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
Deep Time Images in the Age of Globalisation. Using rock art as a focus, this innovative comparative project will examine the processes that create contemporary heritage. The project aims to answer questions such as: What motivates tourists to visit rock art sites in different parts of the world? And what preconceptions do tourists and Traditional Owners have about each other? This project will transform our understanding of rock art heritage sites and provide invaluable foundations for future a ....Deep Time Images in the Age of Globalisation. Using rock art as a focus, this innovative comparative project will examine the processes that create contemporary heritage. The project aims to answer questions such as: What motivates tourists to visit rock art sites in different parts of the world? And what preconceptions do tourists and Traditional Owners have about each other? This project will transform our understanding of rock art heritage sites and provide invaluable foundations for future approaches towards heritage management, preservation, and communication. For the first time, the creation of rock art heritage will be analysed simultaneously in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere as the product of global intertwined intellectual processes and ongoing legacies.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100597
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$399,551.00
Summary
Pacific Matildas: finding the women in the history of Pacific archaeology. This project aims to investigate the scientific lives and contributions of women in the development of a particular discipline; using Pacific archaeology as a case study. The history of science has traditionally produced gender biased narratives, so an innovative interdisciplinary approach will be developed to document the hidden role of women in the history of archaeology. New knowledge will be generated in the history o ....Pacific Matildas: finding the women in the history of Pacific archaeology. This project aims to investigate the scientific lives and contributions of women in the development of a particular discipline; using Pacific archaeology as a case study. The history of science has traditionally produced gender biased narratives, so an innovative interdisciplinary approach will be developed to document the hidden role of women in the history of archaeology. New knowledge will be generated in the history of science, archaeology and gender studies. Anticipated outcomes include (i) a more inclusive history that provides diverse role models of women in science from our region, (ii) the identification of socio-cultural patterns limiting women's careers and successful strategies historically developed to overcome these.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200062
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$273,828.00
Summary
Art at a crossroads: Aboriginal responses to contact in northern Australia. This project aims to investigate historical Aboriginal responses to ‘contact’ with newcomers to their land. It will generate new knowledge using systematic recordings of rock art and bark paintings created during the last 400 years in western Arnhem Land. The analysis of these key visual first-hand records of Australia’s history, together with documentation from digital archives and other media, will lead to new ways of ....Art at a crossroads: Aboriginal responses to contact in northern Australia. This project aims to investigate historical Aboriginal responses to ‘contact’ with newcomers to their land. It will generate new knowledge using systematic recordings of rock art and bark paintings created during the last 400 years in western Arnhem Land. The analysis of these key visual first-hand records of Australia’s history, together with documentation from digital archives and other media, will lead to new ways of understanding Aboriginal history. Drawing on multiple forms of media, we will examine how Aboriginal people used graphic systems to navigate threats and opportunities in northern Australia, with the main benefit to Australia being a more comprehensive and inclusive written history.Read moreRead less
Ochre archaeomicrobiology: a new tool for understanding Aboriginal exchange. This project aims to identify the origins and movements of Australian archaeological ochre through the development of a novel tool combining genomic and chemical analysis. The geographic distribution of Australian ochre is closely linked to Aboriginal creation stories, while its physical distribution by people is evidence of cultural cooperation. Using this new archaeomicrobiological technique, the project aims to answe ....Ochre archaeomicrobiology: a new tool for understanding Aboriginal exchange. This project aims to identify the origins and movements of Australian archaeological ochre through the development of a novel tool combining genomic and chemical analysis. The geographic distribution of Australian ochre is closely linked to Aboriginal creation stories, while its physical distribution by people is evidence of cultural cooperation. Using this new archaeomicrobiological technique, the project aims to answer significant questions about past human behaviour, in terms of trade, cultural interactions, territoriality and colonisation. The method also has the potential to benefit traditional owners by contributing to repatriation projects. The collaborative detailed recording, sampling and analysis of ochre sources on traditional lands will also assist Aboriginal communities to manage this important aspect of their cultural heritage.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100601
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$389,254.00
Summary
Deep histories of occupational continuity and change in the coastal Pilbara. This project aims to use high-resolution methods to investigate the completeness of the archaeological record of human occupation in northwestern Australia (Pilbara region). It will show how this informs our understanding of human adaptation to a changing coastal environment over the past 50,000 years. This will have significant benefits, such as providing an improved understanding and better management of Australia’s u ....Deep histories of occupational continuity and change in the coastal Pilbara. This project aims to use high-resolution methods to investigate the completeness of the archaeological record of human occupation in northwestern Australia (Pilbara region). It will show how this informs our understanding of human adaptation to a changing coastal environment over the past 50,000 years. This will have significant benefits, such as providing an improved understanding and better management of Australia’s unique cultural heritage.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200473
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$283,678.00
Summary
Archives in Bark: Carved and inscribed Kimberley boab trees. This project seeks to record and contextualise Indigenous and non-Indigenous carvings and inscriptions on ancient Australian boab trees (Adansonia gregorii) growing in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It will document a hitherto poorly recorded form of traditional Indigenous cultural and artistic practice, as well as information about the lives of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people living on missions and pastoral properties ....Archives in Bark: Carved and inscribed Kimberley boab trees. This project seeks to record and contextualise Indigenous and non-Indigenous carvings and inscriptions on ancient Australian boab trees (Adansonia gregorii) growing in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It will document a hitherto poorly recorded form of traditional Indigenous cultural and artistic practice, as well as information about the lives of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people living on missions and pastoral properties prior to and immediately following European Contact. The significance of the project lies in its ability to record information about the lives of people not captured in other types of historical documents. The project should provide ecological information about the condition of these Kimberley heritage trees.Read moreRead less
Aboriginal rock art and cultural heritage management in Cape York Peninsula. The Laura Sandstone Basin of Cape York Peninsula hosts one of the richest bodies of rock art in Australia and the world. It documents the life-ways of generations of Aboriginal Australians from their original settlement, through major environmental changes, to European invasion. This vast area, much of which is now jointly managed as National Parks by Traditional Owners, remains virtually unexplored archaeologically. Th ....Aboriginal rock art and cultural heritage management in Cape York Peninsula. The Laura Sandstone Basin of Cape York Peninsula hosts one of the richest bodies of rock art in Australia and the world. It documents the life-ways of generations of Aboriginal Australians from their original settlement, through major environmental changes, to European invasion. This vast area, much of which is now jointly managed as National Parks by Traditional Owners, remains virtually unexplored archaeologically. This project aims to record this unique rock art so that its testimony remains for future generations. This will provide a framework for its sustainable management and findings will have profound implications for our understandings of the cultural behaviour and dispersal of the earliest modern humans to colonise Australia.Read moreRead less
Coastal Connections: dynamic societies of Australia's Northwest frontier. This project plans to use archaeology to write the first modern synthesis of Australia’s north-west: a region hosting significant cultural, natural and heritage values including two National Heritage List estates. The project plans to conduct work at significant sites and collections which will build on recent exciting archaeological and rock art discoveries and theoretical innovations to analyse the cross-cultural encount ....Coastal Connections: dynamic societies of Australia's Northwest frontier. This project plans to use archaeology to write the first modern synthesis of Australia’s north-west: a region hosting significant cultural, natural and heritage values including two National Heritage List estates. The project plans to conduct work at significant sites and collections which will build on recent exciting archaeological and rock art discoveries and theoretical innovations to analyse the cross-cultural encounters between Aboriginal people, Europeans and Asians in frontier colonial society. The project aims to provide data and tools for understanding and managing nationally-significant threatened archaeological resources valuable for future tourist industries.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