Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100756
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$371,034.00
Summary
New light on Cambodia’s Dark Age (1350 - 1750). This project aims to conduct the first systematic archaeological investigations of Cambodian Middle Period capitals on the banks of the Mekong and Tonle Sap arterial rivers between 1350 and 1750. Whilst the decline of Angkor is one of the most significant events in the history of Southeast Asia, we do not have a precise date for the event that involved the relocation of many hundreds of thousands of people. By determining when the Kings of Angkor m ....New light on Cambodia’s Dark Age (1350 - 1750). This project aims to conduct the first systematic archaeological investigations of Cambodian Middle Period capitals on the banks of the Mekong and Tonle Sap arterial rivers between 1350 and 1750. Whilst the decline of Angkor is one of the most significant events in the history of Southeast Asia, we do not have a precise date for the event that involved the relocation of many hundreds of thousands of people. By determining when the Kings of Angkor moved to the southern capitals we will clarify the end of Angkor, retrieve Cambodian history from a perceived Dark Age, and reveal critical linkages between the celebrated Angkorian past and modern and contemporary Cambodia.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101095
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$326,489.00
Summary
An archaeology of colonial consumption: Sydney trade and material culture, 1788–1901. This project will explore Sydney's history as a marketplace, in a broad-ranging examination of consumer cultures, archaeological relics and trade catalogues from the colonial era. It will build on pioneering new methods to explore the cost, quality and value of thousands of objects of domestic material culture found on archaeological sites in Sydney. It will employ emerging digital technologies to analyse disti ....An archaeology of colonial consumption: Sydney trade and material culture, 1788–1901. This project will explore Sydney's history as a marketplace, in a broad-ranging examination of consumer cultures, archaeological relics and trade catalogues from the colonial era. It will build on pioneering new methods to explore the cost, quality and value of thousands of objects of domestic material culture found on archaeological sites in Sydney. It will employ emerging digital technologies to analyse distinctive trends in colonial Australian advertising and the promotion of domestic goods, along with the prices of thousands of goods sold by colonial retailers. The resulting analyses will underwrite new transnational histories of empire, commerce and the social impact of mass consumption at the height of the British empire.Read moreRead less
Unraveling the mystery of the Plain of Jars, Laos. Since their discovery in the 1930s, the mysterious collections of giant stone jars scattered throughout central Laos have remained one of the great prehistoric puzzles of south-east (SE) Asia. It is thought that the jars represent the mortuary remains of an extensive and powerful Iron Age culture. This project seeks to determine the true nature of these sites, which date to a dynamic period of increasing complexity in SE Asia (c.500BCE-500CE). T ....Unraveling the mystery of the Plain of Jars, Laos. Since their discovery in the 1930s, the mysterious collections of giant stone jars scattered throughout central Laos have remained one of the great prehistoric puzzles of south-east (SE) Asia. It is thought that the jars represent the mortuary remains of an extensive and powerful Iron Age culture. This project seeks to determine the true nature of these sites, which date to a dynamic period of increasing complexity in SE Asia (c.500BCE-500CE). The project entails extensive reconnaissance, precision mapping, archaeological excavation and analysis of associated burial material. Using a suite of cutting-edge archaeological technologies, it is expected to have far-reaching benefits for archaeology, science, Laos and World Heritage.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101203
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$323,189.00
Summary
An Archaeology of Quality of Life During Victoria’s Gold Rush. Victoria's 19th century gold rush triggered a major social and economic transformation with far ranging consequences. This project aims to investigate how individuals responded and contributed to this transformation over their life course, and how this moulded current values around quality of life in Australia. The project also aims to develop a pioneering approach that will integrate historical and archaeological evidence on individ ....An Archaeology of Quality of Life During Victoria’s Gold Rush. Victoria's 19th century gold rush triggered a major social and economic transformation with far ranging consequences. This project aims to investigate how individuals responded and contributed to this transformation over their life course, and how this moulded current values around quality of life in Australia. The project also aims to develop a pioneering approach that will integrate historical and archaeological evidence on individual, site, neighbourhood, city and global levels in new ways. Fresh social histories of Melbourne and Bendigo will be generated, which reinforce national identity and have implications for understanding the impact of the current mining boom on individuals.Read moreRead less
