2019 ARC Discovery, DECRA and LIEF awards

The Australian National University

DP190101839 Dr Hsiao-chun Hung; Dr Zhenhua Deng; Associate Professor Michael Carson; Professor Hirofumi Matsumura
Prosperity along the sea in the Asia Pacific at 5000-3000 BC.
This project aims to address how complex hunter-gatherers sustained large villages along the South China Coast for 2 millennia. About 7000 years ago, the people and landscape of this region began a long journey of transformation when affluent village systems appeared. Combining archaeology with archaeo-botany, palaeo-landscape reconstruction, and bio-archaeology, this project seeks to learn how these early coastal societies contributed to regional social-economic developments, in a time long prior to written chronicles. The project expects to support new comprehension of these unique coastal communities and their relationship with others in the broader Asia-Pacific region. 2101; $309,942.00

DP190100894 Associate Professor Jimin Yu; Professor Robert Anderson; Professor Zhangdong Jin; Professor Nicolas Thouveny
Deep Atlantic’s role in millennial atmospheric carbon dioxide changes.
This project aims to fill in a critical knowledge gap in global carbon cycle research, by generating the first high-resolution deep Atlantic carbonate ion and nutrient records for the last 150,000 years. The project will derive air-sea carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange signals, which permit straightforward evaluation of the deep Atlantic’s role in millennial atmospheric CO2 changes under various climate conditions. The intended outcome of this project is to substantially improve our understanding of the mechanisms that govern the global carbon cycle. This should provide significant benefits including the assessment of models used to predict future global warming due to anthropogenic CO2. 0406; $330,000.00

DP190100874 Professor Andrew Roberts; Dr David Heslop; Dr Janice Scealy
A new generation of palaeomagnetic statistics.
This project aims to build on recent advances in statistical inference to develop a new quantitative framework for palaeomagnetism. Palaeomagnetic analysis of Earth’s ancient magnetic field helps us to derive plate tectonic reconstructions and to use geomagnetic reversals to date rock sequences. These applications depend on statistical methods that are either flawed or that lack sufficient diagnostic power to be useful for addressing increasingly complex questions. Expected outcomes are an urgently needed new generation of palaeomagnetic statistical analysis methods. The project will provide quantitative tools that will benefit all palaeomagnetic applications across Earth Science and have widespread benefit and impact in academic and industrial research. 0404; $360,000.00

Flinders University

DP190102219 Associate Professor Rachel Popelka-Filcoff; Professor Claire Lenehan; Professor Claire Smith; Associate Professor Amy Roberts; Professor Robert Edwards; Assistant Professor Shanan Tobe

Ochre archaeomicrobiology: a new tool for understanding Aboriginal exchange.
This project aims to identify the origins and movements of Australian archaeological ochre through the development of a novel tool combining genomic and chemical analysis. The geographic distribution of Australian ochre is closely linked to Aboriginal creation stories, while its physical distribution by people is evidence of cultural cooperation. Using this new archaeomicrobiological technique, the project aims to answer significant questions about past human behaviour, in terms of trade, cultural interactions, territoriality and colonisation. The method also has the potential to benefit traditional owners by contributing to repatriation projects. The collaborative detailed recording, sampling and analysis of ochre sources on traditional lands will also assist Aboriginal communities to manage this important aspect of their cultural heritage. 2101; $478,500.00

DP190103636 Professor Gavin Prideaux; Professor Michael Lee; Associate Professor Matthew Phillips; Dr Natalie Warburton; Professor Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan; Associate Professor Craig McGowan
Illuminating the evolutionary history of Australia’s most iconic animals.
This project aims to pinpoint the nature and timing of key steps in macropod history and to test how these link with major climatic and biotic changes. Macropods (kangaroos and relatives) are widely considered the marsupial equivalents to hoofed mammals on other continents, but we have a weaker understanding of how their evolution was shaped by environmental change. This project will combine palaeontology, anatomy and genetics to address questions such as how and why ancestral macropods descended from the trees and evolved bipedal hopping, and the upper size limits of the kangaroo “body plan”. This should improve our understanding of the long-term effects of climate change on marsupials, and provide a test of key placental-based evolutionary models. 0603; $445,000.00

