The University of Queensland will kick off National Archaeology Week with a public lecture by one of the world’s leading experts on the use of DNA to understand ancient civilisations.
Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith from the University of Otago in New Zealand will be the guest speaker at UQ’s annual Hall Lecture on Friday May 13.
Lecture organiser Professor Marshall Weisler said Professor Matisoo-Smith uses ancient DNA methods to understand human settlement in the Pacific.
“Colonisation of the remote Pacific islands is one of the greatest achievements in history,” he said.
“Professor Matisoo-Smith traces the movement of ancient Pacific peoples by studying their modern and ancient DNA, and that of the animals they carried with them in their canoes including the Pacific rat.”
The presentation will outline Professor Matisoo-Smith’s latest genetic findings, challenging long-held views on the origins of Pacific peoples, in particular the “Fast Train Model”.
The model describes how the Pacific population made its way out of Taiwan, sailing through Near Oceania, including New Guinea and the Solomon Islands and into the islands of Polynesia.
Professor Matisoo-Smith said these findings could be attributed to a greater accumulation of genetic data in recent years, allowing researchers to test some possible alternative scenarios surrounding the settlement of the Pacific islands and beyond.
The presentation, now in its fifth year, honors Emeritus Associate Professor Jay Hall who established the archaeology program at UQ in the 1970s.
It will be held in the Sir Llew Edwards building (#14) at UQ’s St Lucia campus at 4.30pm on Friday May 13, 2011.
The lecture is a free event and all are welcome.
A wine reception will follow. Attendees are asked to RSVP for catering purposes to t.crew@uq.edu.au.
For more information on other events during National Archaeology Week visit: www.archaeologyweek.com
Media: Dr Andrew Fairbairn - (07) 3365 2780 or a.fairbairn@uq.edu.au
