The Barrow Island Archaeology Project: the dynamism of maritime societies in northern Australia (ARC Discovery Project administered by UWA) (2013-2015)

The Barrow Island Archaeology Project will study an exceptional record of Indigenous occupation on one of the largest islands lying off the northwest coast of Australia. The island and sites on it are optimally located to register first coastal occupations greater than 45,000 years ago. Peoples' responses to changes in sea level, climate and isolation from critical resources on the mainland will be mapped, with predicted abandonment 7,400 years ago. The Project will study the nature of a cultural landscape that represents a 'time-capsule' sealed in the early Holocene. Important climate and ecological records will be reconstructed from the contents of caves. The labour history of Indigenous people and pearling will also be profiled.