CANCELLED - SEMINAR: Archaeology Public Seminar
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Archaeology Public Seminar : Seed, fruits and nuts in the archaeology of tropical Sahul |
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Unfortunately this event has been cancelled.
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Seeds, fruits, nuts, bamboo and other plant
resources are preserved surprisingly well in
tropical cave and rockshelter sediments across
Sahul, providing a sound base for investigating
ancient subsistence practice and humanenvironment
changes. Macrofossil investigations
at Kosipe, northern New Guinea (Watinglo, Taora,
Lachitu, Dongan, Seraba, Gomogom), southern
New Guinea (Emo, Poromoi Tamu, Epe cave) and
the Bismarck Archipelago (Kamgot) will be used
to illustrate emerging patterns of plant resource
use over the last 50,000 years. This body of
evidence allows us to review the potential of the
method and address some problems that
continue to dog macrofossil analysis.
Identification: Analysis inevitably relies on anatomical investigation of specimens, with a reliance on
morphological criteria severely limiting the potential of the method to produce data. This imposes severe
technical constraints on generating new data sets and makes macrofossil analysis one of the most difficult
of all fossil studies. Quantification: samples remain small in most cases limiting the potential to develop the
method. In part this is due to the failure of archaeologists to apply correct recovery procedures as a
standard part of excavation practice. Expanding both the spatial extent and richness of the existing dataset
requires environmental field recovery to be brought in from the margins as “the specialists business” – as
one must assume it is if recent practical textbooks on archaeological method are to be believed – to become
a core field technique. Archaeobotany in Sahul, and the Asia‐Pacific tropical zone in general, has staggering
potential to contribute to several key issues of global archaeological significance as well as local
archaeological narratives which can only be realized if the sub‐discipline is embraced by the wider discipline at large.
Speaker(s) |
Andrew Fairbairn, The University of Queensland
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Location |
Economics and Commerce Conference Room (Room 373).
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Contact |
Emilie Dotte
<[email protected]>
: 6488 7917
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Start |
Wed, 07 Nov 2012 10:00
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End |
Wed, 07 Nov 2012 11:00
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Submitted by |
Karen Eichorn <[email protected]>
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Last Updated |
Thu, 01 Nov 2012 09:05
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