DP190102747 Dr Alice Gorman; Associate Professor Justin Walsh
How archaeology can transform living in space.
This project aims to investigate human engagement with material culture in the extreme environment of space by applying archaeological methods to the habitation design of the International Space Station. The project will use NASA data to record astronaut interactions with objects and spaces over time. The project expects to remedy deficiencies in previous psychological and engineering design research by taking a deep-time perspective on how a culture develops in a microgravity environment. The results are intended to identify how humans adapt to space technology and can be applied in the future design of long duration space missions to maximise both survival and efficiency. 2101; $244,400.00

The University of Adelaide

DP190103705  Dr Bastien Llamas; Dr Brad Chapman; Mr Erik Garrison; Professor Dr Lars Fehren-Schmitz

Australian Heritage: constructing the first Aboriginal reference genome.

This project aims to use DNA sequencing technologies to generate the first complete and accurate Aboriginal genomes, along with maps of genomic variation around Australia. It will combine a range of advanced analytical methods to integrate past and present indigenous genetic diversity from human populations around the world into a new pan-human reference genome. This project will lead to a step change in our understanding of global human genomic variants and provide a range of new targets relevant to medical biology, while significantly improving our knowledge of human genetic history and its consequences in the modern day. 0604; $435,000.00

DP190103606 Dr Christian Huber; Assistant Professor Fernando Racimo; Assistant Professor Kirk Lohmueller
The genomic landscape of speciation in hominins and other taxa.
This project will develop a new analytical framework to build detailed genomic maps of speciation genes across different taxa, to determine whether observed speciation is the result of background selection and demography alone, or whether there are actual barriers to gene flow and introgressed DNA. The model will provide novel insights into the mechanistic basis of speciation, specifically whether a common set of genes or pathways are central to the speciation process. The framework will be developed using the large genomic datasets available across a range of plant and animal species. Applying the model to a modern human population dataset will elucidate the role introgressed DNA from Denisovan and Neanderthals has played in shaping human evolutionary history and may provide novel insights into the genetic basis of disease. 0604; $364,000.00

DP190102782 Associate Professor John Tibby; Dr Jonathan Tyler; Professor Melanie Leng; Professor Jonathan Overpeck
East Australian climate extremes through the Holocene.
The project aims to document climate variability in eastern Australia over the Holocene, the last 11,500 years. It seeks to develop Australia’s two highest-resolution Holocene climate records using novel techniques to infer past rainfall, temperature and evaporation. The project will combine the expertise of international drought and climate specialists with novel techniques developed by the Australian investigators to derive an unparalleled record of drought duration, frequency and intensity. In particular, the project aims to determine the frequency, duration and causes of mega-droughts in eastern Australia, of which little is known. Expected project outcomes include improved decision making capacity for natural resource management, and planning. 0406; $465,534.00

The University of New England

DP190102089 Associate Professor Peter Grave; Professor Lisa Kealhofer
Proxies of power: ceramics and the Anatolian Iron Age.
This project aims to understand the economic and political dynamics of emerging, competing polities during the Early and Middle Iron Age (~1200-600 BCE) in central and west Anatolia. It deploys a new protocol that combines mineralogical with geologically high resolution stable and radio-isotopic techniques for in-hand ceramics and sediments. This project will establish a definitive, spatially-discrete model of ceramic exchange between the centres of three contemporary Anatolian polities: Phrygia, Lydia, and Tabal. The project will develop a new understanding of the economic and political transformations of Iron Age history, and expand the capabilities of a range of analytic techniques in archaeological contexts. 2101 ; $173,100.00

James Cook University

DP190101347 Associate Professor Jan Strugnell; Dr Nicholas Golledge; Dr Nerida Wilson; Professor Timothy Naish
Dating West Antarctic ice sheet collapse using molecular sequence data.
This project aims to investigate the past stability and configuration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet by examining genomic signatures in present day bottom-dwelling Antarctic marine animals. By employing this novel biological approach this project will provide an independent test of the hypothesis that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapsed during the most recent interglacial period and formed a trans-Antarctic seaway. Expected project outcomes include increased resolution of the most recent collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. This project should provide benefits in predicting future ice sheet collapse and its impact on sea level rise, which is a key uncertainty resulting from climate change. 0406; $285,000.00

