Australian wetland occupation before and after the Europeans

Abstract

This chapter discusses wetland occupations during the Pleistocene, early Holocene, mid- to late Holocene, and Contact Period. Several sites, associated with ancient lake systems and minor swamps, are dated to the Pleistocene, and there is some evidence of occupation in the early Holocene. However, most archaeological evidence of wetlands occupation in Australia comes from the mid- to late Holocene period. During this period, post-Pleistocene rising sea levels flooded Australia's coastline and created numerous estuarine and freshwater wetlands on the coastal plains in northern and southern Australia, and modern rivers and floodplains were formed inland. Finally, ethnohistoric and ethnographic accounts make the Contact Period a rich source of detail regarding recent Aboriginal use of wetlands.