Overview
Background
I am an Australian Research Council Future Fellow working in the field of bioarchaeology in Australia and New Guinea.
Availability
- Professor Michael Westaway is:
- Available for supervision
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Arts, University of Sydney
- Doctor of Philosophy, Australian National University
Works
Search Professor Michael Westaway’s works on UQ eSpace
2025
Journal Article
A century of 'Australopithecus africanus': Raymond Dart, human origins and the place of Africa
Westaway, Michael C., Manne, Tiina, Bol, Beny and Jato, Denis (2025). A century of 'Australopithecus africanus': Raymond Dart, human origins and the place of Africa. Queensland History Journal, 26 (3), 199-209.
2025
Conference Publication
Collaborative bioarchaeological research in Mithaka Country
van der Westhuizen, Christopher, Hood Withey, Fletcher, Gorringe, Joshua, Miszkiewicz, Justyna, Wilkin, Shevan, Williams, Doug, Mithaka Aboriginal Corporation and Westaway, Michael C. (2025). Collaborative bioarchaeological research in Mithaka Country. 10th World Archaeological Congress, Darwin, NT, Australia, 22-28 June 2025. Online: World Archaeological Congress.
2025
Conference Publication
Community-led Bioarchaeology on Muralag Island, Torres Strait
Swift, Jaime, Tom, Enid, Kariwiga, Jason, Wasef, Sally, Lowe, Kelsey and Westaway, Michael C. (2025). Community-led Bioarchaeology on Muralag Island, Torres Strait. World Archaeology Congress, Darwin, NT Australia, 22-28 June 2025.
2025
Conference Publication
Wot’s in a name?: What do the mines of the Mithaka say about traditional food production in South West Queensland?
Williams, Doug, Westaway, Michael C. and Gorringe, Joshua (2025). Wot’s in a name?: What do the mines of the Mithaka say about traditional food production in South West Queensland?. World Archaeology Congress, Darwin, NT, Australia, 22 - 28 June 2025.
2025
Conference Publication
Energised crowding and Aboriginal village settlements: developing a model from Mithaka Country
Westaway, Michael C., Williams, Doug, Gorringe, Joshua, Manne, Tiina, Wright, Nathan, Martin, Richard and Mithaka Aboriginal Corporation (2025). Energised crowding and Aboriginal village settlements: developing a model from Mithaka Country. World Archaeology Congress, Darwin, NT, Australia, 22 - 28 June 2025.
2024
Conference Publication
The Gilparrka site complex, Mithaka Country, southwest Queensland, Australia
Habgood, Phillip J., Franklin, Natalie R., Wright, Nathan, Gorringe, Josh and Westaway, Michael C. (2024). The Gilparrka site complex, Mithaka Country, southwest Queensland, Australia. 22nd Congress of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 6-12 November 2022. Bangkok, Thailand: SEAMEO SPAFA Regional Centre for Archaeology And Fine Arts. doi: 10.26721/spafa.p663o83rkr-11
2024
Book Chapter
Fish Traps, Seed-Grinding and Food Stores : Reconstructing Complex Mithaka Indigenous Economic and Water Management Technologies
Kerkhove, Ray C., Silcock, Jennifer L., Williams, Douglas, Kotarba-Morley, Ania, Keenan-Jones, Duncan, Wright, Nathan J., Morley, Mike W., Gorringe, Joshua, Scholz, Glen, Lowe, Kelsey M., Cemre Üstünkaya, M., Stephens, Samantha, Moss, Patrick T. and Westaway, Michael C. (2024). Fish Traps, Seed-Grinding and Food Stores : Reconstructing Complex Mithaka Indigenous Economic and Water Management Technologies. The Oxford Handbook of Global Indigenous Archaeologies. (pp. 1-69) Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197607695.013.60
2024
Book Chapter
Papuan pasts: the origins of Papuan human remains collections in the world's museums, the issue of repatriation, and telling new stories with skeletal data
Kariwiga, Jason, Wrobel, Gabriel and Westaway, Michael C. (2024). Papuan pasts: the origins of Papuan human remains collections in the world's museums, the issue of repatriation, and telling new stories with skeletal data. The Routledge handbook of museums, heritage, and death. (pp. 177-190) edited by Trish Biers and Katie Stringer Clary. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003195870-17
2023
Journal Article
Transdisciplinary approaches to understanding past Australian Aboriginal foodways
Westaway, Michael C., Wright, Nathan, Crowther, Alison, Silcock, Jennifer, Carter, Rodney, Moss, Patrick and Henry, Robert (2023). Transdisciplinary approaches to understanding past Australian Aboriginal foodways. Archaeology of Food and Foodways, 2 (1), 47-74. doi: 10.1558/aff.18161
2023
Conference Publication
Understanding Sedentism and Mobility in Mithaka Country Through the Application of Sr Isotopes
Hood Withey, Fletcher and Westaway, Michael C. (2023). Understanding Sedentism and Mobility in Mithaka Country Through the Application of Sr Isotopes. Australian Archaeological Association, Broadbeach, QLD Australia, 6-8 December 2023.
