is attractive to others, would benefit Australian and international agencies seeking strategic diplomatic and investment decisions in the Asia-Pacific.Read moreRead less
Deep-time history of culturally significant lands and waters in Timor-Leste. This project aims to provide a new framework for understanding and managing lands and waters of exceptional biological and cultural value. The project expects to generate the first long-term records of ecological change in Timor-Leste's unique forest and tropical savanna ecosystems, providing novel insights into ancient cultural landscapes threatened by climate change. Expected outcomes include enhanced collaboration be ....Deep-time history of culturally significant lands and waters in Timor-Leste. This project aims to provide a new framework for understanding and managing lands and waters of exceptional biological and cultural value. The project expects to generate the first long-term records of ecological change in Timor-Leste's unique forest and tropical savanna ecosystems, providing novel insights into ancient cultural landscapes threatened by climate change. Expected outcomes include enhanced collaboration between Australia and Timor-Leste and comprehensive data and educational resources relevant to managing climate impacts on livelihoods. This should provide significant benefits to scientific dialogue in the Asia-Pacific region and help support economic opportunities that respect indigenous environmental knowledge.Read moreRead less