[Aqualist] ARC results 2007

[Simon Haberle]

Dear All,

Here are the ARC Discovery and Linkage results announced last week related 
to Quaternary Sciences and archaeology. There was 1 successful archaeology 
Linkage grant and 13 Discovery grants including 5 APD's and 1 QEII 
fellowship. In the Quaternary Sciences there were 2 successful Linkages 
including 1 APAI and 13 successful Discovery grants including 3 ARF's and 2 
APD's. Please let me know if I have missed anyone. Congratulations to all 
those who were successful.

Cheers, Simon



________________________________________________________
Discovery Project


DP0772180 Prof P De Deckker; Prof NJ Tapper; Dr GE Allison; Dr D De Beer; 
Prof K Hinrichs; Dr E
Schefuss; Dr JW Stuut
Project Title: The composition and transport of Australian air-borne dust: 
critical to continental and
marine environments
2007 : $255,000
2008 : $250,000
2009 : $240,000
Primary RFCD 2603 GEOCHEMISTRY
Administering Organisation
The Australian National University
Project Summary
This project will determine the composition of Australian airborne dust and 
effects on the environment and in particular soils, rainforests and the 
marine realm, including reefs. 'Fingerprinting' the chemical and 
microbiological content of aeolian dust is of particular relevance to 
determining its impact on the health of the Australian people and 
environment. Atmospheric conditions propitious for dust entrainment and 
transport will be determined, and in particular atmospheric exchanges 
between Indonesia, southern Africa and Australia will be established. The 
relevance of aeolian dust to climate, ecosystems and biosecurity in our 
region will be established through the study of marine and lacustrine cores.


DP0771519 Dr SM Eggins; Dr MJ Ellwood; Dr M Kelly
Project Title: The Southern Ocean's role in determining atmospheric CO2 
levels: new insights from
novel biogenic silica records of seawater pH
2007 : $112,000
2008 : $78,000
2009 : $72,000
Primary RFCD 2603 GEOCHEMISTRY
Administering Organisation
The Australian National University
Project Summary
About half the emissions from the burning of fossil fuel since the 
Industrial Revolution have been absorbed by the oceans. However, 
considerable uncertainty surrounds the consequences of and the extent to 
which the oceans will continue to sequester CO2 into the future. This 
research will improve existing limited knowledge of the key biological and 
related ocean processes that transfer CO2 between the surface and depth, 
and the poorly understood effects on marine ecosystems of increasing ocean 
acidity due to CO2 absorption. This knowledge will contribute to predicting 
the course of future climate change and gauging the impacts on marine life 
and production systems.


DP0773815 Prof LK Fifield; Prof JM Chappell; Dr M Honda
Project Title: Exposure dating with manganese-53, neon-21 and beryllium-10: 
a new toolkit for studying long-term landscape evolution
2007 : $130,000
2008 : $125,000
2009 : $123,000
Primary RFCD 2601 GEOLOGY
Administering Organisation
The Australian National University
Project Summary
Australia today is the driest inhabited continent but this was not always 
the case. Tens of millions of years ago the climate of Australia was 
considerably wetter. Then, several million years ago, aridity in Australia 
developed producing most of the desert features of the red Centre that we 
see today. The age of our deserts and other arid features are not, however, 
well known. This project will determine the age of desertification in 
Australia, thereby enhancing our understanding of such processes and the 
response of our landscape to changing climate.


DP0773920 Dr DO Fisher
Project Title: Extrinsic threats and biological predisposition in animal 
extinction and rediscovery
2007 : $105,000
2008 : $105,000
2009 : $98,287
2010 : $100,000
2011 : $96,950
Primary RFCD 2707 ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
ARF Dr DO Fisher
Administering Organisation
The Australian National University
Project Summary
A global extinction crisis looms, and Australia has a shocking record, 
especially of mammal extinctions. The results of this project to find how 
different threats affect each species will lead to management that focusses 
on species-and region-specific causes. This will help to prevent further 
extinctions of Australian mammals and other fauna. Many people hope that 
species of particular importance to us such as the thylacine have defied 
extinction, and will be rediscovered. This project will test which 
predictive factors can increase the chance of species rediscovery, and help 
management agencies plan for the expected number of future rediscoveries.


