Abstract

Modern day Indonesia and Timor-Leste have never been connected to the mainland, necessitating multiple sea crossings of our species from mainland South-East Asia to reach Australia. Dr Kealy will discuss gaps in our understanding of early movements of people throughout the region. She will focus on her recent modelling research she has been conducting to determine the most likely route people may have initially travelled through this island archipelago. Her Least-Cost models use a combination of geological and geographical techniques to reconstruct the palaeo-seascape, providing cluse to how it might have been viewed by its earliest human explorers.

About the speaker

Dr Kealy is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, and a Lecturer in Evolution of Cultural Diversity Initiative in the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific. Dr Kealy 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. She works with geographic information systems (GIS), palaeogeographic reconstruction, biogeographic modelling, and phylogenetic analysis to explore the palaeo-archipelagos north of Australia and the people and animals who lived there. 

Register via link here:

https://anu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_F1iAChNwSneqzfVLzy4vww

Contact:

Dr Justyna Miszkiewicz Justyna.Miszkiewicz@anu.edu.au