Bronzes of Xinjiang: technology, society and power on the road to China. This project aims to reveal the backstory to the remarkable development of bronze working in ancient China by studying complex pathways by which metallurgical knowledge spread there from Eurasia through the crossroads region of Xinjiang. It will generate new knowledge through the innovative use of mass elemental analysis of ancient metals from Xinjiang, providing important evidence for early metallurgical techniques. Expec ....Bronzes of Xinjiang: technology, society and power on the road to China. This project aims to reveal the backstory to the remarkable development of bronze working in ancient China by studying complex pathways by which metallurgical knowledge spread there from Eurasia through the crossroads region of Xinjiang. It will generate new knowledge through the innovative use of mass elemental analysis of ancient metals from Xinjiang, providing important evidence for early metallurgical techniques. Expected outcomes include enhanced understanding of the role of developing technology in the consolidation of regional power and its impact on social inequality. Partnerships between Australian, Chinese and UK institutions are expected to expand Australia’s research capability in archaeology, ancient mining and metallurgy. Read moreRead less
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
East Asia's clean energy shift: enablers, obstacles, outcomes and lessons. This project aims to reveal the drivers of the transition to a low carbon economy, and the key enablers and obstacles to this transition. It will investigate how states in our region are seeking to overcome these obstacles, and the effectiveness of their efforts. The project will develop and analyse four new longitudinal case studies of clean energy industry creation in two of Australia's top Asian trading partners. Findi ....East Asia's clean energy shift: enablers, obstacles, outcomes and lessons. This project aims to reveal the drivers of the transition to a low carbon economy, and the key enablers and obstacles to this transition. It will investigate how states in our region are seeking to overcome these obstacles, and the effectiveness of their efforts. The project will develop and analyse four new longitudinal case studies of clean energy industry creation in two of Australia's top Asian trading partners. Findings will advance scholarly and policy debates and strategies about the role of the state in high-tech industry creation and clean energy transitions, and benefit Australian exporters seeking new market openings.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180101288
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$384,983.00
Summary
Strategic resources and human cooperation in the rise of social complexity in Arabian archaeology. This project will conduct the first systematic archaeological analysis of the behavioural strategies humans adapted following metal resource depletion and trade in southeastern Arabia. It will examine how social complexity in metal production records of several sites within Oman compares with other regions in Cyprus and Turkey. This will provide greater knowledge of how people settled this region a ....Strategic resources and human cooperation in the rise of social complexity in Arabian archaeology. This project will conduct the first systematic archaeological analysis of the behavioural strategies humans adapted following metal resource depletion and trade in southeastern Arabia. It will examine how social complexity in metal production records of several sites within Oman compares with other regions in Cyprus and Turkey. This will provide greater knowledge of how people settled this region and subsequently responded to dynamic environmental changes over the past 5,000 years.Read moreRead less
Early art, culture and occupation along the northern route to Australia. This project aims to uncover archaeological evidence for early humans in Indonesia's northern island chain (from Borneo to West Papua). This poorly known region harbours the world's earliest known figurative cave art (>45,500 years old), and it is also the most likely maritime route used by modern humans during the initial peopling of Australia ~65,000 years ago. The project aims to use cave excavations and rock art dating ....Early art, culture and occupation along the northern route to Australia. This project aims to uncover archaeological evidence for early humans in Indonesia's northern island chain (from Borneo to West Papua). This poorly known region harbours the world's earliest known figurative cave art (>45,500 years old), and it is also the most likely maritime route used by modern humans during the initial peopling of Australia ~65,000 years ago. The project aims to use cave excavations and rock art dating to fill the 20,000 year gap between the earliest known archaeological evidence from these islands and the oldest human site in Australia. Expected outcomes include new insight into the ancient past of Indonesia and a greatly improved understanding of the art and cultural lifeways of the ancestors of the First Australians.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100502
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$427,116.00
Summary
