Prof Sue O'Connor
BA (Hons I) (UNE), PhD (UWA)
Distinguished Professor, School of Culture, History & Language
College of Asia & the Pacific
Areas of expertise
- Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Archaeology 210101
- Archaeology Of Asia, Africa And The Americas 210103
- Archaeological Science 210102
- Archaeology Of New Guinea And Pacific Islands (Excl. New Zealand) 210106
- Archaeology 2101
Research interests
Australian and Southeast Asian archaeology; Pleistocene colonisation of Island Southeast Asia, Australia and Papua New Guinea by modern humans and the links between these regions; change and continuity across the boundary of the Neolithic transition in Island Southeast Asia; human impacts on the environment, rock art
Biography
I am currently conducting major archaeological research projects in Indonesia and East Timor investigating the earliest evidence for human settlement on potential pathways through Wallacea. This project complements and builds on previous research in eastern Maluku, and Papua New Guinea and the Kimberley region of northern Australia which focused on Pleistocene settlement and subsistence and interaction and exchange. I am also interested in the rock art of northern Australia and Island Southeast Asia and evidence for symbolic exchange in the mid to late Holocene.
Career highlights
Awarded Australian Research Council Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laureate Fellowship in 2012
Awarded Australian Research Council QEII Fellowship (1999-2003); Project title: Characterising the Island Southeast Asian Neolithic Transition: a comparison of preceramic and ceramic (Neolithic) maritime cultures.
Publications
- O'Connor, S, Kealy, S, McWilliam, A et al. 2020, 'Surveys of fortified sites in Southern Wallacea', in Sue O'Connor, Andrew McWilliam, Sally Brockwell (ed.), Forts and Fortification in Wallacea: Archaeological and Ethnohistoric Investigations, ANU Press, Canberra, pp. 249-281.
- Kealy, S, O'Connor, S, Mahirta, et al. 2020, 'Forty-thousand years of maritime subsistence near a changing shoreline on Alor Island (Indonesia)', Quaternary Science Reviews, vol. 249, p. 106599.
- Miszkiewicz JJ, Louys J, Beck R, Mahoney P, Aplin K, O'Connor S. 2020. Island rule and bone metabolism in fossil murines from Timor. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 129 (3), 570-586.
- Roberts, P, Louys, J, Zech, J et al. 2020, 'Isotopic evidence for initial coastal colonization and subsequent diversification in the human occupation of Wallacea', Nature Communications, vol. 11, no. 1, p. 2068.
- Shipton, C, O'Connor, S, Kealy, S et al. 2020, 'Early ground axe technology in Wallacea: The first excavations on Obi Island', PLOS ONE (Public Library of Science), vol. 15, no. 8, pp. e0236719.
- Yuwono, P, Mahirta, M, O'Connor, S et al 2020, 'New painted rock art sites in Alor Island, Eastern Indonesia, support a diversity of artistic traditions in the Late Holocene', Rock Art Research, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 1-11.
- Bulbeck, F, O'Connor, S, Fakhri, . et al 2019, 'Patterned and plain baked clay from pre-pottery contexts in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia', Antiquity, vol. 93, no. 371, pp. 1284-1302.
- Kaharudin, H, Mahirta, M, Kealy, S et al. 2019, 'Human foraging responses to climate change; Here Sorot Entapa rockshelter on Kisar Island', Wacana, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 525-559.
- Oliveira, N, O'Connor, S & Bellwood, P 2019, 'Dong Son drums from Timor-Leste: Prehistoric bronze artefacts in Island Southeast Asia', Antiquity, vol. 93, no. 367, pp. 163-180.
- Shipton, C, O'Connor, S, Jankowski, N et al. 2019, 'A new 44,000-year sequence from Asitau Kuru (Jerimalai), Timor-Leste, indicates long-term continuity in human behaviour', Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, vol. 11, no. 10, pp. 5717-5741.
- Reepmeyer, C, O'Connor, S, Mahirta, M et al. 2019, 'Kisar, a small island participant in an extensive maritime obsidian network in the Wallacean Archipelago', Archaeological Research in Asia, vol. 19, p. 100139.
- Meijer, H, Louys, J & O'Connor, S 2019, 'First record of avian extinctions from the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of Timor Leste', Quaternary Science Reviews, vol. 203, pp. 170-184.
- Balme, J, O'Connor, S, Maloney, T et al 2019, 'Long-term occupation on the edge of the desert: Riwi Cave in the southern Kimberley, Western Australia', Archaeology in Oceania, vol. 54, no. 1, pp. 35-52.
- Langley, M & O'Connor, S 2019, '40,000 Years of Ochre Utilization in Timor-Leste: Powders, Prehensile Traces, and Body Painting', PaleoAnthropology, pp. 82-104.
- Dilkes-Hall, I, O'Connor, S & Balme, J 2019, 'People-plant interaction and economic botany over 47,000 years of occupation at Carpenter's Gap 1, south central Kimberley', Australian Archaeology, vol. 85, no. 1, pp. 30-47.
- Balme, J & O'Connor, S 2019, 'Bead Making in Aboriginal Australia From the Deep Past to European Arrival: Materials, Methods, and Meanings', PaleoAnthropology, vol. 2019, pp. 177-194.
- Samper Carro, S, Gilbert, F, Bulbeck, F et al 2019, 'Somewhere beyond the sea: Human cranial remains from the Lesser Sunda Islands (Alor Island, Indonesia) provide insights on Late Pleistocene peopling of Island Southeast Asia', Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 134, pp. 1-16.
- Dortch, J, Balme, J, McDonald, J et al. 2019, 'Settling the West: 50 000 years in a changing land', Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, vol. 102, pp. 30-44.
