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The appendix features the descriptions of the borehole and the test excavation profile log. ; This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727). ; peer-reviewed

The micromorphological descriptions for the Malta deep cores. ; This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727). ; peer-reviewed

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727).

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727).

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727).

Geoarchaeological survey, test excavations and sampling on Gozo and Malta concentrated on the sites and landscapes associated with the Neolithic temple period of the fourth and third millennia bc. Targeted investigations were carried out at two Neolithic temple sites of Ġgantija and Santa Verna on the Xagħra plateau and the associated Ramla and Marsalforn valleys on Gozo. Sequences were also recovered from the excavations of the Neolithic Taċ-Ċawla settlement site in the modern town of Rabat and the later Bronze Age mesa-top site of In-Nuffara. On Malta, geoarchaeological work focused on the temple site of Skorba, and the nearby valley coring site of Xemxija, as well as the deep valley core sites of Wied Żembaq, Marsaxlokk and Salina (Figs. 2.4 & 5.1). In the context of the on-site investigations, test excavations at the Santa Verna, Ġgantija and Skorba temple sites and at the Taċ-Ċawla settlement site all revealed old land surfaces beneath mixed soil and cultural deposits. For the off-site geoarchaeological work, some 200 hand-augered boreholes were made during the 2014/15/16 field seasons. Most boreholes were in the Santa Verna to Ġgantija areas on the margins of the modern town of Xagħra, across the intervening Ramla valley to In-Nuffara and down-valley to the sea, and also in the Marsalforn valley from Rabat northwards to the sea (Fig. 5.1). The areas around the Ta' Marżiena and Skorba temple sites were also investigated briefly for comparison using the hand auger, but no sample test pits were excavated. This geoarchaeological programme has provided sufficient soil/sediment sequence data to address several sets of aims as set out below, and in combination with the analysis of the deep valley cores (see Chapters 2 & 3), it is now possible to suggest a model for Holocene landscape development. It has always been assumed that the seasonally dry and hot Mediterranean climate made the Gozitan and Maltese landscapes quite 'marginal' in agricultural terms (Grima 2008a; Schembri 1997). As a consequence, it has also been presumed that terracing was adopted extensively from the Bronze Age onwards on both islands to conserve soils and moisture, and also to create a more suitable landscape for subsistence based agriculture (Grima 2004). Like many other parts of the southern Mediterranean, this landscape is prone to deforestation, drought and erosion combined with intensive human activity, and that this has been the case since Neolithic times (Bevan & Conolly 2013; Brandt & Thornes 1996; Hughes 2011; Grove & Rackham 2003). The FRAGSUS Project aimed to examine these assumptions and test them with a suite of archaeological science approaches that would shed new light on the nature and impact of Neolithic farming and on the degree of fragility of this island landscape. Within the overall project, the main objectives of the geoarchaeological work were to: 1) investigate the deposit and soil catena sequence of the Xagħra plateau and its associated Ramla and Marsalforn valleys for the Holocene; 2) identify floors, floor deposits, old land surfaces and palaeosols associated with the Neolithic monuments, concentrating on the Santa Verna, Ġgantija and Skorba temple sites, as well as the Taċ-Ċawla settlement site; 3) create a model for the Holocene land-use sequence for Gozo and Malta, focusing on the impact of Neolithic agriculture and later landscape terracing, and 4) establish if there is any correlation between observed soil properties and prehistoric activities and/or longer-term climate change. The results of the geoarchaeological analyses are discussed below, with the borehole logs and field profile descriptions (after FAO & ISRIC 1990) found in Appendix 6, the thin section descriptions in Appendices 7 and 8, the sample list in Table 5.1, the summary dating of the analysed profiles in Table 5.2, and the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating report in Appendix 2. Note that the comprehensive radiocarbon dating study is discussed in this volume (see Chapter 2), and the site-based geoarchaeological and micromorphological studies at Santa Verna, Ġgantija, Skorba, In-Nuffara and Taċ-Ċawla are reported on separately in the FRAGSUS excavation Volume 2. ; This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727). ; peer-reviewed

peer-reviewed ; Sound art is at the vanguard of contemporary creative practices seeking to establish a platform for meaningful debate on a range of accelerating global environmental crises. This paper explores how the Softday art/science collaboration moved from exploring histories of the natural world in the epoch of the Anthropocene, while engaging in a continuum of public and politicized contestations addressing climate change issues, to a participatory sound art practice that that we call Acouscenic Listening and Creative Soundwalks, which may help to develop a novel frame of understanding of the world. ; PUBLISHED ; peer-reviewed

