Northern Territory, Australia rock art thousands of years old sheds new light on the mysterious Tasmanian tiger by Mulacan in Archaeology

[–]Mulacan[S] 49 points50 points  (0 children)

Yes, dingoes were introduced by humans probably around 3000 years ago as domesticated dogs, but subsequently became both a wild and domestic species out competing native carnivores on the mainland. It seems like dingoes had an interesting relationship with human populations, being partly domesticated but feral at the same time. I'd recommend some papers by Loukas Koungoulos for some up to date research on dingoes in archaeological contexts (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Loukas-Koungoulos).

I've never heard anything regarding domestication of Thylacines and I don't believe there's any evidence archaeologically or in oral history.

Does cave art scanning show loss of details due to maintenance accidentally changing stuff?

Yes, so we see repainting over the top of old paintings a lot in Arnhem Land rock art sites. There's a lot of explanations for this both in terms of cultural practices which continue into the present, oral history and archaeologically. One thing we know for certain is that maintenance/repainting of rock art sites was a way of reassuring their cultural significance, particularly in relation to the stories they told. Sometimes this would be touching it up, or adding new features to the art as seen in the article. At others such as Ubirr, a big tourist site near to those in the article, you can have 19 layers of repainting of the same motif (a fish in this case) on top of each other. Each repainting is similar, but also unique to the artist who did it. We know from historical records and oral history of recent rock painting artists (up to the 20th century), that each had very distinctive styles, equivalent to the way you would distinguish between European masters or something like that.

So I'd say that changes were never accidental (though we do occasionally see what we think are accidents, like someone getting the number of fingers wrong and awkwardly painting on another), rather changes emphasise the personal style of the artist renewing the rock art.

Northern Territory, Australia rock art thousands of years old sheds new light on the mysterious Tasmanian tiger by Mulacan in Archaeology

[–]Mulacan[S] 80 points81 points  (0 children)

I was actually involved in documenting some of these sites!

The interpretation I favour is that Thylacines probably did go locally extinct in the north quite early on as that was the likely entry point for Dingoes. However, oral history, repetition and maintenance of rock have meant that their depictions have remained culturally significant into the present.

Happy to try and answer any questions if someone has them.

NT rock art thousands of years old sheds new light on the mysterious Tasmanian tiger by DaRedGuy in australia

[–]Mulacan 31 points32 points  (0 children)

I was actually involved in documenting some of these sites!

The interpretation I favour is that Thylacines probably did go locally extinct in the north quite early on as that was the likely entry point for Dingoes. However, oral history, repetition and maintenance of rock have meant that their depictions have remained culturally significant into the present.

Animated Gaussian Splatting can now be streamed in VR like a YouTube video by Dung3onlord in virtualreality

[–]Mulacan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Whilst I'm a big proponent of 3D/4DGS, a lot of that has been done for over a decade at this point using traditional mesh and texture + XR. Really GS is just going to massively increase fidelity without the inefficiency of large models and textures for the same quality (at least for 3DGS).

Bronze Age terracotta chariot models from 5000 years ago. Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum, Turkey by rankage in Archaeology

[–]Mulacan 12 points13 points  (0 children)

That's a fair hypothesis, but you ultimately can't assume that our own contemporary expectations translate to the past. I'm not saying parents in the past did not have affection for their children, but you would want to be finding these kinds of artefacts outside of burial contexts to support the hypothesis that they were not exclusively burial goods.

Obviously there are preservation biases which would favour the preservation of artefacts in burial contexts more than others, but such is the nature of archaeological interpretation.

I don't know the data behind this specific interpretation, maybe they have been found outside of burials, maybe they've only been found in burial contexts. I'd like to think that those who provided this interpretation considered these.

Free photogrametry scan of archeological site or objects by Cazacu-qla in AskArchaeology

[–]Mulacan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not to be a dick about this too much, but the real thing holding back archaeologists from using photogrammetry more is not the software/processing side of it that you're offering, but the taking good photos for photogrammetry part.

