From the Desert to the Sea: Managing Rock Art, Country and Culture. This Project will expand our understanding of Aboriginal settlement and land-use in north-west Australia by investigating how the mythological narratives of Australia’s deserts enable the transmission of knowledge in water-limited environments. Combining traditional ecological knowledge and novel scientific approaches (e.g. anthracology, remote sensing, oxygen-isotopes) will provide new insights into human behaviours at rock art ....From the Desert to the Sea: Managing Rock Art, Country and Culture. This Project will expand our understanding of Aboriginal settlement and land-use in north-west Australia by investigating how the mythological narratives of Australia’s deserts enable the transmission of knowledge in water-limited environments. Combining traditional ecological knowledge and novel scientific approaches (e.g. anthracology, remote sensing, oxygen-isotopes) will provide new insights into human behaviours at rock art site complexes. It will develop management regimes and formal certification for Indigenous rangers while building heritage capacity in these partner communities: enabling intergenerational, culturally appropriate knowledge transfer protocols are in place to ensure sustainable economic heritage futures.Read moreRead less
Archaeology of a Torres Strait reef island community. This archaeology project aims to document the long-term development of socioeconomic strategies by Indigenous Australians to live sustainably on small, drought-prone, tropical reef islands. It uses Tudu in central Torres Strait as a case study. This project will produce new and innovative insights into how Torres Strait Islander reef island communities built cultural and community resilience to environmental stress. It will broaden Australian ....Archaeology of a Torres Strait reef island community. This archaeology project aims to document the long-term development of socioeconomic strategies by Indigenous Australians to live sustainably on small, drought-prone, tropical reef islands. It uses Tudu in central Torres Strait as a case study. This project will produce new and innovative insights into how Torres Strait Islander reef island communities built cultural and community resilience to environmental stress. It will broaden Australian archaeological knowledge of continental rocky islands to include recently formed reef islands. Read moreRead less
Colonial encounters: Archaeology at Ebenezer Mission, north-western Victoria. From the 1860s, most Aboriginal people in south-eastern Australia were confined to reserves such as Ebenezer Mission, and despite official accounts which argue for the success of the 'civilising' enterprise, archaeological evidence promises to provide a new Indigenous perspective. Investigation of this key site, in collaboration with Aboriginal descendants, will reveal 1. How everyday life on the mission was experience ....Colonial encounters: Archaeology at Ebenezer Mission, north-western Victoria. From the 1860s, most Aboriginal people in south-eastern Australia were confined to reserves such as Ebenezer Mission, and despite official accounts which argue for the success of the 'civilising' enterprise, archaeological evidence promises to provide a new Indigenous perspective. Investigation of this key site, in collaboration with Aboriginal descendants, will reveal 1. How everyday life on the mission was experienced by different social groups: Aboriginal girls, boys, families and 'fringe' dwellers, and Moravian missionaries, 2. The role of gender organisation within the colonial process, and 3. How Aboriginal cultural identity was shaped by missionisation. A range of general and scholarly histories will be produced.Read moreRead less
Kimberley Visions: rock art style provinces in northern Australia. This project aims to examine the role that art has played in managing social and environmental change over the past 50 000 years. The project seeks to carry out the first systematic comparative analysis of different rock art repertoires and associated archaeology from the Kimberley and Arnhem Land. It is intended that identifying continuities and changes in this archaeological signature will provide direct evidence of how people ....Kimberley Visions: rock art style provinces in northern Australia. This project aims to examine the role that art has played in managing social and environmental change over the past 50 000 years. The project seeks to carry out the first systematic comparative analysis of different rock art repertoires and associated archaeology from the Kimberley and Arnhem Land. It is intended that identifying continuities and changes in this archaeological signature will provide direct evidence of how people adapted and signalled their identity. Intended outcomes are new understanding to contribute to inter-regional rock art studies and inform Indigenous and government heritage management practices.Read moreRead less
Before Cook: Contact, Negotiation and the Archaeology of the Tiwi Islands. The narrative of culture contact in Australia is dominated by British colonisation, yet Indigenous Australians in Northern Australia had a much earlier connection with global explorers and traders. We aim to conduct the first systematic maritime and terrestrial archaeological investigations of the Tiwi Islands, alongside the study of material culture, oral history and archival materials associated with early Dutch explore ....Before Cook: Contact, Negotiation and the Archaeology of the Tiwi Islands. The narrative of culture contact in Australia is dominated by British colonisation, yet Indigenous Australians in Northern Australia had a much earlier connection with global explorers and traders. We aim to conduct the first systematic maritime and terrestrial archaeological investigations of the Tiwi Islands, alongside the study of material culture, oral history and archival materials associated with early Dutch explorers, British colonists, and Macassans. This multi-disciplinary approach will broaden our understanding of long-term race relations in Australia, the past presence of foreign visitors to Northern Australia, develop cultural heritage public policy and consolidate Tiwi cultural identity and history into the historical record.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200155
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$277,158.00
Summary