- Dilkes-Hall, I, Balme, J, O'Connor, S et al 2019, 'Archaeobotany of Aboriginal plant foods during the Holocene at Riwi, south central Kimberley, Western Australia [IN PRESS]', Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, vol. Online.
- Beaumont P, O'Connor S, Leclerc M and Aplin K. 2019, 'Diversity in Early New Guinea Pottery Traditions: north coast ceramics from Lachitu, Taora, Watinglo and Paleflatu', Journal of Pacific Archaeology, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 15-32.
- Kealy, S, Donnellan, S, Mitchell, K et al 2020, 'Phylogenetic relationships of the cuscuses (Diprotodontia : Phalangeridae) of island Southeast Asia and Melanesia based on the mitochondrial ND2 gene', Australian Mammalogy, vol. 42, pp. 266–276 .
- Miszkiewicz JJ, Louys J, O'Connor S. 2019. Micro-anatomical record of cortical bone remodeling and high vascularity in a fossil giant rat midshaft femur. The Anatomical Record 302(11): 1934-1940.
- Hawkins, S, Samper Carro, S, Louys, J et al 2018, 'Human Palaeoecological Interactions and Owl Roosting at Tron Bon Lei, Alor Island, Eastern Indonesia', Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 371-387pp.
- Whitau, R, Vannieuwenhuyse, D, Dotte, E et al 2018, 'Home Is Where the Hearth Is: Anthracological and Microstratigraphic Analyses of Pleistocene and Holocene Combustion Features, Riwi Cave (Kimberley, Western Australia)', Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 739-776.
- Balme, J, O'Connor, S & Fallon, S 2018, 'New dates on dingo bones from Madura Cave provide oldest firm evidence for arrival of the species in Australia', Scientific Reports, vol. 8, pp. 6pp.
- Samper Carro, S, Louys, J & O'Connor, S 2018, 'Shape does matter: A geometric morphometric approach to shape variation in Indo-Pacific fish vertebrae for habitat identification', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 99, pp. 124-134.
- Maloney, T, Mahirta, M, O'Connor, S et al 2018, 'Specialised lithic technology of terminal Pleistocene maritime peoples of Wallacea', Archaeological Research in Asia, vol. 16, pp. 78-87pp.
- Pryce, T, Calo, A, Prasetyo, B et al 2018, 'Copper-base Metallurgy in Metal-Age Bali: Evidence from Gilimanuk, Manikliyu, Pacung, Pangkung Paruk and Sembiran', Archaeometry, vol. 60, no. 6, pp. 1271-1289.
- Louys, J, Mahirta, M, Higgins, P et al 2018, 'New genus and species of giant rat from Alor Island, Indonesia', Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 503-510pp.
- Greig, K, Gosling, A, Collins, C et al 2018, 'Complex history of dog (Canis familiaris) origins and translocations in the Pacific revealed by ancient mitogenomes', Scientific Reports, vol. 8, no. 9130, pp. 9pp.
- Wesley, D, Litster, M, O'Connor, S et al 2018, 'The archaeology of Maliwawa: 25,000 years of occupation in the Wellington Range, Arnhem Land', Australian Archaeology, vol. 84, no. 2, pp. 108-128.
- O'Connor, S, Bulbeck, F, Piper, P et al 2018, 'The human occupation record of Gua Mo'o hono shelter, Towuti-Routa region of Southeastern Sulawesi', in S O'Connor, D Bulbeck and J Meyer (ed.), The Archaeology of Sulawesi: Current Research on the Pleistocene to the Historic Period, ANU Press, Canberra, Australia, pp. 117-151.
- Wesley, D, Litster, M, Moffat, I et al 2018, 'Indigenous built structures and anthropogenic impacts on the stratigraphy of Northern Australian rockshelters: insights from Malarrak 1, north western Arnhem Land', Australian Archaeology, vol. 84, no. 1, pp. 3-18.
- Whitau, R, Dilkes-Hall, I, Vannieuwenhuyse, D et al 2018, 'The curious case of Proteaceae: macrobotanical investigations at Mount Behn rockshelter, Bunuba country, Western Australia', Australian Archaeology, vol. 84, no. 1, pp. 19-36pp.
- O'Connor, S, Mahirta, M, Kealy, S et al 2018, 'Unusual painted anthropomorph in Lembata island extends our understanding of rock art diversity in Indonesia', Rock Art Research, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 79-84.
- O'Connor, S, Mahirta, M, Kealy, S et al 2018, 'Kisar and the Archaeology of Small Islands in the Wallacean Archipelago', Journal of Island & Coastal Archaeology, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 198-225.
- Maloney, T, O'Connor, S, Wood, R et al 2018, 'Carpenters Gap 1: A 47,000 year old record of indigenous adaption and innovation', Quaternary Science Reviews, vol. 191, pp. 204-228pp.
- Kealy, S, Louys, J & O'Connor, S 2018, 'Least-cost pathway models indicate northern human dispersal from Sunda to Sahul', Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 125, pp. 59-70.
- O'Connor, S, Mahirta, Louys, J et al 2018, 'New engraving finds in Alor Island, Indonesia extend known distribution of engravings in Oceania', Archaeological Research in Asia, vol. 15, pp. 116-128.
- Balme, J & O'Connor, S 2017, 'Traditions and Change in Scaphopod Shell Beads in Northern Australia from the Pleistocene to the Recent Past', in Daniella Bar-Yosef Mayer, Clive Bonsall and Alice Mathea Choyke (ed.), Not Just For Show, Oxbow Books, United Kingdom, pp. 7-18pp.
- Kealy, S, Louys, J & O'Connor, S 2017, 'Reconstructing Palaeogeography and Inter-island Visibility in the Wallacean Archipelago During the Likely Period of Sahul Colonization, 65-45000 Years Ago', Archaeological Prospection, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 259-272.
