The Archaeological and Biological Foundations of Southeast Asia, 2500 to 1000 BC

About 4000 years ago, the human landscapes of northern Southeast Asia began to be transformed by the spread of food producing societies ancestral to the major modern populations of the region. These people inhabited large settlements, several excavated recently by the research team in Vietnam and the northern Philippines. This project will expand this research with particular attention to a better understanding of the drivers of these population expansions, including an increasing dependence on food production, demographic growth through settlement stability, and major developments in maritime exploitation and ocean-crossing abilities. Our research concerns a crucial period in the history of many millions of Australia's neighbours.