Deakin University

DP190101253 Professor John Powers; Dr Gillian Tan; Assistant Professor James Pittock; Professor Dr Petra Maurer; Dr Sara Beavis; Dr Ruth Gamble; Associate Professor Per Sörensen; Dr Yangmotso Yangmotso
Tibet’s rivers in the Anthropocene: history and present trajectories.
This project aims to produce a multifaceted history of the eastern Tibetan Plateau’s rivers, focusing on the increasing human impacts during the Anthropocene. It will combine data from archival, cultural and oral sources in multiple languages with the results of scientific studies of river flow, water quality, and sediment, ice, and tree-rings analysis. The project will produce both historical narratives and graphic representations that model past land and water usage. The results of the project will underpin environmental policy for this hydrologically and ecologically crucial region, including the development of a paradigm of care based on the region’s indigenous cultural resources. 2103; $418,268.00

The University of New South Wales

DP190100494 Professor Matthew England; Dr Andrew Hogg; Dr Adele Morrison; Dr Paul Spence; Dr Stephen Griffies
Risks of rapid ocean warming at the Antarctic continental margin.
This project aims to comprehensively understand the interconnected processes by which oceanic heat is circulated towards Antarctica. The risk of rapid ocean warming at the Antarctic margin is profound, with change already detected via deep ocean warming, land-ice melt, and ice shelf collapse. Yet this region remains poorly understood, with only limited observations due to both a harsh environment and a lack of standard data streams. This project will use high-resolution global and regional ocean/sea-ice models to examine mechanisms for rapid warming of Antarctic continental shelf waters via both large-scale drivers and fine-scale processes, including mesoscale eddies, tide-topography interactions, and bottom boundary flows. This work will better constrain future rates of ice melt around Antarctica by providing vital knowledge of the ocean processes, dynamics, and feedbacks relating to warm water intrusion onto the Antarctic continental shelf. 0405; $582,500.00

La Trobe University

DP190100485 Dr Keir Strickland; Professor Ian Simpson; Professor Robin Coningham
An archaeological investigation into the collapse of Polonnaruva, Sri Lanka.
This project aims to develop an improved understanding of the collapse of the kingdom of Polonnaruva, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Sri Lanka. The medieval collapse of Polonnaruva marked the end of the lowland kingdoms in Sri Lanka’s arid north, and the end of a distinctive and successful form of hydraulic low-density urban settlement. Recent research at Anuradhapura suggests the very economic system that enabled these kingdoms to flourish within a marginal environment, may have facilitated their collapse. This project will characterise, contextualise and explain the development and failure of the low-density urban state of Polonnaruva. The project expects to inform environmental security and improve management and risk reduction in decision making in relation to ancient and contemporary socio-environmental systems. 2101; $328,700.00

Monash University

DP190100465 Dr Luca Fiorenza; Associate Professor Stefano Benazzi; Dr Rachel Sarig
A real-time biomechanical study of Neanderthal anterior dentition.
This project aims to advance understanding of the evolution of human dentition using an innovative approach that integrates sophisticated 3D digital modelling with engineering tools. Neanderthals are our closest extinct human relatives that inhabited Eurasia from about 230,000 to 28,000 years ago. However, their protruding faces, large noses and big anterior teeth, raise questions about why these people look so different from us. This project aims to fill this gap in human knowledge about our evolutionary history, and to enhance the international visibility of Australian research in palaeoanthropology and dental biomechanics. 2101; $245,600.00

Macquarie University

DP190100240 Associate Professor Malcolm Choat; Professor Damian Gore; Dr Rodney Ast
Ancient Egyptian papyri: unlocking secrets to the history of writing.
This project aims to investigate the chemical composition of papyri from ancient Egypt and their inks to identify scribes, date texts, detect forgeries, match fragmentary texts, and illuminate environmental and technological change. Papyrus and carbon-based ink were the primary writing materials in the ancient Mediterranean world from 2600 BCE to 1000 CE, but the uncertain provenance and date caused by clandestine excavation and the antiquities trade limits our understanding of them. The non-destructive and inexpensive analysis will provide new understanding of environmental, technological, and socio-cultural change in ancient cultures from Egypt to Rome by providing new insights into writing technology, scribal identity, dating, and authenticity. 2103; $286,000.00