- Whitau, R, Balme, J, O'Connor, S et al 2017, 'Wood charcoal analysis at Riwi cave, Gooniyandi country, Western Australia', Quaternary International, vol. 457, pp. 140-154.
- Maloney, T, O'Connor, S & Balme, J 2017, 'The effect of retouch intensity on mid to late Holocene unifacial and bifacial points from the Kimberley', Australian Archaeology, vol. 83, no. 1-2, pp. 42-55.
- Louys, J, Kealy, S, O'Connor, S et al 2017, 'Differential preservation of vertebrates in Southeast Asian caves', International Journal of Speleology, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 379-408.
- Samper Carro, S, Louys, J & O'Connor, S 2017, 'Methodological considerations for icthyoarchaeology from the Tron Bon Lei sequence, Alor, Indonesia', Archaeological Research in Asia, vol. 12, pp. 11-22.
- Hawkins, S, O'Connor, S & Louys, J 2017, 'Taphonomy of bird (Aves) remains at Laili Cave, Timor-Leste, and implications for human-bird interactions during the Pleistocene', Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, vol. 11, pp. 6325-6337.
- Hawkins, S, O'Connor, S, Maloney, T et al 2017, 'Oldest human occupation of Wallacea at Laili Cave, Timor-Leste, shows broad-spectrum foraging responses to late Pleistocene environments', Quaternary Science Reviews, vol. 171, pp. 58-72.
- O'Connor, S, Louys, J, Kealy, S, Samper Carro, S C, 2017, 'Hominin Dispersal and Settlement East of the Huxley's Line: The role of sea level changes, island size, and subsistence behaviour', Current Anthropology, vol. 58, no. 17, pp. S567-S582.
- O'Connor, S, Mahirta, M, Samper Carro, S et al 2017, 'Fishing in life and death: Pleistocene fish-hooks from a burial context on Alor Island, Indonesia', Antiquity, vol. 91, no. 360, pp. 1451-1468.
- O'Connor, S, Mahirta, M, Tanudirjo, D et al 2017, 'Ideology, Ritual Performance and Its Manifestations in the Rock Art of Timor-Leste and Kisar Island, Island Southeast Asia', Cambridge Archaeological Journal, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 225-241.
- Brockwell, S, O'Connor, S, Litster, M et al 2016, 'New insights into Holocene economies and environments of central East Timor: Analysis of the molluscan assemblage at the rockshelter site of Hatu Sour', Northern Territory Naturalist, vol. 27, pp. 2-12pp.
- Aplin, K, O'Connor, S, Bulbeck, F et al 2016, 'The Walandawe Tradition from Southeast Sulawesi and Osseous Artifact Traditions in Island Southeast Asia', in Michelle C. Langley (ed.), Osseous Projectile Weaponry: Towards an Understanding of Pleistocene Cultural Variability, Springer Nature, Dordrecht, Netherlands, pp. 189-208pp.
- Langley, M & O'Connor, S 2016, 'An enduring shell artefact tradition from Timor-Leste: Oliva bead production from the pleistocene to late holocene at Jerimalai, Lene Hara, and Matja Kuru 1 and 2', PLOS ONE (Public Library of Science), vol. 11, no. 8, pp. 25pp.
- Wood, R, Jacobs, Z, Vannieuwenhuyse, D et al 2016, 'Towards an accurate and precise chronology for the colonization of Australia: The example of Riwi, Kimberley, Western Australia', PLOS ONE (Public Library of Science), vol. 11, no. 9, pp. 25pp.
- Marwick, B, Clarkson, C, O'Connor, S et al 2016, 'Early modern human lithic technology from Jerimalai, East Timor', Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 101, pp. 45-64.
- Marwick, B, Clarkson, C, O'Connor, S et al 2016, 'Early modern human lithic technology from Jerimalai, East Timor', Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 101, pp. 45-64.
- Bulbeck, F, Aziz, F, O'Connor, S et al 2016, 'Mortuary caves and the dammar trade in the Towuti-Routa region, Sulawesi, in an Island southeast Asian context [TO BE DELETED]', Asian Perspectives, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 148-183.
- O'Connor, S, Langley, M & Aplin, K 2016, 'A > 46,000-year-old kangaroo bone implement from Carpenter's Gap 1 (Kimberley, northwest Australia)', Quaternary Science Reviews, vol. 154, no. -, pp. 199-213.
- Suryatman, O'Connor, S, Bulbeck, F et al 2016, 'Teknologi Litik di Situs Talimbue, Sulawesi Tenggara: Teknologi Berlanjut Dari Masa Pleistosen Akhir Hingga Holosen (The Lithic Technology at Talimbue Site, Southeast Sulawesi: Continuing Technology from Late Pleistocene up to Holocene Periods)', Amerta, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 81-152 pp..
- Samper Carro, S, Louys, J, Hawkins, S et al 2015, 'A geometric morphometric approach to shape variation in fish vertebrae for taxonomic and habitat identification', International Council for Archaeozoology, Fish Remains Working Group ICAZ/FRWG 2015, ed. S. Gabriel, S.J.M Davies, A. M Costa, Conference Organising Committee, online.
- Samper Carro, S, O'Connor, S & Louys, J 2014, 'Determining human subsistence strategies in insular environments: zooarchaeological insights from Wallacea Islands', International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences IUPPS 2014, ed. N.Amano, A.Borel, A.Purnomo, International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences, ONLINE.
- O'Connor, S, Barham, A, Aplin, K et al 2017, 'Cave stratigraphies and cave breccias: Implications for sediment accumulation and removal models and interpreting the record of human occupation', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 77, pp. 143-159.
- Hawkins, S, O'Connor, S & Kealy, S 2016, 'Late Quaternary hominin-bat (Chiroptera) interactions in the Asia-Pacific', Archaeology in Oceania, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 7-17.
