Flinders University International PhD Scholarships in Geoarchaeology 2019,

Applications are now open for 2 x PhD Scholarships in Geoarchaeology at Flinders University 

These scholarships will be offered in 2019 as part of Dr Mike Morley's ARC Future Fellowship (PROJECT ID: FT180100309), title: “Early human dispersal into Southeast Asia: identifying the key environmental drivers”.

Project summary:

Did environmental or human evolutionary processes drive the dispersal of early humans eastwards from Africa into Southeast Asia—and beyond into Australia? This project aims to resolve this important question by examining archaeological sediments using an innovative Earth-science approach, providing direct links between cultural and environmental records.

The results will reveal the environment-types favoured by early humans moving into this region in the deep past. Expected outcomes of the project include a greater understanding of the role of environmental change on the colonisation of new landscapes, especially pertinent given that modern climate change affects those living in marginal environments today—such as the Australian interior.

The scholarships:

Flinders Archaeology is offering two fully-funded PhD scholarships to pursue doctoral research in Geoarchaeology. The doctoral candidates will be integral to a 4-year Australian Research Council (ARC) funded project examining environmental drivers of human (and hominin) dispersals into and out of Southeast Asia during the Late Pleistocene (MIS 5–2). The research will involve fieldwork at sites across Southeast Asia, examining stratigraphic sequences both at cave and open-air sites to generate data enabling the reconstruction of environment change occurring on-site and in the local catchment. Candidates will be encouraged to employ a range of geoarchaeological techniques suited to their particular skills and experience, but there will be emphasis on analysing sediments at the micro-scale (e.g., micromorphology/microstratigraphy, spatially-constrained geochemical and elemental mapping, plant biomarkers, stable isotopes).

Candidates will be expected to demonstrate sound knowledge and experience of using a relevant archaeological science technique as applied to stratigraphic sequences, with the drive and enthusiasm to diversify into interrelated analytical techniques. Experience working on archaeological sites is essential, and prospective candidates with experience in micromorphology/thin section petrology are particularly encouraged to apply. It is expected that applicants have a grasp of the subject including the various models of human dispersal into the region during the time period in question.

Topics will have to fit into the overall theme of the wider project, and could include:

• Reconstructing environments contemporary with human/hominin site occupation
• Microstratigraphic recognition of diagenetic signatures in tropical environments
• Sediment provenancing in the humid tropics: delivery pathways and processes
• Archaeological site formation processes: fine-scale contextualisation of archaeology and hominin fossils in Late Pleistocene Southeast Asia

For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.