The Nilgiri Archaeological Project aims to move beyond the conventional view that sees South Indian upland forest-dwellers as secondary actors on the stage of global history, and change our understanding of the role they played in the making of world civilisation. To this end, a team of international researchers with expertise in Indian archaeology, palynology and palaeoecology, historical ethnobotany, ethnolinguistics, and epigraphy will focus on the Nilgiri Mountains in southern India, a region of montane subtropical forests and the homeland of several ethnic groups, from the start of the Common Era to the early 19th century. Read more here…
Human Adaptation to Coastal Evolution: Late Quaternary Evidence from Southeast Asia
Funding: Global Challenges Research Fund (AHRC) | Xuan Truong Construction Enterprise
SUNDASIA is exploring how prehistoric tropical communities adapted to cycles of coastal inundation over the last 60,000 years in northern Vietnam, and how these data can help inform models and responses to modern climate-induced rising seas in this region. This multi-disciplinary research project is focused on the archaeological, geological and ecological history of the Tràng An massif World Heritage site, Ninh Binh, Vietnam. Read more here…
A living archaeology in the Amazonian rainforest
Administering Organisation: MPI-SHH | photo credit: E. Neves
This project, funded by a Max Planck Society Research Grant, uses DNA and chronological profiling to reconstruct prehistoric human rainforest disturbance. Read more here…
Island Sustainability: the Legacy of Anthropogenic & Natural Disturbance on Ecological Resources
Caribbean island ecosystems face unique social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities induced by anthropogenic climate change which is exacerbated by unsustainable resource management. To develop sustainable ecological resource management strategies, accurate forecasting of long-term vegetation response to climate and human-caused disturbance is necessary. To address this issue, the project ISLANDER implements an interdisciplinary approach combining palaeoecology, archaeolozoology, palaeoclimate and forest management in Curaçao. Read more here…
The pace and rhythm of climate: 600,000 years in a biological hotspot
Administering Organisation: The Australian National University
This Australian Research Council funded project, uses palynology and ancient sedimentary DNA to generate knowledge of long-term changes in vegetation and rainfall for the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP). The project is part of the the ICDP Lake Towuti campaign. Read more here…
