New bioarchaeological perspectives on pre-contact lifeways in Sahul (2019-2023)

Bioarchaeology provides a unique lens for interpreting the past, however, the discipline has largely been inactive due to the sensitivity of studying ancestral remains of Indigenous people. The aims of this study will be to establish a new bioarchaeology research program for Sahul to test models of emerging socio-economic complexity. It will apply new developments in bioarchaeology, including Strontium isotope studies of migration and histological sectioning for understanding mobility and activity, to assess patterns of mobility and sedentism in three separate populations. Expected outcomes are a revision of the models of intensification in the archaeology of Sahul, and reinvigoration of bioarchaeology as a key research discipline.