2023
Conference Publication
Utilising Strontium Isotope Mapping to Reconstruct Prehistoric Human Mobility: A New Prehistory of Motupore, an Island on the South Papuan Coast, Papua New Guinea
Kariwiga, Jason and Westaway, Michael C. (2023). Utilising Strontium Isotope Mapping to Reconstruct Prehistoric Human Mobility: A New Prehistory of Motupore, an Island on the South Papuan Coast, Papua New Guinea. Australian Archaeological Association, Broadbeach, QLD Australia, 6-8 December 2023.
2023
Conference Publication
Megasites and villages: rethinking the methodological approach to investigate Mithaka Country
Westaway, Michael C. (2023). Megasites and villages: rethinking the methodological approach to investigate Mithaka Country. Australian Archaeological Association, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia, 5 - 8 December 2023.
2023
Conference Publication
Rewilding in Partnership with Australian Aboriginal Communities
Westaway, Michael C. (2023). Rewilding in Partnership with Australian Aboriginal Communities. International Congress of Archaeozoology, Cairns, QLD Australia, 9-12 August 2023.
2023
Other Outputs
Isotope analysis helps tell the stories of Aboriginal people living under early colonial expansion
Adams, Shaun, McGahan, David, Collard, Mark, Westaway, Michael and Martin, Richard (2023, 05 01). Isotope analysis helps tell the stories of Aboriginal people living under early colonial expansion The Conversation
2023
Conference Publication
Unearthed burial from rising sea levels: a collaborative community approach for tackling climate change in the Torres Strait Islands, Australia
Lowe, Kelsey, Tom, Enid, Westaway, Michael C., Swift, Jaime and Lau, Annie (2023). Unearthed burial from rising sea levels: a collaborative community approach for tackling climate change in the Torres Strait Islands, Australia. Society of American Archaeologists, Portland, OR United States, 30 March - 1 April 2023.
2023
Journal Article
The impact of contact: isotope geochemistry sheds light on the lives of Indigenous Australians living on the colonial frontier in late 19th century Queensland
Adams, Shaun, Collard, Mark, McGahan, David, Martin, Richard, Phillips, Susan and Westaway, Michael C. (2023). The impact of contact: isotope geochemistry sheds light on the lives of Indigenous Australians living on the colonial frontier in late 19th century Queensland. Archaeologies, 19 (2), 299-341. doi: 10.1007/s11759-023-09469-2
2023
Journal Article
The dawn of everything: a new history of humanity
Westaway, Michael C. (2023). The dawn of everything: a new history of humanity. Archaeology in Oceania, 58 (1), 132-134. doi: 10.1002/arco.5288
2023
Journal Article
Ula Thirra: a case study in the geomagnetic detection of combustion features in Channel Country of far south-western Queensland
Lowe, Kelsey M., Williams, Doug, Wright, Nathan, Gorringe, Shawnee, Gorringe, Josh, Andrews, Ian, Ustunkaya, Meltem Cemre, Gorringe, Betty and Westaway, Michael C. (2023). Ula Thirra: a case study in the geomagnetic detection of combustion features in Channel Country of far south-western Queensland. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 15 (3) 30, 1-17. doi: 10.1007/s12520-023-01722-7
2023
Journal Article
Connections across the Coral Sea
Westaway, Michael C. (2023). Connections across the Coral Sea. Antiquity, 97 (394), 1-7. doi: 10.15184/aqy.2023.83
2023
Book Chapter
Evaluating mid-to late Holocene economic intensification through analysis of a mollusk assemblage on the tropical North Australian coast
Wright, Martin, Faulkner, Patrick and Westaway, Michael (2023). Evaluating mid-to late Holocene economic intensification through analysis of a mollusk assemblage on the tropical North Australian coast. Human behavioral ecology and coastal environments. (pp. 199-228) edited by Heather B. Thakar and Carola Flores Fernandez. Gainesville, FL, United States: University Press of Florida. doi: 10.5744/florida/9780813069586.003.0009
Funding
Current funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Michael Westaway is:
- Available for supervision
Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Investigating the economy of Mithaka settlements
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Alison Crowther
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Doctor Philosophy
Princess Charlotte Bays rock art galleries: understanding the boundaries, connections, and the importance of style signatures across time and space in the Coral Sea.
Principal Advisor
-
Master Philosophy
An archaeobotanical framework for empirically distinguishing Indigenous plant collection, cultivation, and agriculture on Mithaka Country southwest Queensland
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Andrew Fairbairn
Completed supervision
-
2025
Doctor Philosophy
Investigating prehistoric mobility in Motupore Islanders through strontium isotope mapping
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Andrew Fairbairn
Media
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