Stepping-Stones to Sahul. This project aims to determine if there were two human dispersals into Australia, and whether the second had an adaptive advantage. The project expects to generate new knowl

Description

Stepping-Stones to Sahul. This project aims to determine if there were two human dispersals into Australia, and whether the second had an adaptive advantage. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of human dispersal, through excavation then combined technological and functional analysis of stone tools. Excepted outcomes of this project are to establish if stone tool miniaturisation reflects a significant threshold in human population density, technology, or social organisation. This should provide important benefits to Australian society such as addressing the complexity of deep time history of the country, and determining whether the later Palaeolithic represents a fundamental behavioural threshold for humanity in general.. Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 4301 - Archaeology. Lead: Dr Ceri Shipton