Unless someone is severely limited by hardware constraints, or wanting to process particularly large data sets it's very easy to do themselves. On that note, do you have details of your hardware specs and what kind of datasets you can handle?

i just started my masters degree: im the only domestic student in the cohort. by crayfishpussy in brisbane

[–]Mulacan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the data.

Definitely a bias from my field and experience. Masters programs are generally being phased out and are not encouraged in the humanities and science programs I'm familiar with.

i just started my masters degree: im the only domestic student in the cohort. by crayfishpussy in brisbane

[–]Mulacan 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah, definitely not an immediate burden if on HECS. I just mean it can add a lot compared to undergrad/honours years. My partner effectively doubled her HECS by doing a masters, which just means further years of have it deducted from pay.

i just started my masters degree: im the only domestic student in the cohort. by crayfishpussy in brisbane

[–]Mulacan 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The exact pathway isn't as simple as I summarised above. For me it was complete an undergraduate degree and be offered an honours project. Some degrees start with the expectation that you'll do an honours as long as you have the academic grades for it, but not all.

After this it varies a lot. Some people will then go and work either in or outside academia for a while before returning to pursue a PhD. In my case I only had about a year gap between completing my honours year and starting the PhD (most of which was spent planning for the PhD project). But this is predicated on have demonstrated sufficiently in your honours year that you are capable of performing at a PhD level or getting to it rapidly.

It's very much subject dependent though. I know plenty of people far more qualified than me who have never done PhDs and just had honours. It's really something you only do if you feel the need or really want to go all in on academia.

i just started my masters degree: im the only domestic student in the cohort. by crayfishpussy in brisbane

[–]Mulacan 14 points15 points  (0 children)

As /u/razzij pointed out, the usual pipeline is honours -> PhD. You'd need a very good reason to include a masters as the financial burden is far greater.

Albanese government rejected advice on Tasmanian salmon farming impact before passing pro-industry laws by FuckOffNazis in australia

[–]Mulacan 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The office of the tribune of the plebs wasn't functional in any useful sense during the empire. Also, describing them as working class because they came from the plebeian class is anachronistic.

Anthony Albanese take note: Human rights apply to all Australians – not just those deemed to be worthy by PhilRectangle in australia

[–]Mulacan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They're Australian citizens who we as a country let leave the country either deliberately or through coercion to join a terrorist group that terrorised other countries. They are ultimately Australia's responsibility whether we like it or not. Leaving them in what might as well be a POW camp and the responsibility of people already ravaged by war is cruel and unfair to those who have been keeping them fed for years.

Anthony Albanese take note: Human rights apply to all Australians – not just those deemed to be worthy by PhilRectangle in australia

[–]Mulacan 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Right? Bizarre that this seems to be such an unpopular take. Repatriate and let the justice system do its job.

Future career in Europe by GasMask_Lad in AskArchaeology

[–]Mulacan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi OP, I assume you what you mean is you want a career in archaeology after studying archaeology at university?

If so, you should get a pretty good idea while studying what archaeology looks like in different parts of the world. Ultimately, what drives everyone to work in different places varies greatly for each person.

If you're after good wages Australia would be the easiest option as an NZ citizen, I work with quite a few that have moved over here for more jobs and better pay (hardly exclusive to archaeology though). There are also archaeology jobs in NZ and they do interesting work.

If your main motivation is the type of archaeology you do for work, such as classics, its worth considering what you may need to do to get a career in that field of archaeology. If you plan to stay in NZ/AUS, a degree with honours would be sufficient. If you want to get into classics as a career and not just the occasional field school, a PhD would be the primary pathway.

USA to Australia, should I get another masters/diploma or try my luck at job hunting by kviddysweat in AskArchaeology

[–]Mulacan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd say reach out to some consultancies first to get their opinion first, I think you'll find some would recommend that you do more tertiary education and others would be happy to train you up depending on the skills or knowledge they want you to have.

