Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100254
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,205.00
Summary
The oldest rock art in Asia and the early human occupation of island Southeast Asia. Recent research revealed that humans were producing rock paintings on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi at least 39 thousand years ago (and possibly up to 46 thousand years ago). The rock art, therefore, is essentially contemporaneous with the earliest cave art in Europe and may be the world's oldest, given the arrival of Homo sapiens in Australia at least 50 thousand years ago. This project will further investi ....The oldest rock art in Asia and the early human occupation of island Southeast Asia. Recent research revealed that humans were producing rock paintings on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi at least 39 thousand years ago (and possibly up to 46 thousand years ago). The rock art, therefore, is essentially contemporaneous with the earliest cave art in Europe and may be the world's oldest, given the arrival of Homo sapiens in Australia at least 50 thousand years ago. This project will further investigate the early rock art of Sulawesi as well as other key Indonesian islands located along likely migration routes from Borneo to New Guinea. The results will have major implications for our understanding of the cultural behaviour and dispersal of the earliest modern humans to colonise Southeast Asia and Australia.Read moreRead less
The archaeology of the Great Papuan Plateau. This project aims to investigate the peopling of the Great Papuan Plateau (GPP), a large karst system situated between Australia and Southeast Asia. Recent discoveries suggest that humans arrived in northern Australia by 65,000 years ago and were in southeast Asia by at least 80,000 years ago. Dating the timing and movement of the human colonisation of the GPP has the potential to reveal evidence of the earliest eastward movement of peoples into Sahul ....The archaeology of the Great Papuan Plateau. This project aims to investigate the peopling of the Great Papuan Plateau (GPP), a large karst system situated between Australia and Southeast Asia. Recent discoveries suggest that humans arrived in northern Australia by 65,000 years ago and were in southeast Asia by at least 80,000 years ago. Dating the timing and movement of the human colonisation of the GPP has the potential to reveal evidence of the earliest eastward movement of peoples into Sahul (now Australia and New Guinea). Through archaeological excavations of limestone caves with rock art and deep cultural floor deposit recorded across the plateau, this project will provide answers to fundamental questions about the early occupation of Sahul by early modern humans.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100046
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$374,575.00
Summary
Foundations of Island Southeast Asian maritime interaction: unravelling cause and consequence for the transformation of past societies. The successful spread of Neolithic innovations across the world was one of the most important transformations in human history. This project combines the geochemical and technological analysis of stone tools to track the evolution of maritime colonisation in Island Southeast Asia, the foundation for the success of agriculture in this region.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100291
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,516.00
Summary
Archaeology of long-term cultural adaptation in the Papuan islands. This project aims to explore the antiquity of human settlement in the Massim islands of eastern Papua New Guinea and investigate the long-term adaptive strategies prehistoric people used to live in changing island environments. Ecological constraints shaped indigenous cultural identities as sea levels fluctuated and island sizes varied after initial colonisation of Sahul (Ancient New Guinea-Australia). This project will examine ....Archaeology of long-term cultural adaptation in the Papuan islands. This project aims to explore the antiquity of human settlement in the Massim islands of eastern Papua New Guinea and investigate the long-term adaptive strategies prehistoric people used to live in changing island environments. Ecological constraints shaped indigenous cultural identities as sea levels fluctuated and island sizes varied after initial colonisation of Sahul (Ancient New Guinea-Australia). This project will examine how exchange networks facilitated settlement of resource impoverished island ecosystems. The anticipated outcome is to incorporate empirical data into a theoretical framework of adaptive cultural plasticity to develop a temporal-spatial model for human settlement in the Massim, New Guinea and Sahul with multi-disciplinary benefits for understanding climatic and human effects on flora, fauna and ecology.Read moreRead less
The archaeology of ritual architecture on the islands of Malakula, Vanuatu. This project will define the historical trajectory, function and role of ritual architecture across Malakula, Vanuatu, furnishing crucial comparative data and contributing to debates on the dynamics and manifestations of long-term social changed across the Pacific. Contemporary issues such as population growth, land and food security will be addressed.
