Australian Research Centre of Human Evolution (ARCHE)
Griffith University
Formerly known as Research Centre of Human Evolution
The Centre is the first centre focused on gaining a deeper understanding of the scale of ancient human migrations and the full story of the origins of the people in the Australasian region. ARCHE’s mission is to foster research excellence through multidisciplinary projects that bring together leading Australian and international scholars and institutions in the field of human evolution, focusing on Australia and Southeast Asia. ARCHE aims to provide the scientific narrative of the intertwined evolution of humans and landscapes in Australasia. The Centre's work in Australia is conducted with indigenous communities, with opportunities for Aboriginal people to become involved in scientific research and to educate the next generation of students and young researchers. ARCHE’s research themes include: archaeogeochemistry and geochronology; archaeology; genomics; landscape and human co-evolution; paleoanthropology; and rock art research.
- Website
- https://www.griffith.edu.au/research-centre-human-evolution
- Organisation type
- University Research Centre
- Number of research staff
- Up to 20 research staff
- Address
- Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan QLD 4111
Strengths and capabilities
- Archaeogeochemistry and geochronology
- Archaeology
- Genomics
- Palaeoanthropology
- Expertise in rock art research
- Expertise in human and landscape co|evolution
Facilities and major equipment
- Laboratory for Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating
- Laboratory for Electron Spin Resonance Dating (from 2017)
- Laboratory for ancient DNA analysis
Lead researchers
- Professor Rainer Grun—Research expertise in human evolution and migrations, isotope geochemistry, geochronology
- Professor Paul Tacon—Expertise in rock art research and preservation
- Professor David Lambert—Expertise in evolutionary biology and ancient DNA analysis
Achievements of the centre
- Direct dating of human fossils, including Homo floresiensis and earliest modern humans in Africa, the Levant, Indonesia and the Philippines
- Discovering an early ancestor of Homo floresiensis with an age of more than 500,000 years
- Demonstrating that previous DNA analyses of ancient human fossils in Australia were unreliable
Key science sectors
More information about the sectors this centre is involved in:
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