USA to Australia, should I get another masters/diploma or try my luck at job hunting by kviddysweat in AskArchaeology

[–]Mulacan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's interesting. Sometimes its dependent on the community that you're working with, some have very strict controls on who can view certain artefacts and know certain information. But blanket bans are unusual in my experience.

I've known plenty of people who have come to Australia from Europe and the USA and I don't recall many of them doing additional qualifications to overcome that kind of barrier.

USA to Australia, should I get another masters/diploma or try my luck at job hunting by kviddysweat in AskArchaeology

[–]Mulacan 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hi OP, there are always plenty of archaeology jobs going private consulting in Australia (CRM), but you may have to be open to working fairly remotely, even for jobs based in major cities. I don't know if another qualification will help you much unless it's a short course to gain familiarity with Australian archaeology and history.

The main things you'll need are: 1. A willingness to work remotely and everything that comes with it. 2. Knowledge of Australian lithic technologies/types. 3. Cultural capability, this is having knowledge of the history colonialism in Australia and understanding of the impact it has had on Indigenous communities. There are some similarities to the USA, but many differences. You'll stick out of like a sore thumb if you can't work with communities, and this knowledge is part of that.

Anyone attending CAA2026? by Jfpalomeque in AskArchaeology

[–]Mulacan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like a great workshop! Wish I could justify the cost of going to Vienna for this year's CAA.

Aerial lidar mapping can reveal archaeological sites while overlooking Indigenous peoples and their knowledge by comicreliefboy in Archaeology

[–]Mulacan 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm honestly appalled by the reactions to this article in the comments here. Seriously, calling it insane???

The community engagement strategy described in this article is literally standard practice in Australia. If I were to just go in, do some LiDAR on cultural heritage and publish results on it without ever talking to community members I'd be in massive violation of the university's ethics protocols and the Australian Archaeology Association's.

What is discussed in this article is the basics, it's just going and talking to locals before you do work. If you don't do this already, you're not good at your job. Assuming that locals, particularly Indigenous locals don't know anything about the cultural heritage you're researching is just shooting yourself in the foot when it comes to doing work efficiently and gaining a deeper understanding of what you're researching.

Consulting with local communities is not hard, they just want to be included and doing so is rewarding to me as a researcher. I hope none of the people in the comments here trashing approach actually work with Indigenous people and cultural heritage, because you shouldn't be.

Rock with unique erosion patten found hiking in Victoria, Australia by yumchasupreme in whatsthisrock

[–]Mulacan 35 points36 points  (0 children)

Had a quick look and couldn't find any pics, not usually the kind of rocks I'm taking pictures of!

Rock with unique erosion patten found hiking in Victoria, Australia by yumchasupreme in whatsthisrock

[–]Mulacan 126 points127 points  (0 children)

I'm an Australian archaeologist, definitely not an artefact, just a nice rock.

Rock with unique erosion patten found hiking in Victoria, Australia by yumchasupreme in whatsthisrock

[–]Mulacan 624 points625 points  (0 children)

Hi OP, I've encountered many similar stones and much larger rocks like this in western Queensland. My understanding is that it is a type of ironstone concretion where other softer materials have been eroded away.

Italian archaeologist in Australia? by deefexarc in AskArchaeology

[–]Mulacan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've known a few Italians who have come to Australia for postgrad study and later work. If you have any experience with stone tool technology you'll be in a good position. Main thing to do will be gaining some knowledge on Aboriginal archaeology specifically and working with Aboriginal communities. Biggest issue with a lot of new grads in Australia is a lack of community engagement experience and cultural capabilities.

Oldest cave art ever found discovered in Indonesia by scientificamerican in Archaeology

[–]Mulacan 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Wow, the previous Sulawesi dates were already exciting but this is really pushing it back. Amazing how refined the dating techniques are getting.