AR2411:04
Archaeology of Australia and Oceania
Townsville
HECS Band 1
26 hours lectures, 12 hours tutorials. Semester 2.
Staff: Dr S Greer, Dr D Roe.
This subject provides a critical overview of the evidence for the human colonisation and settlement of Australia and Oceania, a region that is providing much evidence that increasingly challenges long-held notions of human capabilities in the remote past. Using data from both hunter-gatherer and horticultural societies in Australia and Oceania this subject will address themes in archaeological interpretation such as the nature and modelling of colonisation events, human adaptations to different and changing natural and cultural environments, the development of agricultural systems, trade and exchange systems and the impacts of European contact on Indigenous societies.
Learning Objectives:
- acquire a knowledge of the chronologies and major sequences of human colonisation in Australia and Oceania;
- develop an understanding of the implications of current findings and theoretical perspectives in Australasian archaeology;
- develop an appreciation of the ethical issues raised by the conduct of archaeological research in Indigenous communities;
- develop an understanding of the wider implications for archaeological research provided by the interpretation and consideration of data from Australia and Oceania.
Assessment by tutorial exercises (30%); major essay (30%); two-hour end-of-semester examination (40%).