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
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0882682
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$100,000.00
Summary
The Australasian Pollen and Spore Atlas. The results generated in this project will enhance Australian research capabilities across multiple disciplines by providing access to key knowledge of pollen and spores in our region. A unified approach to the archiving, presentation and accessibility to existing and evolving databases will provide a considerably improved context for identification and knowledge pooling of any given pollen or spore type. This will create a nexus for novel interactions be ....The Australasian Pollen and Spore Atlas. The results generated in this project will enhance Australian research capabilities across multiple disciplines by providing access to key knowledge of pollen and spores in our region. A unified approach to the archiving, presentation and accessibility to existing and evolving databases will provide a considerably improved context for identification and knowledge pooling of any given pollen or spore type. This will create a nexus for novel interactions between researchers and end users of these data from within and beyond Australia's borders.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100015
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$430,000.00
Summary
Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research . Australian facility for taphonomic experimental research: The aim of this project is to establish a unique Australian research facility dedicated to studying the physical, chemical, and biological processes of human decomposition. This facility will be the first of its kind in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, drawing together a collaborative team of experts in a broad range of taphonomy disciplines. The results of the research are ....Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research . Australian facility for taphonomic experimental research: The aim of this project is to establish a unique Australian research facility dedicated to studying the physical, chemical, and biological processes of human decomposition. This facility will be the first of its kind in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, drawing together a collaborative team of experts in a broad range of taphonomy disciplines. The results of the research are expected to advance our limited understanding of the taphonomic processes acting on remains in a natural Australian environment. The outcomes will assist police and forensic services to improve their procedures for searching, locating, recovering, and identifying missing persons, victims of homicide, and victims of disaster on both a national and international scale.Read moreRead less
A real-time biomechanical study of Neanderthal anterior dentition. This project aims to advance understanding of the evolution of human dentition using an innovative approach that integrates sophisticated 3D digital modelling with engineering tools. Neanderthals are our closest extinct human relatives that inhabited Eurasia from about 230,000 to 28,000 years ago. However, their protruding faces, large noses and big anterior teeth, raise questions about why these people look so different from us. ....A real-time biomechanical study of Neanderthal anterior dentition. This project aims to advance understanding of the evolution of human dentition using an innovative approach that integrates sophisticated 3D digital modelling with engineering tools. Neanderthals are our closest extinct human relatives that inhabited Eurasia from about 230,000 to 28,000 years ago. However, their protruding faces, large noses and big anterior teeth, raise questions about why these people look so different from us. This project aims to fill this gap in human knowledge about our evolutionary history, and to enhance the international visibility of Australian research in palaeoanthropology and dental biomechanics.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE180100053
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$358,031.00
Summary
A national facility for the analysis of pyrogenic carbon. This project aims to develop a national facility for pyrogenic carbon analysis. Pyrogenic carbon is a poorly constrained, slow-cycling terrestrial carbon pool with significant carbon sequestration potential. The project expects to expand the newly developed hydrogen pyrolysis analytical capability to provide high throughput, robust measurement of the abundance and isotope composition of pyrogenic carbon in soils and sediments. This will p ....A national facility for the analysis of pyrogenic carbon. This project aims to develop a national facility for pyrogenic carbon analysis. Pyrogenic carbon is a poorly constrained, slow-cycling terrestrial carbon pool with significant carbon sequestration potential. The project expects to expand the newly developed hydrogen pyrolysis analytical capability to provide high throughput, robust measurement of the abundance and isotope composition of pyrogenic carbon in soils and sediments. This will provide significant benefit, such as the ability to make significant advances in areas as diverse as geochronology, archaeology, palaeoecology, soil science geomorphology and carbon cycle/sequestration science.Read moreRead less
