My main research interests revolve around the study of prehistoric movement, mobility and exchange from the empirical analysis of igneous rocks with geochemical techniques combined with exchange and migration theory to establish ancient interaction. His recent research focus has been in the application of scientific techniques to characterise ancient stone tools from Asia and the Pacific, which provide tangible evidence for prehistoric social and economic movements, often over thousands of kilometres of marine terrain. He currently holds an ARC DECRA fellowship analysing early- and mid-Holocene interaction in Island Southeast Asia. He has been involved with the assessment of cultural heritage sites in Africa, Europe, Australia, Asia and the Pacific, and has participated in field expeditions to Namibia, Sudan, Chad, Seychelles, Vanuatu, Tonga, Indonesia and Palau. He was involved in the inscription of the ‘Rock Islands / Southern Lagoon area’ site in Palau into the UNESCO World Heritage list and is currently preparing ‘The Ancient Capitals of the Kingdom of Tonga’, royal tombs of Heketā and Lapaha for nomination in 2015.

Interests

Professional

• International cultural heritage management

Research

• Geochemical sourcing of Archaeological materials
• Archaeological Science
• GIS applications in Archaeology
• Pacific and Island Southeast Asian Archaeology

Teaching

• Integration of research and teaching
• Developing research expertise in Under- and Postgraduate courses

Experience

• 2015 to present - Lecturer, James Cook University (Cairns)
• 2013 to 2015 - DECRA, The Australian National University (Canberra)
• 2010 to 2012 - Postdoctoral Fellow, The Australian National University (Canberra)
• 2005 to 2006 - Research Fellow, Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn (Germany)
• 2004 - Consultant Archaeologist, Fundort Inc. (Germany)

Research Disciplines

• Archaeology (4301)
• Pacific Peoples culture, language and history (4513)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Expanding knowledge (2801)
• Understanding past societies (1307)

Awards

• 2008 - Rhys Jones Fieldwork Scholarship
• 2006 to 2009 - Endeavour International Postgraduate Scholarship
• 2002 to 2003 - Stiftung zur Förderung der Archäologie im rheinischen Braunkohlenrevier: Master thesis research grant

Fellowships

• 2010 - George Chaloupka Fellowship Grant (with Daryl Wesley, Tony Barham, Sue O'Connor, Jack Fenner)
• 2013 to 2016 - ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award

Memberships

• 2015 - Society of American Archaeologists
• 2013 - International Council for Monuments and Sites - Full Membership
• 2010 - Australian Archaeological Association
• 1996 - Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Ur- und Fruehgeschichte

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Hawkins S, Zetika G, Kinaston R, Firmando Y, Sari D, Suniarti Y, Lucas M, Roberts P, Reepmeyer C, Maloney T, Kealy S, Stirling C, Reid M, Barr D, Kleffmann T, Kumar A, Yuwono P, Litster M, Husni M, Ririmasse M, Mahirta -, Mujabuddawat M, Harriyadi - and O'Connor S (2024) Earliest known funerary rites in Wallacea after the last glacial maximum. Scientific Reports, 14.
• Ulm S, Mcniven I, Summerhayes G, Wu P, Bunbury M, Petchey F, Hua Q, Skelly R, Lambrides A, Rowe C, Lowe K, Reepmeyer C, Maclaurin C, Woo K, Harris M, Morgan S, Turner-Kose K, Slater S, Connelly J, Kneppers M, Szabó K, Fairbairn A, Haberle S, Hopf F, Bultitude R, Ash J, Lewis S, Beaman R, Leon J, McDowell M, Potter M, Connelly B, Little C, Jackson S, McCarthy J, Nothdurft L, Zhao J, Bird M, Felgate M, Cobus B and Walmbaar Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC (in press) Early Aboriginal pottery production and offshore island occupation on Jiigurru (Lizard Island group), Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Quaternary Science Reviews,
• Kyriakidis P, Moutsiou T, Nikolaidis A, Reepmeyer C, Leventis G, Demesticha S, Akylas E, Kassianidou V, Michailides C, Zomeni Z, Bar-Yosef Mayer D, Makovsky Y and McCartney C (2022) Virtual Sea-Drifting Experiments between the Island of Cyprus and the Surrounding Mainland in the Early Prehistoric Eastern Mediterranean. Heritage, 5 (4). pp. 3081-3099
• Moutsiou T, Ioannides D, Charalambous A, Schoder S, Webb S, Thoury M, Kassianidou V, Zomeni Z and Reepmeyer C (2022) X?ray fluorescence spectroscopy of picrolite raw material on Cyprus. Heritage, 5 (2). pp. 664-677
• Moutsiou T, Reepmeyer C, Kassianidou V, Zomeni Z and Agapiou A (2021) Modelling the Pleistocene colonisation of Eastern Mediterranean islandscapes. PLoS ONE, 16 (10).
• Reepmeyer C (2021) Modelling prehistoric social interaction in the South-western Pacific: a view from the obsidian sources in Northern Vanuatu. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum, 34. pp. 137-148
• Reepmeyer C, Ferguson R, Valentin F and Clark G (2021) The stone adze and obsidian assemblage from the Talasiu site, Kingdom of Tonga. Archaeology in Oceania, 56. pp. 1-16
• Clark G, Leclerc M, Parton P, Reepmeyer C, Grono E and Burley S (2020) Royal funerals, ritual stones and participatory networks in the maritime Tongan state. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 57.
• Hawkins S, Arumdhati F, Litster M, Lim T, Basile G, Leclerc M, Reepmeyer C, Maloney T, Boulanger C, Louys J, Mahirta M, Clark G, Keling G, Willan R, Yuwono P and O'Connor S (2020) Metal-Age maritime culture at Jareng Bori rockshelter, Pantar Island, eastern Indonesia. Records of the Australian Museum, 72 (5). pp. 237-262

Book Chapters

• Parton P, Clark G and Reepmeyer C (2022) High-resolution lidar analysis of the Fisi Tea defensive earthwork at Lapaha, Kingdom of Tonga. In: Archaeological Perspectives on Conflict and Warfare in Australia and the Pacific. Terra Australis. ANU Press, Canberra, ACT, Australia, pp. 147-169
• Reepmeyer C, Clark G, Parton P, Melekiola M and Burley D (2022) Geospatial analysis of fortification locations on the island of Tongatapu, Tonga. In: Archaeological Perspectives on Conflict and Warfare in Australia and the Pacific. Terra Australis, 54. ANU Press, Canberra, ACT, Australia, pp. 171-189
• O'Connor S, Reepmeyer C, Langley M, Piotto E and Mahirta M (2021) Communities of practice in a maritime world: shared shell technology and obsidian exchange in the Lesser Sunda Islands, Wallacea. In: Sea Nomads of South-East Asia: from the past to the present. National University of Singapore Press, Singapore, pp. 28-50

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 56+ research outputs authored by Dr Christian Reepmeyer from 2008 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Best Practice Framework for Collaborative Approaches to Indigenous Cultural Mapping for Sea Country Management (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Understanding Kwokkunum Shell Mounds as Landscape Engineering: A Spatial and Temporal Archaeological approach (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Investigating Constructed Seascapes in the Lizard Island Group, Far North Queensland. (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Deep sand time capsules: past environmental records from sediments surrounding Gledswood Shelter 1, Northwest Queensland, Australia (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Kaiadilt Country: A Remote Sensing Approach to Documenting Long-Term Aboriginal land management technologies (PhD , Secondary Advisor)

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.