Morwood was born in
Auckland and grew up in
New Zealand. He was awarded his
Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology at the
University of Auckland, New Zealand, in 1973, receiving his Masters in the following year. In 1972 the Auckland University Department of Anthropology awarded him the Anthropology Prize for academic excellence. He commenced further graduate studies in 1976 at the
Australian National University. He was awarded his PhD in 1980. His dissertation was titled "Art and stone: towards a prehistory of central-western Queensland" (Mike Morwood 2010). The majority of Morwood's research was undertaken while he was a member of staff at the
University of New England,
Armidale. His final post was as professor at the School of Earth and Environmental Studies,
University of Wollongong. Morwood began his career employed as Regional Archaeologist by the Queensland State Archaeology Branch of the Department of Aboriginal and Islander Affairs (DAIA) between 1974 and 1976. After receiving his doctorate he returned to the DAIA in Queensland as a Field and Research Archaeologist. In 1981 he began lecturing at the University of New England. As a part of the School of Human Environmental Studies, Morwood lectured in: Australian Archaeology, Southeast Asian and Pacific Archaeology,
Rock Art, Archaeological Field Methods, and Archaeological Lab Methods. It was during this time he discovered
Homo floresiensis, a hominin species that "…prompted reassessment of fundamental tenets in palaeoanthropology ... concerning the peripheral role of Asia in early hominin evolution" (Morwood 2011). He initially joined a project by a group of Dutch and Indonesian researchers led by
Paul Sondaar (1934-2003), who followed up on discoveries in the 1950s and 60s by
Theodor Verhoeven (1907-1990) on ancient human occupation in
Wallacea. Despite bitter complaints by the Dutch scientists, Morwood took over the project. In 2003 the excavation team discovered what was to be named a new species,
Homo floresiensis in the limestone cave of
Liang Bua (first excavated by Verhoeven), on the Indonesian island of
Flores. Morwood also produced important work on rock art, most notably his book,
Visions of the Past:The archaeology of Australian Aboriginal art. His approach here was to integrate excavated and rock art evidence to produce a rounded interpretation of the past. Morwood moved to the University of Wollongong in 2007 where he was a professor at the School of Earth and Environmental Studies. His research interests included the archaeology of Southeast Asia and Australia, early hominin evolution and dispersals, the origins of modern humans, rock art, Southeast Asian biogeography, and ethno-archaeology. He took it as a challenge that scientists communicate with public audiences, and in the last decade or so he communicated much of his research to the public. Morwood was elected President of the Australian Rock Art Research Association in 1992, a position he held until 2000. In 2003, he was elected a Fellow of the
Australian Academy of the Humanities; an organisation dedicated to the advancement of knowledge in humanities. Other professional positions he held include: Professorial Fellow Archaeology in the School of Earth and Environmental Studies at the University of Wollongong, between 2007 and 2013; Adjunct Professorial Fellow at the
University of Western Australia between 2009 and 2010; Adjunct Professorial Fellow at the University of New England, from 2009; Adjunct Professorial Fellow at
Charles Darwin University, from 2009; and Adjunct Professorial Fellow at Padjadrang University,
Bandung, from 2010. == Major accomplishments ==