The Holocene Prehistory of a coastal wetland system: Discovery Bay, Southeastern Australia

Abstract

Recent theories of socio-economic change in hunter-gatherer societies have referred to associated changes in intensity and mode of resource exploitation. These ideas are examined in the light of pollen and charcoal analyses of an Australian coastal wetland system which allow, at the local scale, (1) documentation of resource availability, (2) identification of resource use, particularly where fire technology is involved, and (3) examination of the effect of environmental change on the archeological record. Evidence of plant food management through fire around 6800 BP suggests a longer history of deliberate swamp exploitation than indicated by the archeological record, and lends support to mo..