Remaking Australian Politics: Electioneering from the 19th Century to the 21st. Critics have lamented the apparent decline of elections as meaningful opportunities for rational deliberation; journalists' election reports increasingly focus on campaign methods; politicians have expressed alarm at how little Australians know about Australia's democratic history. This project, the first long-term study of electioneering in Australia, will address each of these issues. It will provide a scholarly pe ....Remaking Australian Politics: Electioneering from the 19th Century to the 21st. Critics have lamented the apparent decline of elections as meaningful opportunities for rational deliberation; journalists' election reports increasingly focus on campaign methods; politicians have expressed alarm at how little Australians know about Australia's democratic history. This project, the first long-term study of electioneering in Australia, will address each of these issues. It will provide a scholarly perspective on sometimes overstated claims of contemporary decline. It will offer journalists and political professionals' insights into changing campaign practices. And it will produce an accessible account of the significance and history of elections for a new generation of Australians, thereby strengthening democratic life. Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0453555
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$109,595.00
Summary
Luminescence stimulation and detection facility for dating of Quaternary geological and archaeological sediments. Reliable ages are required in the Earth and archaeological sciences. Luminescence dating is a flexible geochronological technique for diverse deposits. It exploits the radiation-induced thermally (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) emissions from minerals exposed to sunlight before burial. Recent technical developments have made feasible OSL dating of small samples (e.g. ....Luminescence stimulation and detection facility for dating of Quaternary geological and archaeological sediments. Reliable ages are required in the Earth and archaeological sciences. Luminescence dating is a flexible geochronological technique for diverse deposits. It exploits the radiation-induced thermally (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) emissions from minerals exposed to sunlight before burial. Recent technical developments have made feasible OSL dating of small samples (e.g., individual sand grains) and sediments deposited during the past 0.5-1 million years. We request funds for a Risø TL/OSL system with single-grain attachment to resolve the timing of sea-level, climate and landscape changes, and the chronology of human evolution and dispersal, in Australia and Southeast Asia.Read moreRead less
Radiocarbon dating frontiers: Testing hypotheses of human evolution and environmental change in Australasia and Southeast Asia (60,000-25,000 years ago). Radiocarbon (14C) dating has revolutionised our understanding of archaeological events and past environments. However, much of the period 60,000-25,0000 years ago is beyond the traditional limit of the method (40,000 years). This is unfortunate as this period is characterised by rapid, extreme shifts in climate during which the global spread ....Radiocarbon dating frontiers: Testing hypotheses of human evolution and environmental change in Australasia and Southeast Asia (60,000-25,000 years ago). Radiocarbon (14C) dating has revolutionised our understanding of archaeological events and past environments. However, much of the period 60,000-25,0000 years ago is beyond the traditional limit of the method (40,000 years). This is unfortunate as this period is characterised by rapid, extreme shifts in climate during which the global spread of modern humans took place. This project will utilise the latest developments in 14C dating (allowing ages up to 60,000 years ago) to test hypotheses concerning the timing of human arrival and settlement in Southeast Asia and Australasia, their environmental impact, and the synchroneity of climate change between the hemispheres.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0561224
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$267,767.00
Summary
14CHRONOS (Chronologies from High-ResolutiON Organic Separations): a centre for radiocarbon dating of specific compounds for the environmental and archaeological sciences. Accurate timekeeping is central to the environmental and archaeological sciences. Radiocarbon dating is the leading geochronological technique for events of the past 50,000 years, but the issue for sample contamination remains a major source of concern. Avoidance of contaminants can be achieved through the identification of sp ....14CHRONOS (Chronologies from High-ResolutiON Organic Separations): a centre for radiocarbon dating of specific compounds for the environmental and archaeological sciences. Accurate timekeeping is central to the environmental and archaeological sciences. Radiocarbon dating is the leading geochronological technique for events of the past 50,000 years, but the issue for sample contamination remains a major source of concern. Avoidance of contaminants can be achieved through the identification of specific biomolecular compounds that unambiguously formed part of the original sample, and the isolation of these biomolecules for radiocarbon dating using accelerator mass spectrometry. Here we request funds to establish Australia's first compound-specific radiocarbon dating facility, to obtain ages of high accuracy for key studies of climate and landscape change, evolutionary biology and archaeology.Read moreRead less
Aboriginal Sandstone quarries, exchange and the history of seedgrinding in Australia. Exchange networks, developed from a complex series of interactions between Aboriginal groups, have permitted the movement of goods, ceremonies and stories across the Australian landscape. Examination of the evolution and development of exchange will be undertaken through the study of sandstone quarries and the grinding stones that were derived from these places. The interdisciplinary approach involves geologi ....Aboriginal Sandstone quarries, exchange and the history of seedgrinding in Australia. Exchange networks, developed from a complex series of interactions between Aboriginal groups, have permitted the movement of goods, ceremonies and stories across the Australian landscape. Examination of the evolution and development of exchange will be undertaken through the study of sandstone quarries and the grinding stones that were derived from these places. The interdisciplinary approach involves geological characterisation of the sandstones and the grinding stones coupled with an archaeological investigation of production and use. The results of this study will provide a picture of the antiquity of exchange networks in an economic and social context.Read moreRead less