University of Wollongong

DP190100164 Dr Gerrit van den Bergh; Dr Mark Moore; Associate Professor Nick Milne; Dr Hanneke Meijer; Dr Yousuke Kaifu; Dr Samuel Turvey
Island fauna evolution through deep time: the Flores experiment.
This project aims to reveal the evolutionary patterns of insular fauna, including hominins, as exemplified by the island of Flores. Through multidisciplinary analyses of securely dated fossils, artefacts and environmental data spanning 1.4 million years, the project expects to provide a deep and broad reconstruction of faunal adaptations to insular conditions and environmental fluctuations through deep geological time. The significance of this research includes the first comprehensive testing of hypotheses associated with island dwarfing (where megafauna, over time, become smaller), and providing the first palaeo-ecological context for the only known insular hominin, Homo floresiensis. 0403; $324,000.00

University of Southern Queensland

DP190100159 Professor Bryce Barker; Associate Professor Lara Lamb; Associate Professor Maxime Aubert; Associate Professor Andrew Fairbairn; Dr Matthew Leavesley
The archaeology of the Great Papuan Plateau.
This project aims to investigate the peopling of the Great Papuan Plateau (GPP), a large karst system situated between Australia and Southeast Asia. Recent discoveries suggest that humans arrived in northern Australia by 65,000 years ago and were in southeast Asia by at least 80,000 years ago. Dating the timing and movement of the human colonisation of the GPP has the potential to reveal evidence of the earliest eastward movement of peoples into Sahul (now Australia and New Guinea). Through archaeological excavations of limestone caves with rock art and deep cultural floor deposit recorded across the plateau, this project will provide answers to fundamental questions about the early occupation of Sahul by early modern humans. 2101; $549,747.00

The Australian National University

LE190100039 Professor Adrienne Nicotra; Professor Justin Borevitz; Professor Eelco Rohling; Associate Professor Geoffrey Cary; Professor Angela Moles; Associate Professor Mark Hovenden; Associate Professor Ben Kefford; Professor Don Driscoll; Dr Susanna Venn; Associate Professor William Cornwell; Professor David Keith; Dr Marta Yebra; Dr Gregory Summerell
Australian mountain environmental research infrastructure facility.
This project aims to establish the Australian Mountain Research Infrastructure Facility (AMRIF). The facility will catalyse and support world-leading ecosystem, evolutionary and biophysical science to engage and build capacity of decision makers responsible for managing Australia’s mountains. Australia’s High Mountains provide critical water supply, clean energy, unique biodiversity, recreation and education opportunities but face an ecological crisis from climate and land use change. The AMIRF will bring together leading institutions and researchers to produce world-leading ecosystem, evolutionary and biophysical science to guide adaptive management of High Mountains across Australia. It will support research to assess the extent and effects of changing climate, water and fire regimes on ecosystem processes and their feedback, and provide a structure for integrated research, management and governance of Australia’s mountains. 0501; $1,120,000.00

Curtin University

LE190100053 Professor Kliti Grice; Dr William Rickard; Associate Professor Gretchen Benedix; Professor San Ping Jiang; Professor Steven Reddy; Professor Matthew Kilburn; Associate Professor Peta Clode; Assistant Professor Daniel Peyrot; Dr David Wacey; Professor Paul Lavery; Professor Pere Masque; Associate Professor Robert Trengove; Dr Fang Xia; Dr Artur Deditius; Dr Garth Maker
A novel ToF-SIMS facility for organic and inorganic analyses in WA.
This project aims to establish a Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) facility to support national and international research projects in the areas of energy, minerals, material sciences, planetary sciences, life sciences and biomedical sciences. This is a surface sensitive analytical technique that provides detailed elemental, isotopic and molecular information on surfaces, interfaces and thin layers with detection limits reaching in the parts-per-billion-range. The facility will be a next generation ToF-SIMS allowing parallel detection of organic and inorganic species in a given sample. This facility will increase national prosperity by providing structural information of organic molecules associated with minerals, meteorites, fossils, petroleum source-rocks and biochemical samples. 0402; $1,267,674.00