Foundations of Island Southeast Asian maritime interaction: Unravelling cause and consequence for the transformation of past societies

Some 50,000 years ago, humans crossed open ocean to colonise Australia and New Guinea. They used the small islands in this region as stepping stones, but these were not permanently settled until the advent of agriculture just 5,000 years ago. Why did it take 45,000 years for them to be successfully settled? To investigate causes of success or failure in colonisation, the project will employ geochemical analysis of stone raw material to track maritime interaction and stone tool technology to analyse changes in subsistence strategies. The findings arising from the new data gathered will contribute significantly to our understanding of the importance of pre-Neolithic interaction to the rapid spread of agriculture in Island Southeast Asia.