Archaeological investigations at ancient sites in Kakadu National Park. This project aims to re-examine two well-known sites (Malangangerr and Ngarradj) in Kakadu, an iconic World Heritage area and home to some of the oldest and richest archaeology in Australia. Little excavation has been carried out there in recent decades, and almost none using modern high resolution recovery techniques. This project will re-excavate Malangangerr and Ngarradj to determine whether other sites have a similar ant ....Archaeological investigations at ancient sites in Kakadu National Park. This project aims to re-examine two well-known sites (Malangangerr and Ngarradj) in Kakadu, an iconic World Heritage area and home to some of the oldest and richest archaeology in Australia. Little excavation has been carried out there in recent decades, and almost none using modern high resolution recovery techniques. This project will re-excavate Malangangerr and Ngarradj to determine whether other sites have a similar antiquity and record of early complex behaviour. This project could enhance understanding of Aboriginal culture in Kakadu, Australia's unique cultural heritage, the nature and timing of modern human dispersal, and how early Indigenous peoples responded to social and environmental change.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
Environmental and cultural change along the Central Murray River. The aim of this project is to understand how past people in the riverine landscapes of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) were influenced by and adapted to environmental change. This will be achieved using a novel cross-disciplinary approach combining state-of-the-art palaeoenvironmental and archaeological methods. Indigenous people of the MDB have always been closely linked to rivers, however, over the period of human habitation flow ....Environmental and cultural change along the Central Murray River. The aim of this project is to understand how past people in the riverine landscapes of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) were influenced by and adapted to environmental change. This will be achieved using a novel cross-disciplinary approach combining state-of-the-art palaeoenvironmental and archaeological methods. Indigenous people of the MDB have always been closely linked to rivers, however, over the period of human habitation flows on these rivers were likely subject to changes that exceeded present-day variability. Understanding how these changes have impacted humans, offers clues on adaption to environmental change and aids in developing strategies for living with the inherently variable and vulnerable rivers in drylands.Read moreRead less
An archaeological investigation into the collapse of Polonnaruva, Sri Lanka. This project aims to develop an improved understanding of the collapse of the kingdom of Polonnaruva, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Sri Lanka. The medieval collapse of Polonnaruva marked the end of the lowland kingdoms in Sri Lanka's arid north, and the end of a distinctive and successful form of hydraulic low-density urban settlement. Recent research at Anuradhapura suggests the very economic system that enabled ....An archaeological investigation into the collapse of Polonnaruva, Sri Lanka. This project aims to develop an improved understanding of the collapse of the kingdom of Polonnaruva, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Sri Lanka. The medieval collapse of Polonnaruva marked the end of the lowland kingdoms in Sri Lanka's arid north, and the end of a distinctive and successful form of hydraulic low-density urban settlement. Recent research at Anuradhapura suggests the very economic system that enabled these kingdoms to flourish within a marginal environment, may have facilitated their collapse. This project will characterise, contextualise and explain the development and failure of the low-density urban state of Polonnaruva. The project expects to inform environmental security and improve management and risk reduction in decision making in relation to ancient and contemporary socio-environmental systems.Read moreRead less
A new chronological framework to access regional variability in mid-Pleistocene archaeological, palaeoecological and palaeoclimatic data from Africa. This project will enable us to understand, for the first time, the contribution of South Africa to human origins between 1.8 and 0.6 million years ago. It will help us understand how major changes in climate have influenced our evolutionary history, the animals around us and how our behaviour and tools have changed to adapt to such changes.