- Hiscock, P, O'Connor, S, Balme, J and T Maloney T 2016, 'World's earliest ground-edge axe production coincides with human colonisation of Australia', Australian Archaeology, vol. 82, no. 1, pp. 2-11.
- Langley, M, O'Connor, S & Piotto, E 2016, '42,000-year-old worked and pigment-stained Nautilus shell from Jerimalai (Timor-Leste): Evidence for an early coastal adaptation in ISEA', Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 97, pp. 1-16.
- Louys, J, Price, G & O'Connor, S 2016, 'Direct dating of Pleistocene stegodon from Timor Island, East Nusa Tenggara', PeerJ, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. -.
- Oktaviana, A, Bulbeck, F, O'Connor, S et al 2016, 'Hand stencils with and without narrowed fingers at two rock art sites in Sulawesi, Indonesia', Rock Art Research, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 32-48.
- Vannieuwenhuyse, D, O'Connor, S & Balme, J 2017, 'Settling in Sahul: Investigating environmental and human history interactions through micromorphological analyses in tropical semi-arid north-west Australia', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 77, pp. 172-193.
- Wesley, D, O'Connor, S & Fenner, J 2016, 'Re-evaluating the timing of the Indonesian trepang industry in north-west Arnhem Land: Chronological investigations at Malara (Anuru Bay A)', Archaeology in Oceania, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 169-195pp.
- Whitau, R, Dilkes-Hall, I, Dotte-Sarout, E et al 2016, 'X-ray computed microtomography and the identification of wood taxa selected for archaeological artefact manufacture: Rare examples from Australian contexts', Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, vol. 6, pp. 536-546.
- Langley, M, Dilkes-Hall, I, Balme, J et al 2016, 'A 600-year-old Boomerang fragment from Riwi Cave (South Central Kimberley, Western Australia)', Australian Archaeology, vol. 82, no. 2, pp. 106-122.
- Maloney, T, O'Connor, S, Vannieuwenhuyse, D et al 2016, 'Re-excavation of Djuru, a Holocene rockshelter in the Southern Kimberley, North Western Australia', Australian Archaeology, vol. 82, no. 1, pp. 80-85.
- O'Connor, S 2015, 'Crossing the Wallace Line: The Maritime Skills of the Earliest Colonists in the Wallacean Archipelago', in Yousuke Kaifu, Masami Izuho, Ted Goebel, Hiroyuki Sato, Akira Ono (ed.), Emergence and Diversity of Modern Human Behavior in Paleolithic Asia, Texas A&M University, United States of America, pp. 214-224.
- O'Connor, S. 2015, 'Rethinking the Neolithic in Island Southeast Asia, with Particular Reference to the Archaeology of Timor Leste and Sulawesi', Archipel, vol. 90, pp. 15-47.
- O'Connor, S, Louys, J, Kealy, S et al 2015, 'First record of painted rock art near Kupang, West Timor, Indonesia, and the origins and distribution of the Austronesian painting tradition', Rock Art Research, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 193-201.
- Balme, J & O'Connor, S 2015, 'Dingoes and Aboriginal social organization in Holocene Australia', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. Available online 8 September 2015.
- Balme, J & O'Connor, S 2015, 'A 'Port Scene', Identity and Rock Art of the Inland Southern Kimberley, Western Australia', Rock Art Research, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 75-83.
- Kealy, S, Louys, J & O'Connor, S 2016, 'Islands Under the Sea: A Review of Early Modern Human Dispersal Routes and Migration Hypotheses Through Wallacea', Journal of Island & Coastal Archaeology, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 364-384.
- Langley, M & O'Connor, S 2015, '6500-Year-old Nassarius shell appliques in Timor-Leste: technological and use wear analyses', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 62, pp. 175-192.
- Maloney, T, Wood, R, O'Connor, S et al 2015, 'Direct dating of resin hafted point technology in Australia', Australian Archaeology, vol. 81, no. 81, pp. 35-43.
- Samper Carro, S.C. O'Connor, S., Louys, J. et al. 2016, 'Human maritime subsistence strategies in the Lesser Sunda Islands during the terminal Pleistocene-early Holocene: New evidence from Alor, Indonesia', Quaternary International, vol. Online Early Version, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.07.068
- Wesley, D & O'Connor, S 2015, Strangers on the Shore, Australasian Science Magazine pp. 31-33.
- O'Connor, S & Hiscock, P 2014, 'The Peopling of Sahul and Near Oceania', in Ethan Cochrane and Terry Hunt (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Oceania, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 1-17.
- O'Connor, S & Bulbeck, F 2014, 'Homo sapiens Societies in Indonesia and South-Eastern Asia', in Vicki Cummings, Peter Jordan and Marek Zvelebil (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 346-367.
- Balme, J & O'Connor, S 2014, 'Rock Art and Continuity in South Central Kimberley Region of Western Australia', in Bansi Lal Malla (ed.), Rock Art Studies: Interpretation through Multidisciplinary Approaches, Aryan Books International, New Delhi, India, pp. 19-43.
- O'Connor, S, Maloney, T, Vannieuwenhuyse, D et al 2014, 'Occupation at Carpenters Gap 3, Windjana Gorge, Kimberley, Western Australia', Australian Archaeology, vol. 78, no. 78, pp. 10-23.
- Maloney, T, O'Connor, S & Balme, J 2014, 'New dates for point technology in the Kimberley', Archaeology in Oceania, vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 137-147.
- Hayes, E, Fullagar, R, Clarkson, C et al 2014, 'Usewear on the platform: 'Use-flakes' and 'Retouch-flakes' from Northern Australia and Timor', An Integration of the Use-Wear and Residue Analysis for the Identification of the Function of Archaeological Stone Tools, ed. Cristina Lemorini and Stella Nunziante Cesaro, Archaeopress, Oxford, England, pp. 77-90.
