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
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
The origins of Asian domestic buffalo and its role in the development of agricultural technology. Benefits for Australia are educational, cultural and scientific. This project will enhance research collaborations between Australian universities and research institutions in China, Canada, the USA and India. It will particularly create more opportunities for academic exchange between Australia and China. This project employs new methods combining archaeology with DNA technology and archaeometry to ....The origins of Asian domestic buffalo and its role in the development of agricultural technology. Benefits for Australia are educational, cultural and scientific. This project will enhance research collaborations between Australian universities and research institutions in China, Canada, the USA and India. It will particularly create more opportunities for academic exchange between Australia and China. This project employs new methods combining archaeology with DNA technology and archaeometry to tackle important issues in animal domestication and agricultural technology in many Asian regions. Its outcome will make a significant contribution to our knowledge of the human history of our region and the world.Read moreRead less
Technology and behavioural evolution in late Pleistocene Africa, Europe and Australia. Many of the behaviours which distinguish Homo sapiens from other species first appeared in the late Pleistocene, raising the issue of whether our cognitive capacity changed significantly in this period. This project will use recent advances developed by Australian researchers to help resolve this cornerstone issue in human behavioural evolution. The project will also emphasise the importance of Australian arch ....Technology and behavioural evolution in late Pleistocene Africa, Europe and Australia. Many of the behaviours which distinguish Homo sapiens from other species first appeared in the late Pleistocene, raising the issue of whether our cognitive capacity changed significantly in this period. This project will use recent advances developed by Australian researchers to help resolve this cornerstone issue in human behavioural evolution. The project will also emphasise the importance of Australian archaeology to models of human evolution, redressing the peripheral role that the Pleistocene archaeology of the country is often accorded. In addressing these issues, the project will highlight Australia's commitment to core issues in human evolution, and deepen Australia's scientific ties with South Africa.Read moreRead less
Diversity, interaction and change in prehistory: the third millennium BCE in Cyprus. This project will enhance the high reputation Australians have developed over many years in Mediterranean archaeology, maintaining and broadening Australia's cultural and economic relationships with Cyprus. It will be relevant to both scholars and the general public in Cyprus and the large Cypriot community in Australia. It will involve the training of students from both Australian and Cypriot universities in al ....Diversity, interaction and change in prehistory: the third millennium BCE in Cyprus. This project will enhance the high reputation Australians have developed over many years in Mediterranean archaeology, maintaining and broadening Australia's cultural and economic relationships with Cyprus. It will be relevant to both scholars and the general public in Cyprus and the large Cypriot community in Australia. It will involve the training of students from both Australian and Cypriot universities in all aspects of archaeological fieldwork, laboratory analysis and research.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
An Archaeology of Institutional Confinement: the Hyde Park Barracks 1848-1886. This project has three benefits. First, it will help Australians understand more about the history of government care for the sick and the destitute, an issue that strongly resonates in the contemporary community. Second, by focusing on the archaeology of migration we can improve our understanding of its consequences. Third, the visitors to the Hyde Park Barracks Museum will be better able to understand the richness ....An Archaeology of Institutional Confinement: the Hyde Park Barracks 1848-1886. This project has three benefits. First, it will help Australians understand more about the history of government care for the sick and the destitute, an issue that strongly resonates in the contemporary community. Second, by focusing on the archaeology of migration we can improve our understanding of its consequences. Third, the visitors to the Hyde Park Barracks Museum will be better able to understand the richness and diversity of the archaeological and historical records of early Australian history. This will enhance the heritage value of archaeological assemblages that present significant challenges to those who seek to display or interpret them. Read moreRead less
Astride the Wallace Line 2: human evolution, dispersal, culture and environmental change in Southeast Asia. Our previous project on the archaeology and fossil record of Southeast Asia yielded results of international significance, including the discovery of a new human species and dates for major changes in the Indonesian faunal sequence. It also involved collaboration between Australian, Indonesian and Canadian researchers from a range of institutions and disciplines, and provided topics for s ....Astride the Wallace Line 2: human evolution, dispersal, culture and environmental change in Southeast Asia. Our previous project on the archaeology and fossil record of Southeast Asia yielded results of international significance, including the discovery of a new human species and dates for major changes in the Indonesian faunal sequence. It also involved collaboration between Australian, Indonesian and Canadian researchers from a range of institutions and disciplines, and provided topics for six PhD and two MA students. This level of significant research, international collaboration and training will continue with the current project.Read moreRead less
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
The Spandrel Hypothesis: Towards a unified theory of stone flaking. The archaeological story of human evolution and prehistory has a strong Old World bias – the impression is that main events were in Africa and Europe and Australasia was mostly irrelevant. This is particularly true where stone tools are concerned: Australasian tools appear not to track the progression in technology that appears to be present in the Old World Standard Sequence. This project will test whether the Standard Sequence ....The Spandrel Hypothesis: Towards a unified theory of stone flaking. The archaeological story of human evolution and prehistory has a strong Old World bias – the impression is that main events were in Africa and Europe and Australasia was mostly irrelevant. This is particularly true where stone tools are concerned: Australasian tools appear not to track the progression in technology that appears to be present in the Old World Standard Sequence. This project will test whether the Standard Sequence has been overinterpreted and the pattern recognised for Australasia is in fact applicable world-wide. The results of the project will enhance the way Australia interprets itself and the Australasian region to the rest of the world. This is a goal of Research Priority 4 (Safeguarding Australia).Read moreRead less