The hobbit's tools and the evolution of human behaviour in Southeast Asia . This project aims to investigate the behavioural evolution of the extinct Homo floresiensis (the 'hobbit') and modern humans on Flores, Indonesia. Using innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to integrate stone tools with simulation modelling, this project expects to generate new understanding about the behavioural strategies of the two human species and their interactions with the Flores environment over the past 190, ....The hobbit's tools and the evolution of human behaviour in Southeast Asia . This project aims to investigate the behavioural evolution of the extinct Homo floresiensis (the 'hobbit') and modern humans on Flores, Indonesia. Using innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to integrate stone tools with simulation modelling, this project expects to generate new understanding about the behavioural strategies of the two human species and their interactions with the Flores environment over the past 190,000 years. Anticipated outcomes include refined knowledge of human evolution and interaction in island Southeast Asia, and innovative experimental methods for the study of stone tools. This will emphasise Australia's role in international human evolution research, and inform the study of comparable stone tools in Australia.Read moreRead less
The evolution of landscape use among modern humans. This project aims to understand the evolution of humans’ adaptive landscape use. The dispersal of modern humans from Africa occurred relatively late in our evolutionary history, which suggests a complex pattern of behavioural evolution in our species. Flexible systems of landscape use underpin human adaptation to different environments resulting in our late expansion and modern global distribution. The project will use a configuration of archae ....The evolution of landscape use among modern humans. This project aims to understand the evolution of humans’ adaptive landscape use. The dispersal of modern humans from Africa occurred relatively late in our evolutionary history, which suggests a complex pattern of behavioural evolution in our species. Flexible systems of landscape use underpin human adaptation to different environments resulting in our late expansion and modern global distribution. The project will use a configuration of archaeological and environmental information recovered from around the Doring River, South Africa. The project is expected to open a new avenue of research into the evolution of human behaviour, and address key scientific and general-interest questions about humanity’s emergence.Read moreRead less
Reuniting cargoes: Underwater Cultural Heritage of the Maritime Silk Route. Beginning in the mid 1400s the Maritime Silk Route witnessed the largest known expansion of global trade. But the legacy of artefacts retrieved from this time has not been appropriately understood because the objects were mostly salvaged and dispersed without recording the archaeological details of their find-spots. Our multilateral consortium aims to discover the cultural value of the largest Southeast Asian ceramic col ....Reuniting cargoes: Underwater Cultural Heritage of the Maritime Silk Route. Beginning in the mid 1400s the Maritime Silk Route witnessed the largest known expansion of global trade. But the legacy of artefacts retrieved from this time has not been appropriately understood because the objects were mostly salvaged and dispersed without recording the archaeological details of their find-spots. Our multilateral consortium aims to discover the cultural value of the largest Southeast Asian ceramic collections in Indonesia and Australia with archaeological science. By employing and enhancing international conventions, the project will generate new knowledge about this decisive epoch in world history and build capacity to preserve the underwater cultural heritage of our region for future generations.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100387
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$403,553.00
Summary
The Politics of Tobacco Policy in Indonesia. This project aims to investigate the difficulty of regulating tobacco products in Indonesia by interrogating the influence of domestic politics, the global tobacco industry and the role of interest-based lobbying. To probe the political context that has fostered this situation, it combines multiple streams theory and a policy networks approach. Expected outcomes include a detailed political history of tobacco-related policy, mapping of stakeholder inf ....The Politics of Tobacco Policy in Indonesia. This project aims to investigate the difficulty of regulating tobacco products in Indonesia by interrogating the influence of domestic politics, the global tobacco industry and the role of interest-based lobbying. To probe the political context that has fostered this situation, it combines multiple streams theory and a policy networks approach. Expected outcomes include a detailed political history of tobacco-related policy, mapping of stakeholder influence on policy, and a conceptual model explaining connections between policy creation and stakeholder networks. Project benefits include a tested analytical approach that can be used to explore policy environments for the regulation of harmful, but licit, industries, in a range of contexts.Read moreRead less
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