Palaeo-environmental Change and the Persistence of Human Occupation in South-Western Australian Forests

This detailed study, based on the analyis of environmental data, cave occupation deposits and stone tools, examines the ways in which hunter-gatherers reacted to environmental change in the forests of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Region in south-western Australia. The focus is on the Pleistocene-Holocene transition when forests expanded and intensified, coming more difficult to inhabit and manage. A major source of evidence is the presence, or otherwise, of fired vegetation in archaeological and environmental deposits. Additional data is presented on the enclosed CD.