Investigating the archaeology of human settlement in the highlands of PNG. Around 50 000 years ago, people crossed the Wallace Line and set foot on Sahul (Pleistocene Australia-New Guinea) for the first time. Rapid dispersal across the Sahul continent followed during a period of climatic deterioration. Subsequent human impacts on the landscape are well preserved in the fossil record, particularly plants. This project aims to implement an archaeological and palaeobotanical approach to investigate ....Investigating the archaeology of human settlement in the highlands of PNG. Around 50 000 years ago, people crossed the Wallace Line and set foot on Sahul (Pleistocene Australia-New Guinea) for the first time. Rapid dispersal across the Sahul continent followed during a period of climatic deterioration. Subsequent human impacts on the landscape are well preserved in the fossil record, particularly plants. This project aims to implement an archaeological and palaeobotanical approach to investigate the temporal and spatial patterning of landscape use through a period of climatic change in the Late Quaternary. The results are expected to provide a fuller understanding of the subsistence strategies and dynamics of human responses to climate change over long time periods.Read moreRead less
Dimensions of value: Understanding the role and meaning of shell valuables in the Melanesian past and present. Shell valuables are fundamentally important in many Melanesian societies, linking people to each other, the land and their ancestors. Although shell artefacts are frequent in Melanesian archaeological sites, presently it is not possible to discriminate between types and levels of value. Through ethnoarchaeological enquiry in the Solomon Islands and intensive studies of museum ethnograph ....Dimensions of value: Understanding the role and meaning of shell valuables in the Melanesian past and present. Shell valuables are fundamentally important in many Melanesian societies, linking people to each other, the land and their ancestors. Although shell artefacts are frequent in Melanesian archaeological sites, presently it is not possible to discriminate between types and levels of value. Through ethnoarchaeological enquiry in the Solomon Islands and intensive studies of museum ethnographic collections, this project aims to develop tools to allow archaeologists to better interpret the nature of different shell artefacts and the social contexts of their production, use and discard. In doing so, it will enhance understandings of Melanesian societies and their transformations through time.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100133
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$409,297.00
Summary
Early animal husbandry and socio-political complexity in the Asia-Pacific. This project will investigate the origins of animal husbandry and its link to the creation of wealth, the development of socio-political prestige systems, the rise of inequality, and the coevolutionary effects of the domestication process on pigs. It focuses on 15 stratified Neolithic archaeological sites in the tropical island region of Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific dating between 4000-500 years ago. An expected ....Early animal husbandry and socio-political complexity in the Asia-Pacific. This project will investigate the origins of animal husbandry and its link to the creation of wealth, the development of socio-political prestige systems, the rise of inequality, and the coevolutionary effects of the domestication process on pigs. It focuses on 15 stratified Neolithic archaeological sites in the tropical island region of Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific dating between 4000-500 years ago. An expected outcome will be the establishment of an integrated evolutionary theoretical model that could be applied to analyzing agricultural transitions globally. Such a model predicts socio-political and rational economic strategies in pig management systems and can be tested using zooarchaeological analyses.Read moreRead less
Understanding the migrations of prehistoric populations through direct dating and isotopic tracking of their mobility patterns. This project will use newly developed isotopic methods for the systematic analysis of prehistoric human remains. The assessment of their age and origins will give new insights in the timing of human evolution and the mobility of prehistoric humans in Central Europe and the Pacific.
The archaeology of Thailand and Myanmar: A Strategic Region for Understanding Modern Human Colonization and Interactions Across our Region. At a crossroads between India, Australia and the Pacific, this project recognises western mainland Southeast Asia as critical to understanding the human history of the region over the past 50 000 years. Thailand and Myanmar are strategically positioned to test competing models of initial modern human expansion, and subsequent trajectories of cultural change ....The archaeology of Thailand and Myanmar: A Strategic Region for Understanding Modern Human Colonization and Interactions Across our Region. At a crossroads between India, Australia and the Pacific, this project recognises western mainland Southeast Asia as critical to understanding the human history of the region over the past 50 000 years. Thailand and Myanmar are strategically positioned to test competing models of initial modern human expansion, and subsequent trajectories of cultural change and interaction. This project aims to produce multiple data sets for reconstructing palaeoclimate. This data will assist in testing projections for future climate, making a significant contribution in responding to climate change and variability.Read moreRead less