Last Journey is centred on three major themes: 1) Human tempos of dispersal: archaeology, material culture, and chronology; 2) Changing climates and environments; and 3) Subsistence adaptations and human impacts. Progress has been made on the work packages and specific goals of all three themes, with primary activities focused achieving Milestone 1 and Milestone 2 of the project, in relation to the collection of data and samples through fieldwork in Colombia. Between 2019-2022 archaeological permit requests were submitted to ICANH and access to sites was negotiated with local landowners. All permits were granted for research activities at El Abra, Tibito, Tequendama, Pubenza, and in the Serrania de la Lindosa archaeological sites (Cerro Azul, Limoncillo, Montoya and Nuevo Tolima). Permits for exporting archaeological sediments and teeth DNA (University of Copenhagen), charcoal for radiocarbon dates (University of Exeter), and megafauna bones for isotopes analysis (Max Planck Institute, Jena) were all obtained during 2019-2022. Three-dimensional printed replicas of human teeth from Tequendama, which will be analysed by the project, have been produced to comply with ICANH requisites. A series of reports from completed excavations and lab analyses have been submitted and approved by ICANH. Archaeological fieldwork was conducted at the sites mentioned above between 2019 - 2022. The excavations recorded human occupation and activity at the sites, recovering materials for laboratory analyses. Archaeological excavations were combined with sedimentary DNA research at El Abra, Tequendama and Montoya, as well as samples collected from sediment coring at Tibito, Pedro Palo and El Abra. PDRA Ramirez collected speleothems for palaeoclimate reconstruction at Parque Natural Nacional Caverna de los Guacharos in Dec 2019. PhD Ziegler inventoried and sampled megafauna remains for isotope analysis from the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in 2021. Analysis of materials is ongoing with positive initial results from archaeobotanical analysis, radiocarbon dating, lithic analysis, and speleothem analysis.
Initial results from the analysis of rock art and archaeological sediments from Serrania de la Lindosa have been published in three international journals and one book chapter. The findings reveal a far more extensive and earlier occupation of the Colombian Amazon than previously realised. Radiocarbon dating from the excavated contexts demonstrates multiple rock shelters were occupied from 12.5k years ago. The depiction of megafauna in the art alludes to the different habitats and animal populations that were present during these early human occupations. The artwork and archaeological remains hold clues to the inception of human-environment interaction in the Amazon, the potential role human resource exploitation had on biodiversity trajectories, and the development of cosmological worldview, cultural norms, and artistic traditions that characterise and define South American culture. Further collaborations on early peopling of tropical South America, plant domestication, and the analysis of glyptodon (Ice Age armadillos) skulls have resulted in the publication of three other papers (Nature, Quaternary Science Reviews, and Journal of Swiss Palaeontology). The project organised a major international rock art symposium in Colombia and produced the book, "The Painted Forest: rock art and archaeology in the Colombian Amazon". 400 copies of the book were donated to the local community for sale to tourists.