The coming of the dingo and its interaction with Indigenous Australians. This project will identify more precisely the time of the entry of dingoes into Australia and will investigate their impact on the lives of Indigenous Australians. Archaeological and anthropological evidence suggests that Indigenous people rapidly incorporated dingoes into their lives. Dingoes were used for a variety of purposes and were particularly valued as hunters by women, effectively increasing their access to meat. ....The coming of the dingo and its interaction with Indigenous Australians. This project will identify more precisely the time of the entry of dingoes into Australia and will investigate their impact on the lives of Indigenous Australians. Archaeological and anthropological evidence suggests that Indigenous people rapidly incorporated dingoes into their lives. Dingoes were used for a variety of purposes and were particularly valued as hunters by women, effectively increasing their access to meat. Impact would include a re-organisation of gender roles and an associated improvement in women's fecundity. By examining evidence for such changes, this project will significantly contribute to knowledge about implications of the arrival of a living technology in Australia and, more generally, the human/dog relationship.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989067
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$950,000.00
Summary
The future of palaeoclimate and archaeological research in Australia: next generation instrumentation for chronology and environmental reconstruction. The outcomes of this project will promote a better understanding of Australia's arid continent and its surrounding marine environment, contribute to studies of global climate change, and provide new insights into the response of fragile ecosystems to such events and processes. The project addresses directly the National Research Priority 'Water - ....The future of palaeoclimate and archaeological research in Australia: next generation instrumentation for chronology and environmental reconstruction. The outcomes of this project will promote a better understanding of Australia's arid continent and its surrounding marine environment, contribute to studies of global climate change, and provide new insights into the response of fragile ecosystems to such events and processes. The project addresses directly the National Research Priority 'Water - a critical resource', 'Responding to climate change and variability', 'Overcoming soil loss, salinity and acidity', 'Sustainable use of Australia's biodiversity' and 'Understanding our region and the world'. It provides a consortium-type platform for highly productive collaborative research and training across eight universities and one research organisation in Australia.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130101816
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$348,088.00
Summary
Palaeoenvironments and human adaptation in the late quaternary of the semi-arid Murray River Valley, northwestern Victoria. This project involves a multidisciplinary approach to investigating Indigenous settlement and subsistence strategies along the Murray River in northweast Victoria during the last Ice Age. It will examine the palaeoecology and palaeoenvironment of the region, with particular focus on how people and animals responded to climatic varibility.
Molecular Archaeology: Carbon isotope analysis of amino acids as a means to investigate diets, physiology, metabolism and palaeoenvironment. The investigation of the bones of past societies and animals at the molecular level opens up a whole array of alternative data about palaeodiet and environment. Investigating the past in this way provides a unique perspective about how diet and health have changed in humans and about how animals and the environment have changed. When we understand the past ....Molecular Archaeology: Carbon isotope analysis of amino acids as a means to investigate diets, physiology, metabolism and palaeoenvironment. The investigation of the bones of past societies and animals at the molecular level opens up a whole array of alternative data about palaeodiet and environment. Investigating the past in this way provides a unique perspective about how diet and health have changed in humans and about how animals and the environment have changed. When we understand the past in this manner we can better understand current health issues linked to diet and how the environment and climate is changing.Read moreRead less
Toxic Harvest: The antiquity of rainforest Aboriginal occupation and toxic plant use in long-term subsistence patterns. The project aims to investigate the antiquity of human occupation of Australian tropical rainforests and the role that toxic plants played in the adaptation process. International research suggests that people only permanently occupied rainforests in the last 5,000 years with access to agriculture. The fact that Australian rainforest Aborigines were hunter-gatherers using speci ....Toxic Harvest: The antiquity of rainforest Aboriginal occupation and toxic plant use in long-term subsistence patterns. The project aims to investigate the antiquity of human occupation of Australian tropical rainforests and the role that toxic plants played in the adaptation process. International research suggests that people only permanently occupied rainforests in the last 5,000 years with access to agriculture. The fact that Australian rainforest Aborigines were hunter-gatherers using specialised processing technology to exploit toxic plant foods and living at high population densities suggests a more complex situation. Outcomes include contribution to international debates on the origin and antiquity of human rainforest settlement, an understanding of the biological properties of rainforest plants and development of research partnerships with Indigenous communities.Read moreRead less