The rise of China's currency, from of the rise of the red back. By examining the internationalisation of China’s currency, this project aims to enhance Australia’s capacity to respond to the rise of China and in particular to interpret financial stability and developments in China. China’s promotion of an internationalised profile of its currency stands at the heart of its current financial and economic strategy, and it may have profound implications on the future of the international monetary s ....The rise of China's currency, from of the rise of the red back. By examining the internationalisation of China’s currency, this project aims to enhance Australia’s capacity to respond to the rise of China and in particular to interpret financial stability and developments in China. China’s promotion of an internationalised profile of its currency stands at the heart of its current financial and economic strategy, and it may have profound implications on the future of the international monetary system and the world’s economic and political order. Using an innovative agent-centred institutional framework, the project intends to explore the political and institutional dynamics and internal and external aspects of Beijing’s currency strategy. This may shed light on the current debate on dynamics of institutional change and improve our understanding of China’s policymaking mechanisms.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
Rescuing Pharaoh’s Gold Mines: Archaeological conservation in Eastern Sudan. Building on pioneering pilot surveys, this project will document the unexplored archaeology of the remote Atbai Desert of Eastern Sudan, a region whose unique heritage is being destroyed by unregulated mining. Employing satellite surveying and local fieldwork, this project will document new archaeological sites before they are destroyed, while engaging with the local Beja nomads to form culturally sensitive conservation ....Rescuing Pharaoh’s Gold Mines: Archaeological conservation in Eastern Sudan. Building on pioneering pilot surveys, this project will document the unexplored archaeology of the remote Atbai Desert of Eastern Sudan, a region whose unique heritage is being destroyed by unregulated mining. Employing satellite surveying and local fieldwork, this project will document new archaeological sites before they are destroyed, while engaging with the local Beja nomads to form culturally sensitive conservation strategies. Uncovering the history of ancient miners and indigenous nomads with new scientific techniques, the project will transform our narratives of the ancient Nile Basin, inform Sudanese heritage policy, empower local stakeholders, and propel Australia as a leader in world heritage conservation and rescue documentation.Read moreRead less
Early human dispersal: identifying the key environmental drivers. This project aims to investigate if environmental or human evolutionary processes drove the dispersal of early humans eastwards from Africa into Southeast Asia—and beyond into Australia. The project will examine archaeological sediments using an Earth-science approach, providing direct links between cultural and environmental records. The project will reveal the types of environment that were favored by early humans and provide a ....Early human dispersal: identifying the key environmental drivers. This project aims to investigate if environmental or human evolutionary processes drove the dispersal of early humans eastwards from Africa into Southeast Asia—and beyond into Australia. The project will examine archaeological sediments using an Earth-science approach, providing direct links between cultural and environmental records. The project will reveal the types of environment that were favored by early humans and provide a greater understanding of the role of environmental change on the colonisation of new environments. Read moreRead less
Indian Ocean globalisation and the westward Austronesian expansion. This project aims to apply a multi-analytical archaeological science approach to investigate how cross-cultural interaction transformed peoples, societies and environments in the Indian Ocean. It plans to trace the movement of people, plants, animals, goods and practices to Madagascar and the Comoros over 1000 years ago in order to critically assess evidence for early long-distance contacts between Southeast Asia and Africa. The ....Indian Ocean globalisation and the westward Austronesian expansion. This project aims to apply a multi-analytical archaeological science approach to investigate how cross-cultural interaction transformed peoples, societies and environments in the Indian Ocean. It plans to trace the movement of people, plants, animals, goods and practices to Madagascar and the Comoros over 1000 years ago in order to critically assess evidence for early long-distance contacts between Southeast Asia and Africa. The project seeks to enhance Australia’s capacity for archaeological science and deliver significant social and cultural benefits by shedding light on the history of the diverse but interconnected Indo-Pacific world in which Australia now occupies a central geopolitical position.Read moreRead less
Understanding long-term human-environmental interactions in South Asia. How did humans adapt to environmental change in the past? This project aims to address this question by examining the evidence provided by archaeological shell assemblages, a frequently overlooked residue of human habitation patterns. Deploying a range of high-resolution ecological and chemical techniques, this project aims to investigate changes in human behaviour, diet and landscape in one region through time and space. Th ....Understanding long-term human-environmental interactions in South Asia. How did humans adapt to environmental change in the past? This project aims to address this question by examining the evidence provided by archaeological shell assemblages, a frequently overlooked residue of human habitation patterns. Deploying a range of high-resolution ecological and chemical techniques, this project aims to investigate changes in human behaviour, diet and landscape in one region through time and space. The expected outcomes of this project will enhance our understanding of early human movement through South Asia into Australasia and generate new knowledge regarding the course of human adaptation to environmental changeRead moreRead less
The origin of cumulative culture in human evolution. Humans accumulate knowledge and use cumulative culture to transfer it across generations, and identifying the origin of this unique ability is a significant research priority for the study of archaeology and human evolution. This project aims to discover the emergence of cumulative culture by using experiments to evaluate stone tool-making, a technology passed between humans for 3.3 million years. Expected outcomes include international collab ....The origin of cumulative culture in human evolution. Humans accumulate knowledge and use cumulative culture to transfer it across generations, and identifying the origin of this unique ability is a significant research priority for the study of archaeology and human evolution. This project aims to discover the emergence of cumulative culture by using experiments to evaluate stone tool-making, a technology passed between humans for 3.3 million years. Expected outcomes include international collaborations that improve our evolutionary understanding of teaching and learning, and produce new data on early stone artefacts in Indonesia and Australia. This should provide significant benefits for collaborative research and scholarly insight into human evolution and Indigenous knowledge in our region.Read moreRead less