The archaeological evidence in Australia is currently the oldest, indirect evidence for seafaring by our species – anywhere in the world. The reason for this, the islands to the north west (modern-day Indonesia and Timor-Leste) have never been connected to the mainland, necessitating multiple sea crossings from mainland South East Asia in order to reach Australia.
In this talk, Dr Shimona Kealy discusses the archaeological record from the region as it currently stands, highlighting some of the gaps in our current understanding of early movements of people throughout the region. She will then share the results of her recent modelling efforts to determine the most-likely route people may have initially travelled through this island archipelago.
The models utilised a variety of geological and geographical techniques to reconstruct the palaeo-seascape and how it might have been viewed by its earliest human explorers, modelling paths of least resistance (Least-Cost) throughout.
Dr Kealy will then discuss how the results of these models revealed key islands for further archaeological investigation and share some of the preliminary findings from her latest field adventures to these very localities.
Event Speakers
Dr Shimona Kealy
Shimona is an archaeologist and palaeobiologist with a key interest in the early movements of people, cultures, and animals throughout the islands of the Asia-Pacific. In particular, the patterns of occupation & cultures in island communities over the last ~50,000 years in Wallacea, and the biological & ecological impacts of early human arrival on islands.