Megalithic Connections: Imperilled Cultural Heritage in Laos and India. This interdisciplinary project aims to document and explore the cultural connections between the geographically disparate megalithic cultures of Laos and India and create an enduring digital record of these threatened cultural assets. Integrating archaeological science and pioneering data capture technologies, the project will create globally significant new knowledge; advance heritage management processes including transfer ....Megalithic Connections: Imperilled Cultural Heritage in Laos and India. This interdisciplinary project aims to document and explore the cultural connections between the geographically disparate megalithic cultures of Laos and India and create an enduring digital record of these threatened cultural assets. Integrating archaeological science and pioneering data capture technologies, the project will create globally significant new knowledge; advance heritage management processes including transferrable exploratory technologies; and help underpin economic, social and cultural benefit in these regions. With an increasing awareness of the need to conserve global cultural assets, Australia will take the lead in developing breakthrough technological solutions and new cross-country research and practitioner capability.Read moreRead less
After Nehru: The evolution of Indian international thought, 1964-present. Understanding the ideas, as well as the interests, underpinning the foreign policy of a rising India is a priority for Australia. This project aims to provide the first comprehensive analysis of Indian conceptions of India's "world role" as they have evolved since Jawaharlal Nehru's death in 1964. It is intended to analyse the development of traditions of thought about India's world role and the work of major Indian thinke ....After Nehru: The evolution of Indian international thought, 1964-present. Understanding the ideas, as well as the interests, underpinning the foreign policy of a rising India is a priority for Australia. This project aims to provide the first comprehensive analysis of Indian conceptions of India's "world role" as they have evolved since Jawaharlal Nehru's death in 1964. It is intended to analyse the development of traditions of thought about India's world role and the work of major Indian thinkers on international relations. It aims to make an original contribution to the understanding of the intellectual underpinnings of Indian foreign policy. The project aims to build research capacity in the study of Indian international thought, leading to publications, as well as public and policy engagement.Read moreRead less
Modern human origins and early behavioural complexity in Australia and Southeast Asia. This project tackles a fundamental issue in world prehistory: how and when did humans first cross from Southeast Asia into Australia. Three new archaeological excavations using novel methods of analysis will assess the nature of behavioural complexity and human evolution at the time when Australia was first colonised over 45,000 years ago.
Resolving the archaeological enigma of Indonesia’s ‘Toalean’ culture . Archaeologists have long puzzled over the identity and origin of the 'Toalean' people from Sulawesi, Indonesia. These prehistoric hunter-gatherers produced a unique culture that emerged in the south of this island about 7500 years ago, and some scholars believe they introduced the dingo to Australia. Little is known about these early foragers despite a century of research. This project aims to investigate a significant new ca ....Resolving the archaeological enigma of Indonesia’s ‘Toalean’ culture . Archaeologists have long puzzled over the identity and origin of the 'Toalean' people from Sulawesi, Indonesia. These prehistoric hunter-gatherers produced a unique culture that emerged in the south of this island about 7500 years ago, and some scholars believe they introduced the dingo to Australia. Little is known about these early foragers despite a century of research. This project aims to investigate a significant new cave site in Sulawesi that is the richest, most well-dated Toalean locality yet uncovered. Through detailed archaeological excavations and analyses, this project expects to advance scientific knowledge of an important but poorly understood Indonesian culture that is often connected with the early human story in Australia.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: 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: DE170101076
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$358,752.00
Summary
Australia's living technologies: Bone tools from first peoples to contact. This project aims to study Indigenous Australian technologies made from animal bone and tooth to provide insights into pre-contact Australia and the development of human ingenuity. The project will use modern analytical techniques to examine Australia’s ancient bone tool industry, and apply use wear techniques to deduce the cognitive, social, and technological processes behind their manufacture and use. This project expec ....Australia's living technologies: Bone tools from first peoples to contact. This project aims to study Indigenous Australian technologies made from animal bone and tooth to provide insights into pre-contact Australia and the development of human ingenuity. The project will use modern analytical techniques to examine Australia’s ancient bone tool industry, and apply use wear techniques to deduce the cognitive, social, and technological processes behind their manufacture and use. This project expects to contribute to knowledge of Australian and world prehistories of colonisation, environmental interaction, social interaction and innovation, and supply a material culture-based perspective on the cultural behaviour of humans’ earliest ancestors.Read moreRead less