Environmental and cultural change along the Central Murray River. The aim of this project is to understand how past people in the riverine landscapes of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) were influenced by and adapted to environmental change. This will be achieved using a novel cross-disciplinary approach combining state-of-the-art palaeoenvironmental and archaeological methods. Indigenous people of the MDB have always been closely linked to rivers, however, over the period of human habitation flow ....Environmental and cultural change along the Central Murray River. The aim of this project is to understand how past people in the riverine landscapes of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) were influenced by and adapted to environmental change. This will be achieved using a novel cross-disciplinary approach combining state-of-the-art palaeoenvironmental and archaeological methods. Indigenous people of the MDB have always been closely linked to rivers, however, over the period of human habitation flows on these rivers were likely subject to changes that exceeded present-day variability. Understanding how these changes have impacted humans, offers clues on adaption to environmental change and aids in developing strategies for living with the inherently variable and vulnerable rivers in drylands.Read moreRead less
Impacts of Catastrophic Marine Inundation Events (CMIEs) on the Prehistoric Archaeological Record of the Australian Coastline. This project will enhance Australia's ability to respond to future Catastrophic Marine Inundation Events (CMIEs) from tsunamis and cyclonic storm surges. CMIEs represent a major natural hazard endangering Australian coastal populations and infrastructure. Disaster risk assessments and management strategies for coastal communities need data with time-depth. This project w ....Impacts of Catastrophic Marine Inundation Events (CMIEs) on the Prehistoric Archaeological Record of the Australian Coastline. This project will enhance Australia's ability to respond to future Catastrophic Marine Inundation Events (CMIEs) from tsunamis and cyclonic storm surges. CMIEs represent a major natural hazard endangering Australian coastal populations and infrastructure. Disaster risk assessments and management strategies for coastal communities need data with time-depth. This project will produce high-resolution dating and stratigraphic evidence on the effects of CMIEs on the North West Shelf WA coastline over 100 to 1000 year timescales. 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
An archaeological investigation into the collapse of Polonnaruva, Sri Lanka. This project aims to develop an improved understanding of the collapse of the kingdom of Polonnaruva, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Sri Lanka. The medieval collapse of Polonnaruva marked the end of the lowland kingdoms in Sri Lanka's arid north, and the end of a distinctive and successful form of hydraulic low-density urban settlement. Recent research at Anuradhapura suggests the very economic system that enabled ....An archaeological investigation into the collapse of Polonnaruva, Sri Lanka. This project aims to develop an improved understanding of the collapse of the kingdom of Polonnaruva, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Sri Lanka. The medieval collapse of Polonnaruva marked the end of the lowland kingdoms in Sri Lanka's arid north, and the end of a distinctive and successful form of hydraulic low-density urban settlement. Recent research at Anuradhapura suggests the very economic system that enabled these kingdoms to flourish within a marginal environment, may have facilitated their collapse. This project will characterise, contextualise and explain the development and failure of the low-density urban state of Polonnaruva. The project expects to inform environmental security and improve management and risk reduction in decision making in relation to ancient and contemporary socio-environmental systems.Read moreRead less
A 140,000 year insight into the imprint of climate and humans on Australia. Before the arrival of Europeans, two events shaped Australia's current landscapes and biota more than any others: climate change during the glacial cycle and the arrival of humans on the continent. However, the full scale of these events is not well understood. High resolution analyses of two continuous 140 000 year old sediment deposits will be used in this project to fill this void and answer fundamental questions abou ....A 140,000 year insight into the imprint of climate and humans on Australia. Before the arrival of Europeans, two events shaped Australia's current landscapes and biota more than any others: climate change during the glacial cycle and the arrival of humans on the continent. However, the full scale of these events is not well understood. High resolution analyses of two continuous 140 000 year old sediment deposits will be used in this project to fill this void and answer fundamental questions about how current Australian environments came to be.Read moreRead less
Naïve island landscapes: people and environmental change in tropical sclerophyll landscapes. A detailed history of how people in tropical island environments have managed environmental change will be produced for the South Wellesley Archipelago in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The outcomes will provide new insights into the dynamic relationship between people and environment during periods of climate change.
The dynamics of human environment interactions in late Pleistocene and Holocene highland New Guinea: a study of the Ivane valley. The project will investigate how access to starchy plant foods facilitated the movement of colonizing peoples into new environments, and was critical to survival in Sahul (Ice Age Australia/New Guinea). It will aid in understanding the dynamics of human responses to the impacts of climate change.
Resolving the Maya climate-collapse hypothesis. This project aims to test the climate-collapse theory by developing detailed records of climate and social change from Maya cities that did not collapse, and in doing so identify why some cities were more resilient to the impact of climatic variability than others. Catastrophic climate variability is often invoked to explain the historic collapse of large low-density urban centres in the global tropics. The collapse of the Maya civilisation of Cent ....Resolving the Maya climate-collapse hypothesis. This project aims to test the climate-collapse theory by developing detailed records of climate and social change from Maya cities that did not collapse, and in doing so identify why some cities were more resilient to the impact of climatic variability than others. Catastrophic climate variability is often invoked to explain the historic collapse of large low-density urban centres in the global tropics. The collapse of the Maya civilisation of Central America after the 8th century AD is the archetypal social collapse yet, despite robust evidence for drought across Central America, archaeological evidence suggests a heterogenous social response. This project will reveal what social, material, or environmental properties facilitated resiliency in historic urban centres confronting climatic variability.Read moreRead less
Well beaten tracks: antiquity of Aboriginal landuse in eastern Tasmania. This project examines the archaeology of Aboriginal people in eastern Tasmania. Its major aim is to test two models of Holocene and late Pleistocene land use. It investigates the earliest traces of human occupation in eastern Tasmania and subsequent cultural developments after the apparent abandonment of southwest Tasmanian caves at the end of the ice age. The study aims to strengthen understanding of the impact of geograph ....Well beaten tracks: antiquity of Aboriginal landuse in eastern Tasmania. This project examines the archaeology of Aboriginal people in eastern Tasmania. Its major aim is to test two models of Holocene and late Pleistocene land use. It investigates the earliest traces of human occupation in eastern Tasmania and subsequent cultural developments after the apparent abandonment of southwest Tasmanian caves at the end of the ice age. The study aims to strengthen understanding of the impact of geographic connectedness and isolation on Aboriginal populations and the development of Tasmanian Aboriginal society recorded at European contact. Its potential significance lies in contributing to debates on Aboriginal social/economic change and stasis.Read moreRead less
Urbanism after Angkor (14th-18th century). This project aims to understand changes after the breakdown of low-density urbanism in Cambodia. Recognising the emergence of urban forms after the demise of Angkor challenges the global “Collapse of Civilisation” trope, and redefines the Middle Period of Cambodian history (15th-19th century). This project proposes that continuity, renewal, variety and adaptation are as apparent in Cambodia’s middle period as loss and failure. Applying landscape archaeo ....Urbanism after Angkor (14th-18th century). This project aims to understand changes after the breakdown of low-density urbanism in Cambodia. Recognising the emergence of urban forms after the demise of Angkor challenges the global “Collapse of Civilisation” trope, and redefines the Middle Period of Cambodian history (15th-19th century). This project proposes that continuity, renewal, variety and adaptation are as apparent in Cambodia’s middle period as loss and failure. Applying landscape archaeology to this ‘dark age’ of Southeast Asian history embeds the demise of low-density urbanism and the development of towns in an environmental context. Identifying adaptive pathways after ‘collapse’ could have implications for urbanism in the tropics.Read moreRead less