Dr Mirani Litster

Mirani is a Lecturer in Archaeology at Flinders University, with research interests in early globalisation, intercultural encounters and island and coastal archaeology. Her regional focus is Australia and the Indian Ocean, and she has been involved in research projects from the Maldives, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Australia and Palau. Prior to joining Flinders University, she held lecturing appointments at the University of Canberra (2020-2021) in heritage studies and at the Nguma-bada Campus (Cairns) of James Cook University (2021-2024) in archaeology.

Mirani specialises in archaeomalacology (molluscan remains), and has analysed a range of assemblages including from the Wallacean sites of Laili Cave in Timor-Leste (c. 44 ka) and Ratu Mali (the earliest known funerary rite in Wallacea). She has also investigated early Buddhist archaeological sites in the Maldives. Mirani has advanced glass bead research in Australia, contributing her analyses on a number of significant assemblages from Madjedbebe, the Wellington Range and Native Mounted Police Camps in Queensland. 

Mirani is currently a CI on an ARC Discovery Project Before Cook: Contact Negotiation and the Archaeology of the Tiwi Islands, which aims to reconcile divergent narratives of early cultural encounters between Tiwi Island Traditional Owners, Makassans, the Dutch and other Europeans. In 2024 Mirani led (with Wonu Veys) key international collaborations with the Wereldcultures Museum in Leiden, the Anima Mundi Museum in the Vatican City and the Musee du quay Branly in Paris, which involved Tiwi participation and collaboration.