Riversleigh and Cuddie Springs: Unravelling Key Factors in the Extinction of the Late Pleistocene Megafauna. The project will construct a clear picture of faunal change during the Late Pleistocene, a period of well documented extinctions of giant animals (megafauna). Archaeological excavation at Riversleigh, in north-west Queensland and palaeontological excavation at Cuddie Springs, in northern N.S.W. will complete a picture of the animals, people and environment of the prehistoric period at ea ....Riversleigh and Cuddie Springs: Unravelling Key Factors in the Extinction of the Late Pleistocene Megafauna. The project will construct a clear picture of faunal change during the Late Pleistocene, a period of well documented extinctions of giant animals (megafauna). Archaeological excavation at Riversleigh, in north-west Queensland and palaeontological excavation at Cuddie Springs, in northern N.S.W. will complete a picture of the animals, people and environment of the prehistoric period at each site. With this information, the roles of climate and people in the extinction process can be assessed. This study will complement the current research direction and public education programs of the Australian Museum and the EPA's management plans for the World Heritage Riversleigh site.Read moreRead less
First Australians, Last Megafauna? Modern Approaches To A Prehistoric Puzzle. Animal species will be, and have been, threatened with extinction continuously through time. Understanding the possible role of people in these events and how climate change may have made some species more vulnerable to extinction than others is an important aspect of ongoing debate in our society. How these factors influenced the extinction process has implications for how we might manage our policies on land, conser ....First Australians, Last Megafauna? Modern Approaches To A Prehistoric Puzzle. Animal species will be, and have been, threatened with extinction continuously through time. Understanding the possible role of people in these events and how climate change may have made some species more vulnerable to extinction than others is an important aspect of ongoing debate in our society. How these factors influenced the extinction process has implications for how we might manage our policies on land, conservation, biodiversity, and 'at-risk' animal species. Additionally, the involvement of indigenous communities provides important employment and cultural exchange opportunities.Read moreRead less
Late Pleistocene faunal change and the formation of fossil deposits: a taphonomic approach. New insights into the relationships between environment, animal communities and humans are the key to understanding faunal extinctions from the prehistoric past to the modern day. Using taphonomic and environmental evidence, three prehistoric sites from across Australia will be examined to document faunal succession and the factors contributing to the formation of fossil deposits in each location. The ou ....Late Pleistocene faunal change and the formation of fossil deposits: a taphonomic approach. New insights into the relationships between environment, animal communities and humans are the key to understanding faunal extinctions from the prehistoric past to the modern day. Using taphonomic and environmental evidence, three prehistoric sites from across Australia will be examined to document faunal succession and the factors contributing to the formation of fossil deposits in each location. The outcomes include a clearer understanding of the dynamics of fauna, people and climate during a critical period in Australian prehistory as well as providing new evidence against which the current explanatory models of human impacts and climate change may be tested.Read moreRead less
The Spying Game: Australian Constructions of Espionage. The Spying Game will explore the human dimensions of espionage in the contexts of Australian history and culture. While technological aspects of spying and institutional histories of intelligence and security organisations have been prominent, very few scholarly investigations have been made of the cultures of espionage and the human dilemmas of spying. By investigating the ways in which spying has been understood and represented in Austral ....The Spying Game: Australian Constructions of Espionage. The Spying Game will explore the human dimensions of espionage in the contexts of Australian history and culture. While technological aspects of spying and institutional histories of intelligence and security organisations have been prominent, very few scholarly investigations have been made of the cultures of espionage and the human dilemmas of spying. By investigating the ways in which spying has been understood and represented in Australian society, and comparing these representations with international examples, I will contribute significant new knowledge and understanding of a burgeoning field of employment and activity during a period of crisis for the intelligence community and wider society.Read moreRead less
ARC Research Network for Understanding and Managing Australian Biodiversity. Biodiversity research is strong in Australia but is highly uncoordinated and, along with recent major breakthroughs in both theory and techniques, has highlighted the need for a Network to properly integrate research and focus it on the most appropriate scale. This Network aims to bring together a diverse spectrum of highly experienced and early career researchers to pool their ideas and expertise to allow them to deter ....ARC Research Network for Understanding and Managing Australian Biodiversity. Biodiversity research is strong in Australia but is highly uncoordinated and, along with recent major breakthroughs in both theory and techniques, has highlighted the need for a Network to properly integrate research and focus it on the most appropriate scale. This Network aims to bring together a diverse spectrum of highly experienced and early career researchers to pool their ideas and expertise to allow them to determine how best to describe Australia's current biodiversity and the biological and environmental history leading up to the present. A major outcome will be the ability to predict the impacts of environmental change on biodiversity to assist management decisions across Australia, with lessons of global importance.Read moreRead less