Background: Health policy in Australia positions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers (AHWs) as central to improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' health, with high expectations of their contribution to closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health outcomes. Understanding how AHWs' governance and accountability relationships influence their ability to address such health inequities has policy, programme and ethical significance. We sought to map the evidence of AHWs' experiences of accountability in the Australian health system. Methods: We followed an adapted qualitative systematic review process to map evidence on accountability relations in the published literature. We sought empirical studies or first-person accounts describing AHWs' experiences of working in government or Aboriginal community-controlled services anywhere in Australia. Findings were organised according to van Belle and Mayhew's four dimensions of accountability – social, political, provider and organisational. Results: Of 27 included studies, none had a primary focus on AHW governance or AHWs' accountability relationships. Nonetheless, selected articles provided some insight into AHWs' experiences of accountability across van Belle and Mayhew's four dimensions. In the social dimension, AHWs' sense of connection and belonging to community was reflected in the importance placed on AHWs' cultural brokerage and advocacy functions. But social and cultural obligations overlapped and sometimes clashed with organisational and provider-related accountabilities. AHWs described having to straddle cultural obligations (e.g. related to gender, age and kinship) alongside the expectations of non-Indigenous colleagues and supervisors which were underpinned by 'Western' models of clinical governance and management. Lack of role-clarity stemming from weakly constituted (state-based) career structures was linked to a system-wide misunderstanding of AHWs' roles and responsibilities – particularly the cultural components – acting as a barrier to AHWs working to their full capacity for the benefit of patients, broader society and their own professional satisfaction. Conclusions: In literature spanning different geographies, service domains and several decades, this review found evidence of complexity in AHWs' accountability relationships that both affects individual and team performance. However, theoretically informed and systematic investigation of accountability relationships and related issues, including the power dynamics that underpin AHW governance and performance in often diverse settings, remains limited and more work in this area is required.

Healthcare services in Australia are the primary responsibility of state and territory governments, which recruit and deploy health providers in hospital and primary-care services. Among the various health professional roles, that of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker (A&TSIHW) is one of only two positions that must be occupied by an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person, carrying unique responsibility for enacting cultural brokerage and promoting cultural safety at the facility-level. Implicit to these responsibilities is the assumption that A&TSIHW will use cultural capital to build clients' trust in themselves and ultimately the broader health system. Drawing on 82 in-depth interviews including 52 with A&TSIHWs, we applied Kroegar's Facework theory to explore the structures, processes and relationships that contribute to, or inhibit, A&TISHWs' capacity and willingness to build trust (beyond themselves) in government health services in Queensland, Australia. Analysis demonstrates that despite A&TSIHWs viewing and enacting interpersonal trust-building as central to their role, structural features of the health system inhibit the development of service-users' system-level trust. Findings re-establish that health systems are not 'cultureless,' but rather, shaped by a dominant culture that privileges certain actors, types of knowledge, and modes of communication and action, which in turn influence efforts to build trust. The study demonstrates a novel theory-driven approach to exploring the interactions between behavioural and structural factors that influence the production of systems-level trust. In the context of the Queensland public health service findings highlight a disconnect between the expectations of, and support provided to A&TISHWs to engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service-users.

Background: In northern Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers (A&TSIHWs) are unique members of nominally integrated teams of primary care professionals. Spurred by research documenting ongoing structural violence experienced by Indigenous health providers and more recent challenges to recruitment and retention of A&TSIHWs, this study aimed to explore whether the governance of the A&TSIHW role supports full and meaningful participation. Methods: The qualitative study was co-designed by a team of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous collaborators. Data collection comprised document review and interviews with A&TSIHWs (n = 51), clinicians (n = 19) community members (n = 8) and administrators (n = 5) in a north Queensland health district. We analysed governance at multiple levels (regulatory, organisational, and socio-cultural) and used critical race theory to deepen exploration of the role of race and racism in shaping it. Results: Governance of the A&TSIHW role occurs within a health system where racism is built into, and amplified by, formal and informal rules at all levels. Racially discriminatory structures such as the previous but long-standing relegation of A&TSIHW into the same career stream as cleaners were mirrored in discriminatory rules and managerial practices such as an absence of career-specific corporate support and limited opportunities to participate in, or represent to, key leadership groups. These interacted with and helped perpetuate workplace norms permissive of disrespect and abuse by non-Indigenous professionals. Ongoing resistance to the structural violence required of, and demonstrated by A&TSIHWs speaks to the gap between rhetoric and reality of governance for A&TSIHWs. Conclusion: Strengthening governance to support A&TSIHWs requires critical attention be given to the role of race and racism in regulatory structures, organisational practice, and inter-professional relationships. Addressing all domains will be ...

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers (A&TSIHWs) are a professional cadre of Australian health workers typically located in primary care clinics. The role is one of only two that is 'identified'— that is, it must be occupied by an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person — and holds specific responsibilities in relation to advocating for facility-level cultural safety. However, lack of understanding of the distinctive skills, scope and value associated with the A&TSIHW role remains pervasive in the broader health workforce. Positioned to represent the perspective of those working as A&TSIHWs, and drawing on 83 in-depth interviews with A&TSIHWs and others, this qualitative study reports on the core functions and distinctive orientation of the role, and seeks to articulate its distinctive value in the modern Queensland health service. Findings highlight the multifaceted (generalist) nature of the A&TSIHW role, which comprises three core functions: health promotion, clinical service and cultural brokerage. Underpinning these cross-cutting functions, is the role's unique orientation, defined by client-centredness and realised through Indigenous strengths based ways of knowing, being and doing. The findings highlight how the A&TSIHW role is one of the only mechanisms through which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge can be brought to bear on context-specific adaptations to routine health service practices; and through which the impacts of lack of cultural or self-awareness among some non-Indigenous health professionals can be mitigated. The complexity of such work in a government health system where a dominant biomedical culture defines what is valued and therefore resourced, is under-recognised and undervalued and contributes to pressures and stress that are potentially threatening the role's long-term viability.