Current course offerings

Please Note: Course profiles marked as not available may still be in development.

Course description

The record of ancient Australia extends back some 65,000 years and through much of the disciplines history archaeology and ethnography have represented the key western approaches to reconstructing the deep past. At times the history of Australian archaeology has been marked by controversy, but increasingly we see in this dynamic and sometimes contested space, greater collaboration between Indigenous stakeholders and archaeologists. This course will examine the archaeology of the first great human maritime migration from Asia to the continent of Sahul (the combined Pleistocene landmass of Tasmania, mainland Australia and New Guinea) 65,000 years ago, the subsequent occupation and adaptation of Sahul's Indigenous populations to a new flora and fauna, as well as the innovative and unique approaches developed by Indigenous Australians and Papua New Guineans to living in diverse and sometimes inhospitable landscapes. The course will cover contemporary best practice in archaeology, western and Indigenous perspectives, contact archaeology, the timing and nature of colonisation; extinction of the megafauna; patterns of Pleistocene occupation; Holocene settlement, subsistence and technology; adaptation to the arid heart of Australia; and biological evidence. In covering these issues, this course highlights the complexity and diversity of human behaviour in Australia throughout human settlement. The course includes work-integrated learning on Indigenous perspectives on Australian archaeology.

Archived offerings