Virtual Sea-Drifting Experiments between the Island of Cyprus and the Surrounding Mainland in the Early Prehistoric Eastern Mediterranean

Seaborne movement underpins frontier research in prehistoric archaeology, including water-crossings in the context of human dispersals, and island colonisation. Yet, it also controls the degree of interaction between locations, which in turn is essential for investigating the properties of maritime networks. The onset of the Holocene (circa 12,000 years ago) is a critical period for understanding the origins of early visitors/inhabitants to the island of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean in connection with the spread of Neolithic cultures in the region. The research undertaken in this work exemplifies the synergies between archaeology, physical sciences and geomatics, towards providing novel insights on the feasibility of drift-induced seaborne movement and the corresponding trip duration between Cyprus and coastal regions on the surrounding mainland. The overarching objective is to support archaeological inquiry regarding the possible origins of these visitors/inhabitants—Anatolia and/or the Levant being two suggested origins

Canoeing Ancient Songlines

This narrative is built around a story that was told to me by my uncle Tim over a decade ago. It is a story told about the relationships between Australian Aboriginal people and Indigenous Hawaiians in the far distant past. For various reasons, this story cannot be proven. But that does not matter to me, because in my Aboriginal way of being and knowing, stories like my uncle's does not need scientific proof in our modern world to have validity. Before I go on to explain more about the role of story in Indigenous community, I will introduce myself.I am a Gumbayngirr/Gamilaroi man born in Gamilaroi country. Both my father's and my mother's sides are all Aboriginal. We lived in and around the New England region of NSW. I have grown up in departmental housing my whole life, and moved between Armidale and Tamworth for most of my childhood. I have a huge family, with many extended cousins from my grandmothers' sisters' and brothers' families and their children's siblings, and my grandfather's side and his brothers' families with their children and siblings. We were always visiting the towns of Tingha, Inverell, Guyra, Armidale, Tamworth and Tabulam. Travelling between these communities gave me an all-round emphasis on country and its layout. I got to know the New England landscape like the back of my hand, just like my old people did

A community of culture : the people and prehistory of the Pacific

In contributing this foreword to a volume containing papers by his colleagues to mark Jack Golson's retirement, it will be my aim to emphasise the qualities of mind and character that have enabled him to set the Department of Prehistory so firmly on its feet in the Research School of Pacific Studies of the Australian National University. During his tenure he has helped to make Australia a major centre of world prehistory and stimulate its study in many other Universities. (First paragraph of Foreword)

Investigation of autosomal tetranucleotide STR loci and male lineages among UK Leicestershire and Polynesian populations

This study reports the findings of an investigation of ten polymorphic autosomal tetranucleotide short tandem repeat loci and Y chromosome haplotype diversity among the genetically diverse populations of UK Leicestershire caucasians, New Zealand Maori and other Polynesian Islanders. The ten autosomal loci were initially isolated and sequenced by the Utah Marker Development group. This present study optimised the methodology for use with unlabelled primers and submarine gel electrophoresis technology. Little or no previous population or forensic genetic research had been carried out incorporating the ten loci presented in this study. [Continues.

Human Evolution in Polynesia: a Molecular Biological Study

Human evolution is an extremely interesting and contentious topic that incorporates data from a wide variety of disciplines. Molecular studies are becoming increasingly important for reconstructing human history, as new techniques allow faster recovery of results, and genetic tests provide an independent test for colonisation theories that are usually based on archaeological and linguistic evidence. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is an extremely useful genetic marker that is widely used in molecular biology for establishing phylogenetic links between individuals and populations. In the current study the 3' Hypervariable Region (3' HVI) of mtDNA from human populations living in New Zealand (Aotearoa) was analysed. The HVI mtDNA diversity in the New Zealand Maori population was significantly reduced compared with Polynesian and Melanesian populations, with an extremely high frequency (~87%) of the 'Polynesian CGT motif' haplotype. Additionally, the 9-bp deletion, common in Polynesian populations, has reached fixation (100%) in the Maori samples. These results support a settlement scenario with repeated population bottlenecks. The mtDNA HVI haplotype frequencies in this study, combined with those from previous studies, were used in computer simulations to estimate the number of females required to found the current Maori population. Approximately 56 women, and an equal or greater number of men, were estimated to have been present in the founding waka. This estimate is too large to support any settlement models with a small number of founders and effectively rules out the possibility of 'accidental discovery', instead supporting a planned settlement of Aotearoa in agreement with traditional knowledge. Analysis of interdisciplinary data has allowed current theories for the origins of the Polynesians and proto-Austronesians to be consolidated by introducing a 'Synthetic Total Evidence Theory'. It is likely that once published this theory will stimulate intense discussion and debate and will continue to grow as further evidence is obtained and incorporated into this model

Raising Islands

In an era of dawning anthropogenic climate change, people of atoll nations face grievous threats to their future. Rising sea levels, warming oceans, and changing weather patterns conspire with economic isolation, rapidly growing populations, and the loss of traditional livelihoods to perpetuate conditions of dependence and wardship which threaten the very existence of their island homes. This project examines an atoll nation of the equatorial Pacific, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, where the outward appearance of pristine tropical paradise belies a tragic history of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile testing at the hands of the US military. While the islands have been consistently framed in rhetoric which stresses vulnerability, smallness and unsustainability, this project contests the limited scope of the regimes of power in Oceania by considering how the independent, grassroots actions of local groups of islanders have achieved surprising and dramatic results in defiance of the policies and planners at the top. In developing a design proposal for the contemporary condition, this thesis examines the persistent ways in which the islands and people are framed by outsiders. This project engages with the social, political and natural history of the atolls: common tropes are challenged by the actions and agency of a people who have dealt with imperialist outsiders in sophisticated and conscious ways. It explores the traditional cultural practices which enabled the ancestors of the Marshallese people to flourish, and suggests that it is at the level of actions by ordinary people that the most fertile potentials lie, and are in fact already being played out. What forms of urbanism might be appropriate in this environment? How can islanders effectively manage their landscape and engage with the natural processes - as their ancestors once did to a remarkable degree? By pairing traditional techniques with modern technologies, a proposal is synthesized which could empower the contemporary Marshallese to transform their landscape and develop sustainable livelihoods in this extreme and dynamic environmental condition: to build a future which offers the best aspects of both traditional and contemporary ways of life

Speciesism in Biology and Culture

This open access book explores a wide-ranging discussion about the sociopolitical, cultural, and scientific ramifications of speciesism and world views that derive from it. In this light, it integrates subjects across the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. The 21st-century western world is anthropocentric to an extreme; we adopt unreasonably self-centered and self-serving ideas and lifestyles. Americans consume more energy resources per person than most other nations on Earth and have little concept of how human ecology and population biology interface with global sustainability. We draw upon religion, popular culture, politics, and technology to justify our views and actions, yet remain self-centered because our considerations rarely extend beyond our immediate interests. Stepping upward on the hierarchy from “racism,” “speciesism” likewise refers to the view that unique natural kinds (species) exist and are an important structural element of biodiversity. This ideology manifests in the cultural idea that humans are distinct from and intrinsically superior to other forms of life. It further carries a plurality of implications for how we perceive ourselves in relation to nature, how we view Judeo-Christian religions and their tenets, how we respond to scientific data about social problems such as climate change, and how willing we are to change our actions in the face of evidence