Aboriginal Involvement in the Early Development of Australian Archaeology. This project aims to interrogate the importance of Aboriginal knowledge in the development of Australian archaeology. Through a close study of archival and published archaeological literature, the project anticipates generating new knowledge and innovative interpretations of archaeology's history. Expected outcomes include a radical rewriting of a significant chapter of the nation’s history and enhancing the reinterpreta ....Aboriginal Involvement in the Early Development of Australian Archaeology. This project aims to interrogate the importance of Aboriginal knowledge in the development of Australian archaeology. Through a close study of archival and published archaeological literature, the project anticipates generating new knowledge and innovative interpretations of archaeology's history. Expected outcomes include a radical rewriting of a significant chapter of the nation’s history and enhancing the reinterpretation of museum displays and tourism presentation of heritage sites. This reclaiming of the contribution of the First Australians in the development of the current knowledge of 65,000 years of our history, seeks to benefit Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and to contribute to ongoing reconciliation. Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200357
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$261,172.00
Summary
Fire, Flood and Food: People and Landscape Change in Northern Victoria. The project aims to explore how access to water and the use of fire have shaped land use from ancient times to the recent past using the case study of the Loddon River basin, Victoria. By linking Aboriginal and historical archaeology and Aboriginal Studies the project seeks to develop an innovative integrated data set that spans the entirety of human history in Australia. Anticipated outcomes include new knowledge about how ....Fire, Flood and Food: People and Landscape Change in Northern Victoria. The project aims to explore how access to water and the use of fire have shaped land use from ancient times to the recent past using the case study of the Loddon River basin, Victoria. By linking Aboriginal and historical archaeology and Aboriginal Studies the project seeks to develop an innovative integrated data set that spans the entirety of human history in Australia. Anticipated outcomes include new knowledge about how people have responded to environmental and social change and increased capacity for Aboriginal people to achieve their educational and land management goals. This should provide significant benefits that inform contemporary responses to climate change, water security, fire management, and sustainable food production.Read moreRead less
Contemporary Indigenous relationships to rock art. This project aims to understand the roles and meanings of archaeological heritage in the lives of Indigenous people today. Archaeological investigations typically rely on objects, images and places as evidence of past human activity, but these "artefacts" could also tell us about present-day relationships between people and their archaeological heritage. The project will examine how Aboriginal people from the south-western Gulf of Carpentaria en ....Contemporary Indigenous relationships to rock art. This project aims to understand the roles and meanings of archaeological heritage in the lives of Indigenous people today. Archaeological investigations typically rely on objects, images and places as evidence of past human activity, but these "artefacts" could also tell us about present-day relationships between people and their archaeological heritage. The project will examine how Aboriginal people from the south-western Gulf of Carpentaria engage with rock art, one of the most visual aspects of the archaeological record. By focussing on the cultural re-working of relationships to rock art, this project aims to provide new understandings to inform national and Indigenous futures, and support progressive advancements in land and sea management.Read moreRead less
Tracing connection and change in deep-time landscapes. This project aims to develop new insights into Australia’s past by telling the story of Aboriginal people’s long-term connections and changing relationships with prominent places. Building on new discoveries in the northwest arid zone, the project will conduct archaeological research at landforms in the eastern Pilbara. The project will analyse rock art and excavated materials from key sites to learn how they acted as beacons through time to ....Tracing connection and change in deep-time landscapes. This project aims to develop new insights into Australia’s past by telling the story of Aboriginal people’s long-term connections and changing relationships with prominent places. Building on new discoveries in the northwest arid zone, the project will conduct archaeological research at landforms in the eastern Pilbara. The project will analyse rock art and excavated materials from key sites to learn how they acted as beacons through time to structure and shape people's movements, encounters and connections with others. This is expected to promote Indigenous connection with cultural heritage, help facilitate cultural education programs in remote areas, and offer new insights into the relationship between cultural heritage and Indigenous health and well-being.Read moreRead less
Dating Murujuga's Rock Art: new scientific approaches. The Dampier Archipelago is on Australia's National Heritage List because of its significant rock art and stone features. Known as Murujuga to its traditional custodians, this land- and seascape has over 1 million art works. While the scientific and cultural significance of this area is acknowledged, we still know little about the age of this landscape, the regional palaeoclimatology, and the timing and intensity of rock art production since ....Dating Murujuga's Rock Art: new scientific approaches. The Dampier Archipelago is on Australia's National Heritage List because of its significant rock art and stone features. Known as Murujuga to its traditional custodians, this land- and seascape has over 1 million art works. While the scientific and cultural significance of this area is acknowledged, we still know little about the age of this landscape, the regional palaeoclimatology, and the timing and intensity of rock art production since Aboriginal people moved into this region 50,000 years ago. This project will develop new scientific approaches to direct-dating engravings and stone features, reconstruct climate from geological proxies, and model voyaging opportunities as this unique cultural estate transformed to an archipelago.Read moreRead less