Holocene coastal occupation of Western Arnhem Land

Abstract

Holocene human occupation of the catchment area for the Van Diemen Gulf is the subject of this paper. Hunter-gatherer use of the lands surrounding the Van Diemen Gulf extends back to the Pleistocene, and although archaeological research has focussed on the Alligator Rivers region in the southeast, recent investigations have revealed something of the human history throughout the entire area. It is now clear that the creation of the Van Diemen Gulf by sea level rise initiated widespread and long-term alterations in the landscape, and that changing patterns of settlement, foraging and technology reveal human responses to those transformations in their environment. Combined with an outstanding palaeo-environmental record for the Alligator Rivers region, the growth of archaeological information about prehistoric economies in this region makes it feasible to examine aspects human ecology in the past. In this paper I discuss some of the consequences of the marine transgression for human occupation of the coastal and near coastal landscapes of this intriguing region.