the Future of the PAST - New archaeological science approaches to cultural interaction and biological exchange in Prehistory

The global spread of people, plants, animals and things in prehistory brought new cultures and ideas into contact with one another and had profound impacts on shaping natural and social landscapes around the world. This workshop brings together specialists from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia and the MPI-SHH in Jena to showcase research from Africa, Asia, and Australasia that applies the latest cutting-edge archaeological science techniques to shed light on global processes of cultural interaction and biological exchange; for example, tracking human arrivals in new regions, the emergence of long-distance trade links, biological exchange and the spread of farming, species extinctions, the creation of novel anthropogenic landscapes, etc. A key aim of the
workshop is to discuss ways of building new collaborative links between UQ and the MPI-SHH, by connecting people, projects and methods across these institutions. The workshop will address the potential for new archaeological science methods to inform on human interaction, migration and exchange in the Old World, what key questions can be answered by these new archaeological  science methods, and how research synergy between UQ and MPISHH can advance this research program.