- Balme, J & O'Connor, S 2014, 'Early Modern Humans in Island Southeast Asia and Sahul: Adaptive and Creative Societies with Simple Lithic Industries', in Robin Dennell and Martin Porr (ed.), Southern Asia, Australia and the Search for Human Origins, Cambridge University Press, New York, USA, pp. 164-174.
- Maloney, T & O'Connor, S 2014, 'Backed points in the Kimberley: Revisiting the north-south division for backed artefact production in Australia', Australian Archaeology, vol. 79, no. 79, pp. 146-155.
- Clarkson, C & O'Connor, S 2014, 'An introduction to stone artifact analysis', in Jane Balme and Alistair Paterson (ed.), Archaeology in Practice: A Student Guide to Archaeological Analyses, Second edition, Wiley Blackwell, Chichester, West Sussex, UK, pp. 151-206.
- O'Connor, S, Robertson, G & Aplin, K 2014, 'Are osseous artefacts a window to perishable material culture? Implications of an unusually complex bone tool from the Late Pleistocene of East Timor', Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 67, pp. 108-119.
- Tacon, P, Tan, N, O'Connor, S et al 2014, 'The global implications of the early surviving rock art of greater Southeast Asia', Antiquity, vol. 88, no. 342, pp. 1050-1064.
- Wesley, D, Jones, T, O'Connor, S, Fenner, J, Dickinson, W., 2014, 'Earthenware of Malara, Anuru Bay: A reassessment of potsherds from a Macassan trepang processing site, Arnhem Land, Australia, and implications for Macassan trade and the trepang industry', Australian Archaeology, vol. 79, no. December, pp. 14-25.
- O'Connor, S, Balme, J, Fyfe, J et al 2013, 'Marking resistance? Change and continuity in the recent rock art of the southern Kimberly, Australia', Antiquity, vol. 87, no. 336, pp. 539-554.
- Byrne, D, Brockwell, S & O'Connor, S 2013, 'Introduction: Engaging culture and nature', in Sally Brockwell, Sue O'Connor & Denis Byrne (ed.), Transcending the Culture-Nature Divide in Cultural Heritage: Views from the Asia-Pacific Region, ANU ePress, Canberra Australia, pp. 1-11.
- O'Connor, S & Bulbeck, F 2013, 'Homo Sapiens Societies in Indonesia and South-Eastern Asia', in (ed.), Oxford Handbooks Online: Scholarly Research Reviews, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 1-12.
- O'Connor, S & Ono, R 2013, 'The case for complex fishing technologies: a response to Anderson', Antiquity, vol. 87, pp. 1-4.
- O'Connor, S, Pannell, S & Brockwell, S 2013, 'The dynamics of culture and nature in a 'protected' Fataluku landscape', in Sally Brockwell, Sue O'Connor & Denis Byrne (eds) Transcending the Culture-Nature Divide in Cultural Heritage: Views from the Asia-Pacific Region. ANU ePress, Canberra Australia, pp. 203-234.
- Brockwell, S, O'Connor, S & Byrne, D, eds, 2013, Transcending the Culture-Nature Divide in Cultural Heritage: Views from the Asia-Pacific Region, ANU ePress, Canberra Australia.
- Gonzalez, A, Clark, G, O’Connor, S & Matisoo-Smith, L 2013, A 3000 year old dog burial in Timor-Leste Australian Archaeology 76: 13-20.
- Gonzalez Monge, A, Clark, G, O'Connor, S et al 2013, 'A 3000 year old DOG burial in Timor-Leste', Australian Archaeology, vol. 76, no. 76, pp. 13-20.
- Veth, P & O'Connor, S 2013, 'The past 50,000 years: an archaeological view', in Alison Bashford and Stuart Macintyre (ed.), The Cambridge History of Australia, Cambridge University Press, United States, pp. 17-42.
- Pannell, S & O’Connor S 2012, Where the wild things are: An exploration of sacrality, danger and violence in confined spaces. In H. Moyes (ed.), Sacred Darkness: A Global Perspective on the Ritual Use of Landscape, pp. 317-330. Boulder: University of Colorado Press.
- McWilliam, A, Bulbeck, F, Brockwell, S et al 2012, 'The Cultural Legacy of Makassar Stone in East Timor', Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, The, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 262-279.
- O'Connor, S. 2012. Out of Asia. Australasian Science 33, No. 4: 16-19.
- McWilliam, A., Bulbeck, D. Brockwell, S. & S. O'Connor 2012. 'The cultural legacy of Makassar stone in East Timor'.The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology 13, No. 3: 262-279.
- O'Connor, S, McWilliam, A, Fenner, JN, Brockwell, S. 2012, 'Examining the Origin of Fortifications in East Timor: Social and Environmental Factors', Journal of Island & Coastal Archaeology, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 200-218.
- O'Connor, S, Ono, R & Clarkson, C 2011, 'Pelagic Fishing at 42,000 Years Before the Present and the Maritime Skills of Modern Humans', Science, vol. 334, no. 6059, pp. 1117-1121.
- O'Connor, S, Barham, A, Aplin, K et al 2011, 'The Power of Paradigms: Examining the Evidential Basis for Early to Mid-Holocene Pigs and Pottery in Melanesia', Journal of Pacific Archaeology, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 1-25.
- O'Connor, S, Brockwell, C & Pannell, S 2011, 'Whose Culture and Heritage for Whom? The Limits of National Public Good Protected Area Models in Timor Leste', in John N. Miksic, Geok Yian Goh and Sue O'Connor (ed.), Rethinking Cultural Resource Management in Southeast Asia, Anthem Press, London, pp. 39-65.