DP0773019 Prof K Lambeck; Prof CD Woodroffe; Dr J Zhao; Dr SG Smithers; Dr 
D Fabel; Dr J Stone
Project Title: Sea-level change in the Australasian region during the past 
6000 years: Understanding the past to predict the future.
2007 : $128,000
2008 : $137,000
2009 : $96,000
Primary RFCD 2606 ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES
Administering Organisation
The Australian National University
Project Summary
Interactions of climate, ice, oceans, and solid earth result in complex 
variations sea level in time and space. This proposal develops a predictive 
understanding of this change through an interdisciplinary integration of 
geophysical theory and geologic observations. Focus is on the Australian 
area and on the present interglacial but the outcomes will be placed in a 
global frame. Outcomes will include estimates of rates and amplitudes of 
sea-level change, of changes in ice volume, of land movements from 
isostatic and tectonic causes. It also provides the framework necessary for 
separating natural change from anthropogenic change during the recent past 
and for predicting future regional and global sea-level change on a century 
time scale.


DP0773868 Dr JF Parr
Project Title: Enhancing long-term soil organic carbon sequestration
2007 : $85,000
2008 : $85,000
2009 : $85,000
Primary RFCD 2799 OTHER BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
APD Dr JF Parr
Administering Organisation
Southern Cross University
Project Summary
This project addresses National Research Priority One areas, restoration of 
land surfaces through sustainable land management practices and 
sequestration of carbon. The resulting data will be transferable to 
domestic and international sustainable agricultural and land rehabilitation 
applications. The project specifically addresses an area of global 
significance, the long-term, millennia rather than short-term sequestration 
of terrestrial carbon. There will be spin-off benefits including the 
provision of a formula for sustainable agriculture resources and localized 
employment opportunities, educational and financial incentives for farmers 
to improve on-farm soil health as well as health benefits from the 
reduction of atmospheric CO2.


DP0773700 Dr RN Drysdale; Dr JC Hellstrom; Dr R Maas; Dr G- Zanchetta; Prof 
AE Fallick; Prof G Lohmann
Project Title: Improving climate models through new insights on long-term 
inter-hemispheric climate synchronicity from speleothems
2007 : $150,000
2008 : $142,000
2009 : $37,000
Primary RFCD 2606 ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES
Administering Organisation
The University of Newcastle
Project Summary
It is important that palaeoclimatologists continue to improve understanding 
of how the Earth responds to climate forcing, so that climate models can be 
rigorously validated and refined. Since the Earth responds to most of this 
forcing over time scales that exceed the length of instrumental weather 
measurements, the recovery of datable palaeoclimate archives that are 
highly sensitive to past climate changes is essential. Our project will 
provide important new palaeoclimate data from both hemispheres on how key 
regions of the Earth responded to past climate changes. This will bring 
improved understanding of past oceanic-atmospheric processes that can be 
fed into climate models, ultimately producing better forecasts to the 
benefit of all Australians.


DP0772571 Ms KE Westaway
Project Title: Landscape evolution and palaeoclimates in Indonesia: 
environmental, faunal and archaeological implications.
2007 : $102,030
2008 : $102,030
2009 : $102,030
Primary RFCD 2601 GEOLOGY
APD Ms KE Westaway
Administering Organisation
University of Wollongong
Project Summary
The influence of environmental and climatic changes on faunal (including 
human) populations is a pressing issue for Australian communities in 
environmentally sensitive areas. This project will address this issue by 
documenting how certain flora and fauna in Indonesia, our nearest northern 
neighbour, responded to environmental challenges. Revealing when humans 
first dispersed through the region and how they adapted to changing 
environmental conditions will also contribute to our understanding of the 
cultural heritage of Australia's indigenous settlers. This project will 
build on established collaborations with Indonesian researchers and pioneer 
new dating methodologies to further enhance Australia's place at the 
forefront of geochronology.


DP0772691 Prof JF Nott; Prof MI Bird; Dr SG Smithers
Project Title: Are humans responsible for recent changes in the behaviour 
of tropical cyclones? Decoupling natural variability from human influence 
using isotopes
2007 : $80,000
2008 : $50,000
2009 : $90,000
2010 : $70,000
2011 : $25,118
Primary RFCD 2603 GEOCHEMISTRY
Administering Organisation
James Cook University
Project Summary
An increase in the frequency of intense landfalling tropical cyclones will 
have a major impact upon Australia's economy and the safety of its citizens 
and visitors. There is little doubt that global climate change will cause 
this increase. Understanding when this might occur and the extent of this 
change over and above that which could also occur naturally will help 
reduce economic loss and save peoples' lives. Using isotope records of 
tropical cyclones and global climate models we will differentiate natural 
from human induced changes and ascertain the likely future impact of this 
hazard on Australia and its near neighbours.


