Langa langa Lagoon- Malaita, Solomon Islands
Research Funding
Scroll ↓
Meridian Grant 2024 (Co PI)
The deep human histories and possible futures of the Raja Ampat Islands, West Papua.
This interdisciplinary research, conservation, and outreach project explores the changing ecology of island rainforests in the Raja Ampat Archipelago of New Guinea. These islands lie at the heart of the coral triangle, host to the highest marine diversity on the planet and abundant endemic plants and animals. We explore how humans transformed these environments in deep time, including people’s capacity to extirpate, translocate, and conserve fauna and flora. Archaeological survey and excavation will document the chronology of human colonisation in the islands and produce zooarchaeological and artefactual records that attest to over 50,000 years of human interactions with marine and terrestrial animals.
This grant will run from 2024–2025 and will include fieldwork by Dr Dylan Gaffney (Oxford), Dr Agustin Capriati (Wageningen), Dr Ben Utting (Smithsonian), Dr Annette Oertle (Vienna), Prof Daud Tanudirjo (UGM), Prof Marlina Flassy (UCEN), Abdul Razak Macap (BPK Wilayah), Christoph Parsch (Göttingen), Dr Marlin Tolla (BRIN), and Dr Anna Florin (ANU).
Leaky Foundation 2023 (PI)
Using ZooMS to identify new human fossils in archaeological deposits in Papua New Guinea
The aim of this project is to analyse zooarchaeological assemblages from the New Guinea Highlands (PNG) to expand the record of human fossils in the Pleistocene and early Holocene and provide detailed information on the taxonomy and chronology of these unique assemblages. Genetic evidence suggests that multiple Denisovan populations were living in ISEA, however, a lack of fossil evidence leaves a range of important questions, such as anatomy and behaviour, unanswered for Denisovans as well as modern humans. ZooMS, radiocarbon dating, and stable isotope anlayses will be undertaken on unidentified fragmented bones from legacy material from the highland sites of Yuku and Kiowa. This will determine whether human remains are present in the faunal assemblages as well as start to explore varying adaptation and subsistence strategies.
Young Explorer Research Grant 2016 (PI)
Ethnoarchaeological fieldwork in the Solomon Islands –investigating local shellfishing practices of gathering, processing, and discard
In this ethnoarchaeological project, I observed local shellfishing practices on Malaita Island, Solomon Islands to understand the various practices used to gather, process, and discard varying shell taxa. The range of behaviours that led to specific tangible marks (such as fracture lines, burning/cooking marks, and disposal patterns) were recorded and compared to archaeological material to create a more holistic understanding of taphonomic processes on shell.