- Brockwell, S, Meehan, B, O'Connor, S et al 2011, 'HOLOCENE SETTLEMENT OF THE NORTHERN COASTAL PLAINS NORTHERN TERRITORY AUSTRALIA', Beagle: records of the museums and art galleries of the northern territory, vol. 27, no. 27, pp. 1-22.
- Bulbeck, F & O'Connor, S 2011, 'The Watinglo mandible: A second terminal Pleistocene Homo sapiens fossil from tropical Sahul with a test on existing models for the human settlement of the region', Homo: Journal of Comparative Human Biology, vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 1-29.
- Miksic, J, Goh, G & O'Connor, S, eds, 2011, Rethinking Cultural Resource Management in Southeast Asia; Preservation, Development, and Neglect, Anthem Press, London.
- Reepmeyer, C, O'Connor, S & Brockwell, S 2011, 'Long-term obsidian use at the Jerimalai rock shelter in East Timor', Archaeology in Oceania, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 85-90.
- O'Connor, S, Aplin, K, St Pierre, E et al 2010, 'Faces of the ancestors revealed: Discovery and dating of a Pleistocene-age petroglyph in Lene Hara Cave, East Timor', Antiquity, vol. 84, no. 325, pp. 649-665.
- O'Connor, S, Ulm, S, Fallon, S et al 2010, 'Pre-bomb marine reservoir variability in the Kimberley region, Western Australia', Radiocarbon, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 1158-1165.
- O'Connor, S, Barham, A, Spriggs, M et al 2010, 'Cave Archaeology and Sampling issues in the Tropics; A Case Study from Lene Hara Cave, a 42,000 year old occupation site in East Timor, Island Southeast Asia', Australian Archaeology, vol. 71, no. 71, pp. 29-40.
- O'Connor, S 2010, 'Pleistocene Migration and Colonization in the Indo-Pacific region', in Atholl Anderson, James H Barrett & Katherine V Boyle (ed.), The Global Origins and Development of Seafaring, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge, pp. 41-55.
- O'Connor, S 2010, 'Continuity in Shell Artefact production in Holocene East Timor', in Berenice Bellina, Elisabeth A Bacus, Thomas Oliver Pryce, Jan Wisseman Christie (ed.), 50 Years of Archaeology in Southeast Asia: Essays in Honour of Ian Glover, River Books, Bangkok, pp. 219-233.
- Pannell, S & O'Connor, S 2010, 'Strategy Blurring: Flexible Approaches to subsistence in East Timor', in Karen Hardy (ed.), Archaeological invisibility and forgotten knowledge: Conference Proceedings, Lodz, Poland, 5th-7th September 2007, Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 115-30.
- O'Connor, S & Frawley, S 2010, 'A 40,000 year wood charcoal record from Carpenter's Gap 1: New insights into palaeovegetation change and indigenous foraging strategies in the Kimberley, Western Australia', in Haberle, S.G., Stevenson, J. and Prebble, M. (ed.), Altered Ecologies: Fire, climate and human influence on terrestrial landscapes (Terra Australis 32), ANU ePress, Canberra Australia, pp. 299-321.
- O'Connor, S & Dickinson, W 2010, 'Stone Disc Beads from Watinglo Shelter, Northern Papua New Guinea', Journal of Pacific Archaeology, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 188-192.
- Frederick, U & O'Connor, S 2009, 'Wandjina, graffiti and heritage: The power and politics of enduring imagery', Humanities Research, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 153-183.
- Fairbairn, A, O'Connor, S & Marwick, B, eds, 2009, New Directions in Archaeological Science Terra Australis 28, ANU ePress, Canberra Australia.
- O'Connor, S 2009, 'Earliest Seafaring', in David Blumel, Stefan Malmoli, Jessa Netting (ed.), McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology 2009, McGraw-Hill Inc, United States, pp. 90-93.
- Clark, G, Leach, F & O'Connor, S, eds, 2008, Islands of inquiry: Colonisation, seafaring and the archaeology of maritime landscapes (terra australis 29), ANU ePress, Canberra.
- O'Connor, S, Aplin, K & Collins, S 2008, 'A small salvage excavation in Windjana gorge, Kimberley, Western Australia', Archaeology in Oceania, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 75-81.
- Anderson, A & O'Connor, S 2008, 'Indo-Pacific Migration and Colonization - Introduction', Asian Perspectives, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 2-11.
- O'Connor, S 2008, 'Engendering Australian and Southeast Asian Prehistory. 'beyond epistemological angst'', Australian Archaeology, vol. 67, pp. 87-94.
- Ambrose, W, Allen, C, O'Connor, S et al 2008, 'Possible obsidian sources for artifacts from Timor: narrowing the options using chemical data', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 607-615.
- O'Connor, S, Barham, A & Woolagoodja, D 2008, 'Painting and repainting in the West Kimberley', Australian Aboriginal Studies, vol. 2008, no. 1, pp. 22-38.
- O'Connor, S & Arrow, S 2008, 'Boat images in the rock art of northern Australia with particular reference to the Kimberley, Western Australia', in Geoffrey Clark, Foss Leach & Sue O'Connor (ed.), Islands of inquiry: colonisation, seafaring and the archaeology of maritime landscapes (Terra Australis 29), ANU ePress, Canberra, pp. 397-409.
- Balme, J & O'Connor, S, eds, 2008, Introduction to Special Volume: More Unconsidered Trifles, 67.
- Balme, J & O'Connor, S, eds, 2008, More Unconsidered Trifles: Papers to Celebrate the Career of Sandra Bowdler, 1.
- O'Connor, S & Anderson, A, eds, 2008, Maritime Migration and Colonization in Indo-Pacific Prehistory: Special Issue, 1.