3000 Years of settlement and interaction in southern Vanuatu. This project aims to conduct an archaeological survey of Vanuatu. One of archaeology's most significant contributions is providing models for the emergence of cultural diversity through time. Vanuatu is one of the most diverse regions on Earth. The southern islands were an important hub in early settlement and long-term inter-island interactions of Island Melanesia. Yet little is known about the origins of cultural contacts and divers ....3000 Years of settlement and interaction in southern Vanuatu. This project aims to conduct an archaeological survey of Vanuatu. One of archaeology's most significant contributions is providing models for the emergence of cultural diversity through time. Vanuatu is one of the most diverse regions on Earth. The southern islands were an important hub in early settlement and long-term inter-island interactions of Island Melanesia. Yet little is known about the origins of cultural contacts and diversity in the area. A major archaeological survey of the Polynesian outliers Futuna and Aniwa and neighbouring islands Tanna and Aneityum would greatly improve our knowledge of settlement patterns, long-distance exchange, and cross-cultural interaction in the region, from initial Lapita settlement 3000 years ago through to the arrival of Christian missionaries in the 1860s.Read moreRead less
The Archaeology of the Queensland Native Mounted Police. This project plans to conduct a systematic archaeological study of the Queensland Native Mounted Police. While previous studies have focused on policing activities as revealed by the historical record, this project will combine material, oral and historical evidence from a range of sites across central and northern Queensland to understand more fully the activities, lives and legacies of the Native Police. This project aims to provide an a ....The Archaeology of the Queensland Native Mounted Police. This project plans to conduct a systematic archaeological study of the Queensland Native Mounted Police. While previous studies have focused on policing activities as revealed by the historical record, this project will combine material, oral and historical evidence from a range of sites across central and northern Queensland to understand more fully the activities, lives and legacies of the Native Police. This project aims to provide an alternative lens through which to understand the nature of frontier conflict, initiate new understandings of the Aboriginal and settler experience, and contribute to global studies of Indigenous responses to colonialism.Read moreRead less
The unknown ‘Ice Age’ artists of Borneo. This project aims to shift the focus of the search for art’s origins onto important new horizons. Who were the first artists? When and why did it become second nature for humans not simply to exist within the natural world, but to encode it with images of things both real and imagined? The discovery of cave paintings in Sulawesi and more recently in Borneo dating to at least 40,000 years ago has altered our understanding of the origins and spread of the f ....The unknown ‘Ice Age’ artists of Borneo. This project aims to shift the focus of the search for art’s origins onto important new horizons. Who were the first artists? When and why did it become second nature for humans not simply to exist within the natural world, but to encode it with images of things both real and imagined? The discovery of cave paintings in Sulawesi and more recently in Borneo dating to at least 40,000 years ago has altered our understanding of the origins and spread of the first painting traditions. This project will build upon these breakthrough discoveries by constructing the first detailed portrait of the cultural and symbolic worlds of the unknown artists of Pleistocene Borneo. By doing so, it will further our knowledge about the process of the emergence of figurative art, one of the most fundamental cultural developments in the evolution of humankind.Read moreRead less
The Maritime Silk Route as a world system. New archaeological evidence suggests that cultural interaction along the Maritime Silk Route was more complex than previously held. By using new analytical techniques to source artefacts from pre-Oc Eo sites in South Vietnam, this project will provide new insights into the production and distribution of trade goods 2000 years ago.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101597
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$371,607.00
Summary
50,000 years of human subsistence behaviour in northern Australia. For over 40 years, archaeologists have debated the nature of the initial colonisation of Australia and how people subsequently coped with large-scale climate change. This is the first study to examine systematically variation in human subsistence behaviour and animal community structure across northern Australia. Through analyses of archaeofaunas from key archaeological sites, this project aims to test assumptions about why and h ....50,000 years of human subsistence behaviour in northern Australia. For over 40 years, archaeologists have debated the nature of the initial colonisation of Australia and how people subsequently coped with large-scale climate change. This is the first study to examine systematically variation in human subsistence behaviour and animal community structure across northern Australia. Through analyses of archaeofaunas from key archaeological sites, this project aims to test assumptions about why and how northern Australia was first occupied and the manner in which people responded to dramatic environmental shifts. An additional outcome of this project, it is hoped, will be insight into the causes of fragmentation in Australian fauna assemblages and in particular, the recognition of carnivore damage.Read moreRead less
Prosecution, punishment and the printed word in enlightenment Scotland, from 1747 to 1815. This project examines the principles and workings of the Scottish criminal justice system and how these were represented in, and influenced by, print culture, from 1747 to 1815. It will further understanding of Australian history by looking at how legal representations of Australia influenced the Scottish Judiciary's transportation policy.