DP0773081 A/Prof J Zhao; Dr K Yu; A/Prof MF Barbetti; Dr Q Hua; Prof Y Wang
Project Title: Characterising the tropical "heat engine" of global climate: 
combined coral, stalagmite
and tree-ring records from the Indo-Pacific region
2007 : $192,614
2008 : $192,614
2009 : $102,614
2010 : $96,614
2011 : $96,614
Primary RFCD 2606 ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES
ARF Dr K Yu
Administering Organisation
The University of Queensland
Project Summary
The recent anthropogenic global warming is causing polar icecap melting, 
sea level rise, reef coral bleaching and degradation, and increased 
frequency and intensity of severe droughts, floods, tropical 
cyclones/hurricanes/typhoons in the past decades, focusing daily media 
headlines worldwide. Our study will enhance understanding of global climate 
change, El Niño and Asian-Australian monsoon variability and coral reef 
degradation, and provide improved knowledge for future predictions. The 
outcome will impact on our National Research Priority 1: An Environmentally 
Sustainable Australia, enhance Australia's leadership in coral reef 
research, and contribute to an improved relationship with our neighbours in 
science, education and training.


DP0771971 Dr M Bunce
Project Title: Ancient DNA as a tool to study Australia's paleome: 
exploring climatic change, past
biodiversity, extinctions and long-term survival of DNA.
2007 : $63,000
2008 : $69,000
2009 : $60,000
Primary RFCD 2707 ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
Administering Organisation
Murdoch University
Project Summary
Restoration of Australian ecosystems can only occur if we know what plants, 
animals and insects used to live in the area before 'pest' species were 
introduced. This project will use ancient DNA obtained from 'poo' and cave 
sediments, that is thousands of years old, to discover what species used to 
live where and when. The ancient DNA profiles of past ecosystems will allow 
us to make better decisions when trying to establish sustainable and 
'natural' mainland and island sanctuaries. Ancient DNA is well preserved in 
some dry environments; this project will assess DNA preservation from sites 
all across Australia and use the DNA sequences to discover information 
about extinct animals and how past climate changes effected the native biota.


DP0772943 Dr GJ Prideaux
Project Title: Responses of southern Australian mammal faunas to climate 
change before and after
human arrival
2007 : $139,274
2008 : $130,000
2009 : $120,000
2010 : $120,000
2011 : $120,000
Primary RFCD 2707 ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
ARF Dr GJ Prideaux
Administering Organisation
The Flinders University of South Australia
Project Summary
In the past 170 years, southern Australia mammals have suffered one of the 
worst extinction rates in the world. More losses are predicted in the face 
of global warming. This recent extinction wave follows a major extinction 
event that saw 90% of Australia's large animals disappear 60,000-40,000 
years ago. The causes are hotly debated. Some researchers argue for a human 
cause, others suggest that climate change was to blame. This study will 
refine our knowledge of the timing and causes of these extinctions in 
southern Australia by assessing how communities responded to climate change 
in the lead-up to human arrival. It will provide vital information for 
managing the conservation of many modern species and guide us in limiting 
future losses.


DP0773602 Prof A Cooper; Prof JF Taylor
Project Title Evolutionary genetics of bovid genomes over 60,000 years
2007 : $188,825
2008 : $178,000
2009 : $166,000
Primary RFCD 2702 GENETICS
Administering Organisation
The University of Adelaide
Project Summary
This project will provide data critical for understanding the genetic 
background of modern cattle and bison, and how humans have shaped factors 
such as milk yield, growth rates and muscle mass. It will also reveal genes 
and genomic regions that were favoured in the domestication process, 
including those potentially linked to genes of commercial interest for 
future research. This pioneering ancient DNA approach will also be 
applicable to a variety of other domestic crops and animals. The unique 
temporal analysis of microevolution will provide crucial data for genetic 
research, and groundproof our attempts to analyse the timing and nature of 
human evolutionary history, major domestication events and inform 
conservation management.