- O'Connor, S, Zell, L & Barham, A 2007, 'Stone Constructions on Rankin Island, Kimberley, Western Australia', Australian Archaeology, vol. 64, pp. 15-22.
- O'Connor, S 2007, 'New evidence from East Timor contributes to our understanding of earliest modern human colonisation east of the Sunda Shelf', Antiquity, vol. 81, no. 313, pp. 523-535.
- O'Connor, S & Oliveira, N 2007, 'Inter- and Intra-regional Variation in the Austronesian Painting Tradition: A View from East Timor', Asian Perspectives, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 389-403.
- Lape, P, O'Connor, S & Burningham, N 2007, 'Rock Art: A Potential Source of Information about Past Maritime Technology in the South-East Asia-Pacific Region', International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 238-253.
- O'Connor, S & Aplin, K 2007, 'A Matter of Balance: An overview of Pleistocene occupation history and the impact of the Last Glacial Phase in East Timor and the Aru Islands, eastern Indonesia', Archaeology in Oceania, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 82-90.
- Aubert, M, O'Connor, S, McCulloch, M et al 2007, 'Uranium-series dating rock art in East Timor', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 34, no. 6, pp. 991-6.
- O'Connor, S & Veth, P 2006, 'Revisiting the Past: Changing Interpretations of Pleistocene Settlement Subsistence and Demography in Northern Australia', in Ian Lilley (ed.), Archaeology of Oceania: Australia and the Pacific Islands, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Oxford, UK, pp. 31-47.
- O'Connor, S 2006, 'Unpacking the Island Southeast Asian Neolithic Cultural Package, and Finding Local Complexity', in Elizabeth A Bacus, Ian Glover (ed.), Uncovering Southeast Asia's Past: Selected Papers from the 10th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, NIAS Press, Singapore, pp. 74-87.
- Hiscock, P & O'Connor, S 2006, 'An Australian perspective on modern behaviour and artefact assemblages', Before Farming, vol. 2, pp. 1-10.
- Clarkson, C & O'Connor, S 2006, 'An Introduction to Stone Artifact Analysis', in Jane Balme and Alistair Paterson (ed.), Archaeology in Practice: A Student Guide to Archaeological Analyses, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Oxford, UK, pp. 159-206.
- O'Connor, S 2006, Cave find a stepping stone back to early man, Sydney Morning Herald.
- Spriggs, M, Veth, P, O'Connor, S et al 2005, 'Three Seasons of Archaeological Survey in the Aru Islands, 1995-97', in S. O'Connor, M. Spriggs, P. Veth (ed.), The Archeology of the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia, Pandanus Books, Canberra, pp. 63-84.
- O'Connor, S, Spriggs, M & Veth, P, eds, 2005, The Archaeology of the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia, Pandanus Books, Canberra.
- O'Connor, S, Aplin, K, Pasveer, J et al 2005, 'Liang Nabulei Lisa: A late Pleistocene and Holocene sequence from the Aru Islands', in S. O'Connor, M. Spriggs, P. Veth (ed.), The Archeology of the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia, Pandanus Books, Canberra, pp. 125-162.
- Hiscock, P & O'Connor, S 2005, 'Arid Paradises or Dangerous Landscapes: A Review of Explanations for Paleolithic Assemblage Change in Arid Australia and Africa', in Peter Veth, Mike Smith, Peter Hiscock (ed.), Desert Peoples: Archaeological Perspectives, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Malden, USA, pp. 58-77.
- Veth, P, O'Connor, S, Spriggs, M et al 2005, 'The Ujir Site: An Early Historic Maritime Settlement in Northwestern Aru', in S. O'Connor, M. Spriggs, P. Veth (ed.), The Archeology of the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia, Pandanus Books, Canberra, pp. 85-93.
- Veth, P, Spriggs, M, O'Connor, S et al 2005, 'Wangil Midden: a Late Prehistoric Site, With Remarks on Ethnographic Pottery Making', in S. O'Connor, M. Spriggs, P. Veth (ed.), The Archeology of the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia, Pandanus Books, Canberra, pp. 95-124.
- Spriggs, M, O'Connor, S & Veth, P 2005, 'The Aru Islands in Perspective: A General Introduction', in S. O'Connor, M. Spriggs, P. Veth (ed.), The Archeology of the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia, Pandanus Books, Canberra, pp. 1-24.
- O'Connor, S, Spriggs, M & Veth, P 2005, 'On the Cultural History of the Aru Islands: Some Conclusions', in S. O'Connor, M. Spriggs, P. Veth (ed.), The Archeology of the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia, Pandanus Books, Canberra, pp. 307-314.
- O'Connor, S, Aplin, K, Szabo, K et al 2005, 'Liang Lemdubu: A Pleistocene Cave Site in the Aru Islands', in S. O'Connor, M. Spriggs, P. Veth (ed.), The Archeology of the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia, Pandanus Books, Canberra, pp. 171-204.
- O'Connor, S & Veth, P 2005, 'Early Holocene shell fish hooks from Lene Hara Cave, East Timor establish complex fishing technology was in use in Island South East Asia five thousand years before Austronesian settlement', Antiquity, vol. 79, no. 304, pp. 249-256.
- Watchman, A, O'Connor, S & Jones, R 2005, 'Dating oxalate minerals 20-45 ka', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 369-374.
- Veth, P & O'Connor, S 2005, 'Archaeology, claimant connection to sites, and native title: employment of successful categories of data with specific comments on glass artefacts', Australian Aboriginal Studies, vol. 1, pp. 2-15.
- Veth, P, Spriggs, M & O'Connor, S 2005, 'Continuity in Tropical Cave Use: Examples from East Timor and the Aru Islands, Maluku', Asian Perspectives, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 180-192.
