Michael Petraglia

Honorary Professor Michael Petraglia holds a dual appointment at the School of Social Science, The University of Queensland. His research focuses on understanding early human dispersals, subsistence strategies, and technological innovations across Asia, Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula. He leads interdisciplinary projects investigating Pleistocene-Holocene transitions, with a particular emphasis on the environmental and cultural drivers of hominin migration.

Key research themes include:

• Prehistoric human adaptation to climatic fluctuations
• Origins of modern human behavior in tropical and arid environments
• Lithic technology and cultural continuity
• Interactions between hominins and megafauna

Recent publications emphasize archaeological discoveries in China, Sri Lanka, and Saudi Arabia, including breakthroughs in dating techniques, microlithic tool analysis, and paleoenvironmental reconstruction. His work bridges archaeology, geology, and paleoanthropology to address fundamental questions about human origins and dispersal routes.

Fieldwork locations include the Nihewan Basin in China, the Nefud Desert in Saudi Arabia, and the Indian Ocean coastal regions. Ongoing projects investigate the role of environmental corridors in facilitating hominin movements out of Africa.