DP0770451 Prof L Liu; Prof X Chen; Asst Prof D Yang; Mr T Gonzalez
Project Title: The origins of Asian domestic buffalo and its role in the 
development of agricultural technology
2007 : $190,324
2008 : $175,324
2009 : $179,324
Primary RFCD 4302 ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY
APD Mr T Gonzalez
Administering Organisation
La Trobe University
Project Summary
Benefits for Australia are educational, cultural and scientific. This 
project will enhance research collaborations between Australian 
universities and research institutions in China, Canada, the USA and India. 
It will particularly create more opportunities for academic exchange 
between Australia and China. This project employs new methods combining 
archaeology with DNA technology and archaeometry to tackle important issues 
in animal domestication and agricultural technology in many Asian regions. 
Its outcome will make a significant contribution to our knowledge of the 
human history of our region and the world.


DP0773040 A/Prof AG Sagona; Dr G Tsetskhladze; Mr CL Ogleby; Dr C Sagona
Project Title: A study of the archaeology of Caucasian Iberia with 
implications for grazing management in Australia
2007 : $48,818
2008 : $50,000
2009 : $50,000
Primary RFCD 4302 ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY
Administering Organisation
The University of Melbourne
Project Summary
This multi-disciplinary project will promote a younger generation of 
talented postgraduate and undergraduate students in a wide variety of 
fields, including archaeology, geomatic engineering, conservation of 
material culture, environmental and other natural sciences. The highlands 
of the Caucasus, located in a bioclimatic zone with a long history of 
alpine grazing, can also provide answers to questions such as the effect of 
grazing on biodiversity and the rehabilitation of fragile ecosystems, which 
may inform management and conservation activities in analogous highland 
country in Australia. The project will also ensure that exhibitions 
illustrating the rich heritage of Caucasus will reach Australian shores.


DP0770446 Dr CJ Clarkson
Project Title: The African origins of Asian and Australian lithic 
technologies: Exploring modern human origins and dispersals using new 
techniques of core analysis
2007 : $107,030
2008 : $97,030
2009 : $100,030
Primary RFCD 3703 ANTHROPOLOGY
APD Dr CJ Clarkson
Administering Organisation
The University of Queensland
Project Summary
This project will demonstrate that Australia is committed to understanding 
the origins of modern humans and solving research problems within and 
beyond our geographic region. The history of modern human evolution in 
Africa has significant implications for the origins of the first 
Australians, Indians and Asians and will contribute to an understanding of 
our shared and recent common ancestry and the emergence of human diversity. 
Australian archaeological innovations, especially when applied to global 
issues such as human evolution, will continue to showcase Australian 
scientific expertise and achievements. The study of problem-solving and 
technological innovation will help understand the sophisticated nature of 
early Australian peoples.


DP0772417 Mr B Li
Project Title: A mechanism to authenticate porcelain treasures from the 
Yuan-Ming dynasties
(1260-1644 AD) in China
2007 : $95,000
2008 : $95,000
2009 : $90,000
Primary RFCD 4302 ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY
APD Mr B Li
Administering Organisation
The University of Queensland
Project Summary
Jingdezhen wares were the most widely exported of all Chinese porcelains 
with worldwide distribution and representation in ancient sites and museum 
collections, including many in Australia. They are often auctioned at high 
prices (e.g. £15.68 million for one Yuan dynasty blue-and-white jar in 
2005), but their authenticity is often controversial, leading to lawsuits 
and attracting public interest. The chemical database from this research 
will enable unequivocal authentication of Jingdezhen porcelain prevailing 
world antique markets, allowing treasures to be sorted out of trashes. The 
project strengthens links with China, UK, USA and Japan. It greatly 
enhances knowledge base about China, which is having increasing interaction 
with Australia.


DP0772707 A/Prof IA Lilley
Project Title: Loyalty Islands Archaeological Project: Phase I (Tiga Island)
2007 : $56,000
2008 : $40,000
2009 : $48,000
Primary RFCD 4302 ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY
Administering Organisation
The University of Queensland
Project Summary
The project is explicitly intended to help safeguard Australia by 
strengthening our understanding of our region and the world. The study will 
substantially enhance international research cooperation between Australia, 
France and the French Pacific territories and will contribute to South 
Pacific development through its direct and indirect spin-offs for cultural 
heritage management and tourism. These outcomes will directly benefit the 
nation/community at a time when social, cultural and historical issues of 
the sort addressed by the project are assuming an ever-greater importance 
in an uncertain global security environment.


