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
Life ways of the first Australians. The project will enhance national cultural heritage assessment and management in the west Kimberley. This is a Australian Government priority because of planned Liquid Natural Gas and other developments in this region. Through the project officer positions, Indigenous communities will gain training and skills that will lead to sustainable livelihoods in cultural tourism or employment opportunities in government cultural heritage agencies. The project directly ....Life ways of the first Australians. The project will enhance national cultural heritage assessment and management in the west Kimberley. This is a Australian Government priority because of planned Liquid Natural Gas and other developments in this region. Through the project officer positions, Indigenous communities will gain training and skills that will lead to sustainable livelihoods in cultural tourism or employment opportunities in government cultural heritage agencies. The project directly addresses the National Research Priority goal of responding to climate change and variability by advancing knowledge and understanding of past climates, and assisting in better modelling of future climate change in our region. The project will provide postgraduate training in fieldwork and analysis for four APAIs.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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100890
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$427,082.00
Summary
Rapid climate change, early modern human dispersal, and Neanderthal demise. Why are we the only surviving human species? This project aims to investigate whether seasonal environmental changes associated with rapid climate change events played a role in the expansion of our own species and the demise of Neanderthals between 60,000-30,000 years ago. The project will generate quantitative, sub-seasonal records of past climate variability using novel multi-proxy analyses from key archaeological sit ....Rapid climate change, early modern human dispersal, and Neanderthal demise. Why are we the only surviving human species? This project aims to investigate whether seasonal environmental changes associated with rapid climate change events played a role in the expansion of our own species and the demise of Neanderthals between 60,000-30,000 years ago. The project will generate quantitative, sub-seasonal records of past climate variability using novel multi-proxy analyses from key archaeological sites, offering a framework for understanding early human responses to extreme climate fluctuations. This may inform our strategies for coping with future extreme scenarios. These unparalleled records will also provide data to test and refine climate models, enabling a better understanding of Earth’s climate system. 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
Early desert settlement of Arabia following out-of-Africa human dispersals. This project aims to improve our understanding of the nature, timing and climatic context of early human expansion into SW Asia, from a new extensive archaeological complex with associated palaeoenvironmental sequences on the Arabian Peninsula – a strategic out-of-Africa migratory corridor. It will combine innovative approaches in archaeology, geochronology and palaeoenvironmental research to evaluate the environmental a ....Early desert settlement of Arabia following out-of-Africa human dispersals. This project aims to improve our understanding of the nature, timing and climatic context of early human expansion into SW Asia, from a new extensive archaeological complex with associated palaeoenvironmental sequences on the Arabian Peninsula – a strategic out-of-Africa migratory corridor. It will combine innovative approaches in archaeology, geochronology and palaeoenvironmental research to evaluate the environmental and cultural adaptability of early desert settlement, providing critical new insights into globally significant human dispersal debates spanning multiple continents, including Australia. The aim is a fundamental new perspective on long-term human occupation dynamics of deserts and new understanding of regional dispersals.Read moreRead less
Early African woodworking and tool use at the transition to modern humans. Our archaeological excavations and preliminary dating of Amanzi Springs (South Africa) to between 515,000 and 163,000 years ago shows that the site covers a critical time period that led to the origins of our species, Homo sapiens. Amanzi documents, in never before seen resolution, the technological leaps that our ancestors made during this transition. At ~400,000 years ago this includes the oldest evidence for woodworkin ....Early African woodworking and tool use at the transition to modern humans. Our archaeological excavations and preliminary dating of Amanzi Springs (South Africa) to between 515,000 and 163,000 years ago shows that the site covers a critical time period that led to the origins of our species, Homo sapiens. Amanzi documents, in never before seen resolution, the technological leaps that our ancestors made during this transition. At ~400,000 years ago this includes the oldest evidence for woodworking and tool use and >163,000 years ago the oldest heat treatment of rock to make stone tools. The organic preservation at the site means that we can reconstruct changing environment, linked to sea level changes and spring activity, for this period in the evolution of our ancestors at a level of detail not previously possibleRead moreRead less
A new chronological framework to access regional variability in mid-Pleistocene archaeological, palaeoecological and palaeoclimatic data from Africa. This project will enable us to understand, for the first time, the contribution of South Africa to human origins between 1.8 and 0.6 million years ago. It will help us understand how major changes in climate have influenced our evolutionary history, the animals around us and how our behaviour and tools have changed to adapt to such changes.