The position is based in the Centre for Rock Art Research + Management (CRAR+M) and Archaeology in School of Social Sciences. CRAR+M has a vibrant research culture with internationally recognised researchers in a range of areas such as the archaeology of Indigenous Australia, rock art, heritage studies and maritime archaeology. The project, Dating Murujuga’s Dreaming: Climate, Culture and Chronology is designed to bring innovative science to understanding the age of the extraordinary rock art and stone structures of Murujuga, as well as reconstructing and modelling Holocene voyaging around the Dampier Archipelago. In this position, you will study rock varnish from the Dampier Archipelago, to better understand factors contributing to its development and to establish if an absolute age of its formation can be determined. The research focus will depend on the appointee’s background and the two main research themes are: Research Theme 1: To understand the geochemistry of varnish layers and utilise U-series to estimate the age of varnish formation; Research Theme 2: Focuses on understanding the microbiome of communities living in and around desert varnish.
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