Investigating Holocene India - Australia Connections using Ancient Genomics. A number of studies of human migration suggest that after initial colonisation of Australia around 45,000 years ago, these people remained largely isolated until the arrival of Europeans. In contrast recent studies have suggested that a wave of migration from India into Australia occurred approximately 4,230 years ago. However, a major drawback of these recent studies is that sequence data used was from modern indigenou ....Investigating Holocene India - Australia Connections using Ancient Genomics. A number of studies of human migration suggest that after initial colonisation of Australia around 45,000 years ago, these people remained largely isolated until the arrival of Europeans. In contrast recent studies have suggested that a wave of migration from India into Australia occurred approximately 4,230 years ago. However, a major drawback of these recent studies is that sequence data used was from modern indigenous Australians who were potentially admixed with Europeans. To address this issue we will sequence complete genomes from sub-fossil bones of ancient Indian and Indigenous Australian people and directly investigate this possible India-Australia connection.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120100069
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
The archaeology of the north coast of Bali: a strategic crossroads in early trans-Asiatic exchange. New archaeological excavations on the north coast of Bali and a comparative study of materials across Southeast Asia aim to document the growth of Trans-Asiatic exchange networks during the Late Metal Age, and particularly the strategic significance of Bali and eastern Indonesia for the trade in spices that linked Asia with the Mediterranean.
Shifting the foundations of Zoroastrian history: A fresh focus on Khorezm. This project aims to explore the importance for Zoroastrianism of images of Avestan gods in Uzbekistan. Zoroastrianism is an ancient religion, but little is known of its early development. Recent finds of massive six-metre-high murals of Avestan gods decorating the royal ceremonial centre of Akchakhan-kala in Khorezm provide evidence of early formal Zoroastrian practices, in a region not considered a centre of early relig ....Shifting the foundations of Zoroastrian history: A fresh focus on Khorezm. This project aims to explore the importance for Zoroastrianism of images of Avestan gods in Uzbekistan. Zoroastrianism is an ancient religion, but little is known of its early development. Recent finds of massive six-metre-high murals of Avestan gods decorating the royal ceremonial centre of Akchakhan-kala in Khorezm provide evidence of early formal Zoroastrian practices, in a region not considered a centre of early religious development. The project will study this data and its implications for later religious beliefs, drawing particularly on evidence for burial practices in the early Islamic period and indigenous tribal practices. The project aims to enhance understanding of one of the world’s significant religions.Read moreRead less
The archaeological and biological foundations of Southeast Asia, 2500 to 1000 BC. This project investigates the origins and ancestral migrations of the populations of Southeast Asia. It focuses on the period around 2000 BC when 'Neolithic' societies, populations and languages spread across the region. The project will examine evidence for migration, food production and population ancestry in Vietnam, the Philippines and adjacent regions.
The Silk Roads in the Bronze Age: critical links between Eurasia and China. The early rise of China's great civilization owed its rapid momentum to important technological innovations that were brought in from the far distant Eurasian steppes, but almost nothing is known of how or why this process took place. The project aims to explore these questions through excavations at one of China's most important Bronze Age archaeological sites in western Xinjiang. The innovations include the cultivation ....The Silk Roads in the Bronze Age: critical links between Eurasia and China. The early rise of China's great civilization owed its rapid momentum to important technological innovations that were brought in from the far distant Eurasian steppes, but almost nothing is known of how or why this process took place. The project aims to explore these questions through excavations at one of China's most important Bronze Age archaeological sites in western Xinjiang. The innovations include the cultivation of wheat and barley, complex metallurgical techniques in bronze, silver and gold, the domesticated horse and the spoke-wheeled chariot, which became a universal weapon of war across the ancient world. The project aims to test theories of cultural transmission through interactive GIS modelling of environment and land use potential.Read moreRead less
Landscape, resources and human migration during the Southeast Asian Neolithic. The Southeast Asian Neolithic (2500 to 500 BC) was a time of powerful linguistic and biological expansion, especially amongst those early agricultural societies that surrounded the South China Sea. This project will concentrate on: reconstructing the landscapes of Neolithic settlement, greatly different from the vast lowland alluvial landscapes that feed such concentrated populations today; reconstructing the economy ....Landscape, resources and human migration during the Southeast Asian Neolithic. The Southeast Asian Neolithic (2500 to 500 BC) was a time of powerful linguistic and biological expansion, especially amongst those early agricultural societies that surrounded the South China Sea. This project will concentrate on: reconstructing the landscapes of Neolithic settlement, greatly different from the vast lowland alluvial landscapes that feed such concentrated populations today; reconstructing the economy of Neolithic food production, especially the archaeological histories of the major crops and domestic animals; and, reconstructing and comparing the material culture of the initial Neolithic, with its immense network of population expansion involving China, Southeast Asia and Oceania. Read moreRead less
Divergent pathways to tropical agriculture in Australasia and Wallacea. The project aims to address a major question in world archaeology: why did some people develop agriculture, while others did not? It plans to establish plant macrofossil and microfossil reference collections for three wet tropical regions: highland Papua New Guinea, Moluccas in eastern Indonesia, and western Arnhem Land in Australia. It then plans to use previously excavated archaeobotanical assemblages to establish robust p ....Divergent pathways to tropical agriculture in Australasia and Wallacea. The project aims to address a major question in world archaeology: why did some people develop agriculture, while others did not? It plans to establish plant macrofossil and microfossil reference collections for three wet tropical regions: highland Papua New Guinea, Moluccas in eastern Indonesia, and western Arnhem Land in Australia. It then plans to use previously excavated archaeobotanical assemblages to establish robust plant-use chronologies for these regions. In this way, the project seeks to develop capacity for tropical archaeobotany within Australia and to revolutionise concepts of plant exploitation, domestication and cultivation in tropical Australasia and Wallacea during the Holocene (last c.11 500 years).Read moreRead less
Archaeology in the central Caucasus: investigations at Samatvro and Tchkantiskedi. This archaeological project is the strongest Australian cultural link with the Republic of Georgia, a developing country of considerable strategic importance that borders Russia. A study of Georgia's past heritage will provide a deeper understanding of its contemporary social diversity and complex geographical situation.
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.
Denisovans, Neanderthals and modern humans in southern Russia. This project will endeavour to yield new insights into human evolution by addressing the critical question of when Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and Denisovans occupied the Altai region of Russia: the only place on Earth where these three groups of humans are known to have existed. No consensus exists on the timing of key events, the nature of any interactions or the impact of environmental changes. This project plans to use optical dat ....Denisovans, Neanderthals and modern humans in southern Russia. This project will endeavour to yield new insights into human evolution by addressing the critical question of when Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and Denisovans occupied the Altai region of Russia: the only place on Earth where these three groups of humans are known to have existed. No consensus exists on the timing of key events, the nature of any interactions or the impact of environmental changes. This project plans to use optical dating to construct a highly resolved timescale for the archaeological and human fossil assemblages over the last 800 000 years. This may transform our understanding of the spatial and temporal patterns of human occupation by these three groups and their behaviours in similar or different environments.Read moreRead less