DP0773909 Dr MI Weisler; Dr K Yu
Project Title: Precisely Dating the Evolution of Complex Societies in 
Polynesia: The Hawaiian Example
2007 : $63,000
2008 : $94,000
2009 : $72,000
Primary RFCD 4302 ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY
Administering Organisation
The University of Queensland
Project Summary
It is of enormous national benefit to develop intellectual innovations that 
set Australia apart from its neighbours and establish its position as a 
regional leader in science. Because the Australasian region relies heavily 
on primary resource exploitation, intellectual developments are crucial for 
sustainable economic growth. Understanding how societies meet the 
challenges of resource depletion, landscape degradation, drought and 
population increase can be monitored with archaeological data over hundreds 
of years. Our research seeks to use an innovative technique for precisely 
dating major changes in Oceanic societies over the past 500 years, which 
will provide insights into how modern communities can cope with these 
problems today.


DP0770659 Dr PM Allison
Project Title: Food, drink and sociality in the early Roman Empire and 
their significance for
understanding ancient family and community life
2007 : $121,342
2008 : $145,287
2009 : $120,969
2010 : $60,300
2011 : $97,446
Primary RFCD 4302 ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY
QEII Dr PM Allison
Administering Organisation
The Australian National University
Project Summary
To understand and be secure in the present we must understand the past. The 
Roman world was multi-cultural and multi-ethnic - a foundation for modern 
European and Mediterranean cultures. It, therefore, has deep significance 
for contemporary Australia and its migrant populations. Knowledge of Roman 
social practices can provide unique insights into issues and dilemmas 
facing Australian society. Eating behaviours and food practices are of 
great public interest and understanding the foodways of people in the past 
is vital to these debates. This project also places Australia at the 
forefront of archaeological research and guarantees its international 
prominence in Roman social history.


DP0774079 Prof PS Bellwood; Dr MF Oxenham; Dr JG Stevenson
Project Title: The Creation of Southeast Asian Peoples and Cultures, 3500 
BC to AD 500
2007 : $91,500
2008 : $130,000
2009 : $100,000
2010 : $30,118
Primary RFCD 4302 ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY
Administering Organisation
The Australian National University
Project Summary
This project will make a significant intellectual contribution to enhancing 
Australia's awareness of the histories of neighbouring populations in 
Southeast Asia that in total exceed 350 million people. It will thus 
contribute to a better understanding of our region and the world. The 
project will also benefit the indigenous populations and future researchers 
of neighbouring Southeast Asian countries, through training, research 
collaboration and the dissemination of original research results, enhancing 
Australia's status as a supportive neighbour in the region.


DP0771841 Dr GR Clark
Project Title: Colonization of the Mariana Islands and its implications for 
Indo-Pacific prehistory
2007 : $79,000
2008 : $68,000
2009 : $72,000
Primary RFCD 4302 ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY
Administering Organisation
The Australian National University
Project Summary
The Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, is linked by seas and oceans 
that have been crossed by colonists in ancient as well as recent times. The 
most significant prehistoric migration was the movement of people out of 
southern China, into Taiwan, Island Asia and from there into Micronesia and 
across the Pacific. New investigations of the oldest sites in the Marianas 
will provide better understanding of early prehistoric maritime capacity, 
the connections between migrant groups who settled the islands of Asia and 
Oceania, and the processes of Indo-Pacific colonization. Improved knowledge 
of our neighbours capabilities and history is of clear national benefit to 
Australia.


DP0773697 Dr RQ Harrison
The colonial souvenir market and Indigenous agency in Oceania
Project Title
2007 : $108,000
2008 : $92,000
2009 : $78,480
Primary RFCD 4302 ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY
APD Dr RQ Harrison
Administering Organisation
The Australian National University
Project Summary
This project focuses on the objects from the late nineteenth and early 
twentieth century which were sold as Indigenous 'curios' to the general 
public through a Sydney museum. While much of the literature on collecting 
has focused on the role of institutional collecting the project examines 
popular objects which the general public purchased. This project will 
contribute to the growing importance of research into colonialism in the 
region, drawing together the results of research from the fields of 
archaeology, anthropology and material culture studies.


DP0770997 A/Prof AV Betts; Dr P Jia; Dr X Wu; Prof JP Mallory
Project Title: East meets West: an archaeological study of early contact 
between China and Eurasia 2007 : $95,001
2008 : $79,001
2009 : $85,001
2010 : $73,001
Primary RFCD 4302 ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY
APD Dr P Jia
Administering Organisation
The University of Sydney
Project Summary
The project will link Chinese and Australian researchers in a collaborative 
programme exploring the origins of cultural contact between China and the 
West. Through the work of a team of international specialists, this fresh 
initiative will bring western analytical techniques together with Chinese 
archaeological experience to create a new and robust picture of the 
evidence for early cultural contact. From this we will study the early 
movements of Indo-European populations and examine the question of the 
origins of early metal production in China.