- Pannell, S & O'Connor, S 2005, 'Toward a Cultural Topography of Cave Use in East Timor: A Preliminary Study', Asian Perspectives, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 193-206.
- Veth, P, O'Connor, S & Spriggs, M 2004, 'Changing research perspectives from Australia's doorstep: the Joint Australian-Indonesian Aru Islands Initiative and the Archaeology of East Timor Project', in Tim Murray (ed.), Archaeology from Australia, Australian Scholarly Publishing Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 209-230.
- Carter, M, Barham, A, Veth, P et al 2004, 'The Murray Islands Archaeological Project: Excavations on Mer and Dauar, Eastern Torres Strait', Memoirs of the Queensland Museum: Cultural Heritage Series, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 163-182.
- Szabo, K & O'Connor, S 2004, 'Migration and complexity in Holocene Island Southeast Asia', World Archaeology, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 621-628.
- Carter, M, Barham, A, Bird, D et al 2004, 'Archaeology of the Murray Islands, eastern Torres Strait: implications for a regional prehistory', in Richard Davis (ed.), Woven Histories Dancing Lives Torres Strait Islander Identity, Culture and History, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, pp. 234-258.
- O'Connor, S & Chappell, J 2003, 'Colonisation and coastal subsistence in Australia and Papua New Guinea: different timing, different modes?', in Christophe Sand (ed.), Pacific Archaeology: assessments and prospects, proceedings of the International Conference for the 50th anniversary of the first Lapita excavation, Service des Musees et du Patrimoine, New Caledonia, pp. 17-32.
- O'Connor, S 2003, 'Nine New Painted Rock Art Sites from East Timor in the Context of the Western Pacific Region', Asian Perspectives, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 96-129.
- Spriggs, M, O'Connor, S & Veth, P 2003, 'Vestiges of Early Pre-agricultural economy in the landscape of East Timor - Recent research', International Conference of the EurASEAA 2003, ed. Anna Karlstrom and Anna Kallen, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 49-59.
- O'Connor, S & Chappell, J 2003, 'Colonisation and coastal subsistence in Australia and Papua New Guinea: different timing, different modes', International Conference for the 50th anniversary of the first Lapita excavation (July 1952), ed. Christophe Sand, Le Cahiers de l�Arch�ologie en Nouvelle-Cal�donie, Noumea, pp. 17-32.
- O'Connor, S 2002, 'Pleistocene Timor: Further corrections, A reply to Bednarik', Australian Archaeology, vol. 54, pp. 46-51.
- O'Connor, S, Spriggs, M & Veth, P 2002, 'Excavation at Lene Hara Cave establishes occupation in East Timor at least 35,000 years ago', Antiquity, vol. 76, pp. 45-50.
- O'Connor, S, Aplin, K, Spriggs, M et al. 2002, 'From Savannah to Rainforest: Changing Environments and Human Occupation at Liang Lembudu, Aru Islands, Maluku (Indonesia)', in P. Kershaw, B. David, N. Tapper, D. Penny and J. Brown (ed.), Bridging Wallace's Line: The environmental and cultural history and dynamics of the SE-Asian-Australian Region, Catena Verlag GMBH, Germany, pp. 279-307.
- Gould, R, O'Connor, S & Veth, P 2002, 'Bones of Contention: reply to Walshe', Archaeology in Oceania, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 96-102.
- O'Connor, S & Fankhauser, B 2001, 'Art at 40,000BP? One Step Closer: An Ochre Covered Rock from Carpenters Gap Shelter1, Kimberley Region, Western Australia', in A.Anderson, I.Lilley & S.O'Connor (ed.), Histories of Old Ages: Essays in honour of Rhys Jones, Pandanus Books, Canberra, pp. 287-301.
- Watchman, A, Ward, I, Jones, R et al 2001, 'Spatial and Compositional Variations within Finely Laminated Mineral Crusts at Carpenters Gap, an Archaeological Site in Tropical Australia', Geoarchaeology: an international journal, vol. 16, no. 7, pp. 803-824.
- Anderson, A, Lilley, I & O'Connor, S, eds, 2001, Histories of Old Ages: Essays in honour of Rhys Jones, Pandanus Books, Canberra.
- Veth, P, O'Connor, S & Wallis, L 2000, 'Perspectives on ecological approaches in Australian archaeology', Australian Archaeology, vol. 50, pp. 54-66.
- O'Connor, S & Veth, P 2000, 'East of Wallaces Line: An Introduction', in O?Connor, S.; Veth, P. (ed.), East of Wallace�s Line: Studies of past and present maritime cultures of the Indo-Pacific region, A A Balkema, Rotterdam, pp. 1-13.
- O'Connor, S & Veth, P 2000, 'The worlds first mariners: Savannah dwellers in an island continent', in O?Connor, S.; Veth, P. (ed.), East of Wallace�s Line: Studies of past and present maritime cultures of the Indo-Pacific region, A A Balkema, Rotterdam, pp. 99-139.
- O'Connor, S, Veth, P & Barham, A 1999, 'Cultural versus natural explanations for lacunae in Aboriginal occupation deposits in northern Australia', Quaternary International, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 61-70.
- Bryce, M, Jones, R & O'Connor, S 1999, 'Archaeological Evidence for the Extinction of a Breeding Population of Elephant Seals in Tasmania in Prehistoric Times', International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, pp. 430-437.
Projects and Grants
Grants information is drawn from ARIES. To add or update Projects or Grants information please contact your College Research Office.
- From Sunda to Sahul: Understanding modern human dispersal, adaptation and behaviour en route to Australia (Primary Investigator)
- The Archaeology of Sulawesi: A Strategic Island for Understanding Modern Human Colonization and Interactions Across our Region (Primary Investigator)
- Life Ways of the First Australians (Primary Investigator)
