A group of researchers from the Australian National University are in the country to carry out work on the history of the Seychelles islands.

Professor Atholl Anderson, assistant professor Geoffrey Clark and Dr Christian Reepmeyer met representatives from departments and organisations at the National Arts Council last Thursday to discuss their research.

Those present included representatives from the Environment Department, National Museums, National Heritage and Monuments Board.

The aim of the research is to find evidence that long before the arrival of Europeans on our shores, Seychelles was inhabited or visited by other groups of people.

A research proposal was sent to the Seychelles Bureau of Standards for approval to carry out this study.

The researchers want to uncover evidence of the distribution patterns and sequences of early human colonisation, investigate the involvement of remote islands in trans-oceanic movement and understand the human settlement of these islands within regional and global frameworks of maritime mobility.

Among the sites chosen for their work are the Port Launay coastal wetlands and Mare Aux Cochons on Mahe, and others on Praslin and Curieuse islands.

Three issues of global and local significance are set to be addressed, one of which involves the reasons why the prehistory of Seychelles and other remote Indian Ocean islands is different from that of Pacific and Atlantic islands.

It also aims to find out if there was direct and significant trans-oceanic contact between South-east Asia and East Africa.

Thirdly, the study will try to find what human impact there was on Indian Ocean islands and how well it can be distinguished from the effects of natural environmental change.

During their research, they will examine the chosen sites, talk to people, carry out tests to measure the depths of deposits, record their findings and collect samples for analysis.

The project is funded by the Australian National University in collaboration with the Australian Research Council.
Two other researchers – assistant professor Simon Haberle and Juliette Harrington – will be coming to Seychelles at a later date.

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