DP0770234 Prof MJ Morwood; Dr F Aziz; Mr D Kosasih
Project Title: Astride the Wallace Line 2: human evolution, dispersal, 
culture and environmental change
in Southeast Asia
2007 : $195,000
2008 : $180,000
2009 : $190,000
Primary RFCD 4302 ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY
Administering Organisation
University of Wollongong
Project Summary
Our previous project on the archaeology and fossil record of Southeast Asia 
yielded results of international significance, including the discovery of a 
new human species and dates for major changes in the Indonesian faunal 
sequence. It also involved collaboration between Australian, Indonesian and 
Canadian researchers from a range of institutions and disciplines, and 
provided topics for six PhD and two MA students. This level of significant 
research, international collaboration and training will continue with the 
current project.


DP0770259 Dr P Hiscock; Dr VJ Attenbrow
Project Title: Evolution of technology and tool use in 10,000 years of 
Aboriginal History
2007 : $52,000
2008 : $39,000
2009 : $43,000
Primary RFCD 4302 ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY
Administering Organisation
The Australian National University
Project Summary
Results will substantially enhance the power of explanations for the 
Australian backed artefact proliferation, a key archaeological signature of 
cultural change in ancient Aboriginal society. A solution to the puzzle of 
why those artefacts were frequently made during one period in the past will 
be of interest to all researchers concerned with the historical development 
of Aboriginal societies, and to Aboriginal people. Furthermore, a detailed 
study of the evolution of a technology and its use over a period of 10,000 
years, defining the entanglement of production and use systems, is rare in 
archaeology and the project will enable development of new insights into 
theories concerning the reasons technologies are adopted and changed.


Linkage International Fellowships

LX0776040 Dr CS Turney; Dr MS McGlone
Project Title: Australasian climate reconstruction for the past two 
millennia Approved
2007 : $ 64,297
Primary RFCD 2606 ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES
Collaborating Countries: NZ, Sweden, USA
Administering Organisation
University of Wollongong
Project Summary
The results generated during this Fellowship will provide a greater 
understanding of the sensitivity of the Australasian region to the natural 
range of climatic variability (far beyond that recorded by historical 
datasets). Focussing on the past two millennia, the applicant will help 
investigate the timing, rate and magnitude of change, allowing a robust 
test of whether past changes were in phase with the Northern Hemisphere. 
The results will provide a considerably improved context for understanding 
present and future climate change in the Australasian region.


LX0775997 Dr JA Cameron; Prof GW Barker
Project Title: The Niah Cave project: archaeological textile analysis Approved
2007 : $ 53,387
Primary RFCD 4302 ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY
Collaborating Countries: Malaysia, UK
Administering Organisation
The Australian National University
Project Summary
This project on archaeological textiles from excavations at Niah Cave in 
Sarawak involves collaborative links between researchers from many 
different disciplines from the Australian National University, the National 
University of Singapore, the University of Cambridge and the University of 
Leicester as well as researchers from the Sarawak Museum in Malaysia. The 
project is an integrated program of archaeological excavation and 
environmental science by an inter-disciplinary team from universities in 
Great Britain, Australia, Sarawak and the USA and will lead to further 
international collaboration.


Linkage Projects

LP0775058 Prof Dr R Grun; Prof SG Webb; Dr AS Fairbairn; Dr EJ Rhodes; Dr N 
Stern
Project Title: Environmental Evolution of the Willandra Lakes World 
Heritage Area
2007 : $ 229,739
2008 : $ 151,312
2009 : $ 189,833
Primary RFCD 2601 GEOLOGY
APA(I) Award(s): 1
Collaborating/Partner Organisation(s)
Department of Conservation and Environment
Three Traditional Tribal Groups
Administering Organisation
The Australian National University
Project Summary
The Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area ranks as the most significant area 
for documenting Australia TMs unique cultural and environmental history. 
Parts of this remarkable archive are being lost through erosion. This 
project is the basis for a strategic research alliance between the 
custodians and managers of the area and leading Australian research 
institutions to build a picture of the continent TMs human and 
environmental history before this evidence is irretrievably lost. Lake 
Mungo is known to Australians as the site of the world TMs earliest 
cremation and a window into our remote past. We will provide novel insights 
into the evolution of the Australian landscape, its fragile environment and 
the history of its resilient inhabitants.