50,000 years of human subsistence behaviour in northern Australia (2015–2020)
Abstract:
For over 40 years archaeologists have debated the nature of initial colonisation of Australia and how people
subsequently coped with large-scale climate change. This is the first study to systematically examine
variation in human subsistence behaviour and animal community structure across northern
Australia.Through analyses of archaeofaunas from key archaeological sites, this project will test assumptions
of why and how northern Australia was first occupied and the manner in which people responded to dramatic
environmental shifts. An additional outcome of this project is insight into the causes of fragmentation in
Australian fauna assemblages and in particular, the recognition of carnivore damage.