Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies - Seminar on Resilience: ‘Children Drowning’: The Violence and Resilience of a Narrative
Seminar
The narrative that asylum seekers coming to Australia by boat should be stopped – and either turned back or imprisoned – in order to ‘prevent children drowning at sea’ is one that has proved resilient in Australian political discourse over the course of the twenty first century. In this paper I…
Approaching children at Roonka through bioarchaeology
Seminar
The last 20 years has seen an explosion of work on children in the past. Yet there have been few studies of hunter-gatherer children and very few focussed on pre-contact Aboriginal children. Children, however, have become one focus in our work of re-analysing Roonka, a mid to late Holocene burial…
Feeding habits and conservation biology of the Black snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri)
Seminar
The Myanmar or black snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri) was discovered in the Gaoligong Mountains of northeastern Kachin state, Myanmar in 2010, and was subsequently found in same mountains of northwestern Yunnan, China. There were 14-15 groups with about 950 individuals (10 sub-populations…
Book Launch - ANU Visiting Fellow Dr Paul Burke
Book launch
Anthropologist and ANU Visiting Fellow Paul Burke is hosting a book launch to celebrate the release of 'An Australian Indigenous Diaspora: Warlpiri, Matriarchs, and the Refashioning of Tradition'. The launch will begin at 5pm, and the official proceedings will commence at 5:30pm, with…
Sexual selection and the evolution of the human beard
Seminar
The evolution of reduced body hair distinguishes humans from other anthropoid primates. However, humans retain marked patches of hair on the face and body, of which beardedness is highly sexual dimorphic. Darwin suggested that facial hair reflects effects of sexual selection during the course of…
Ancient microbial DNA in dental calculus: a promising tool for studying past human movements
Seminar
Thirty years ago, Keith Dobney and Don Brothwell discovered that ancient dental calculus from humans and other animals contains calcified microorganisms. Today, technological and analytical improvements have given us an opportunity to investigate the DNA of these ancient microorganisms and harness…
Peaceful neighbours? Intergroup behaviour in wild bonobos
Seminar
Intergroup violence and parochial altruism are both prominent traits in human society. However, differences in behaviour towards in-group members and extra-group individuals are also widely documented in other group-living animals. Renowned for their peaceful nature and amicable temperament,…