Dead Heart Beating? Landscape, Climate and People in Desert Australia. This project aims to undertake the first detailed investigation of the archaeology, landscape history and paleoenvironment of dryland lakes in the Simpson, Strzelecki and Stuart Stony Deserts in Central Australia. Using cutting edge methods, the project expects to discover new archaeological sites, provide a new climate record for inland Australia and develop innovative new analytical and field techniques. Expected benefits a ....Dead Heart Beating? Landscape, Climate and People in Desert Australia. This project aims to undertake the first detailed investigation of the archaeology, landscape history and paleoenvironment of dryland lakes in the Simpson, Strzelecki and Stuart Stony Deserts in Central Australia. Using cutting edge methods, the project expects to discover new archaeological sites, provide a new climate record for inland Australia and develop innovative new analytical and field techniques. Expected benefits also include the development of new cutting-edge methodologies for the investigation of Australian desert landscapes, comprehensive baseline data of how this region has evolved prior to European colonization and resolving why no Pleistocene aged archaeological sites have been found in the region.Read moreRead less
Bayini, Macassans, Balanda and Bininij: A Case Study of Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management and Tourism in West Arnhemland Northern Territory. Contact between cultures is a defining theme in history and is especially relevant to contemporary Australia. The timing of contact between South East Asians and Europeans with Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land is of great historical significance to Australia. This knowledge will enhance the national heritage registration efforts for cultural heri ....Bayini, Macassans, Balanda and Bininij: A Case Study of Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management and Tourism in West Arnhemland Northern Territory. Contact between cultures is a defining theme in history and is especially relevant to contemporary Australia. The timing of contact between South East Asians and Europeans with Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land is of great historical significance to Australia. This knowledge will enhance the national heritage registration efforts for cultural heritage places in the region. Conservation efforts will be undertaken for the first time for these potentially world heritage significant Indigenous cultural heritage places. Indigenous communities will potentially make significant economic gains from developing sustainable land management and cultural tourism initiatives through the results and skills obtained from his project.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130101703
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$350,505.00
Summary
Mission archaeology and colonial encounters in Southern Vanuatu. The remains of Christian missions in southern Vanuatu are important heritage sites for local communities, and for their place in world history as part of one of the final frontiers of European colonialism. This project explores these sites to produce a new picture of everyday life that includes the perspectives of missionaries and native people.
Early African woodworking and tool use at the transition to modern humans. Our archaeological excavations and preliminary dating of Amanzi Springs (South Africa) to between 515,000 and 163,000 years ago shows that the site covers a critical time period that led to the origins of our species, Homo sapiens. Amanzi documents, in never before seen resolution, the technological leaps that our ancestors made during this transition. At ~400,000 years ago this includes the oldest evidence for woodworkin ....Early African woodworking and tool use at the transition to modern humans. Our archaeological excavations and preliminary dating of Amanzi Springs (South Africa) to between 515,000 and 163,000 years ago shows that the site covers a critical time period that led to the origins of our species, Homo sapiens. Amanzi documents, in never before seen resolution, the technological leaps that our ancestors made during this transition. At ~400,000 years ago this includes the oldest evidence for woodworking and tool use and >163,000 years ago the oldest heat treatment of rock to make stone tools. The organic preservation at the site means that we can reconstruct changing environment, linked to sea level changes and spring activity, for this period in the evolution of our ancestors at a level of detail not previously possibleRead moreRead less
The evolution of human innovation in an arid biodiversity hotspot. This project will examine the archaeology and environmental history of South Africa’s Succulent Karoo, the world’s only arid biodiversity hotspot. Arid regions of Africa have historically been marginalised in accounts of human evolution yet recent evidence suggests that they were loci of innovation over the last 120 000 years. To explore the importance of such areas to the evolution of our adaptive capabilities, this project will ....The evolution of human innovation in an arid biodiversity hotspot. This project will examine the archaeology and environmental history of South Africa’s Succulent Karoo, the world’s only arid biodiversity hotspot. Arid regions of Africa have historically been marginalised in accounts of human evolution yet recent evidence suggests that they were loci of innovation over the last 120 000 years. To explore the importance of such areas to the evolution of our adaptive capabilities, this project will produce comprehensive new datasets relating to the climatic, environmental, and social contexts of innovation among early humans occupying the site of Varsche Rivier 003. The results will test prevailing models of human behavioural evolution, shedding new light on how we came to be human. Read moreRead less