This paper reviews a range of archaeological data obtained in recent years during MA and PhD research projects on the Bass Strait Islands, and more specifically focuses on the Furneaux group of islands (Figure 1). In total, these data now demonstrate coherent prehistoric land use patterns in the Bass Strait region. In the Furneaux region in the east, this pattern clearly reflects a consistent retreat from the post-glacial inundation of the Bassian plains ty rising seas - ironically a response which in the circumstances would seem the most logical choice, and yet one which ultimately proved fatal (Sim 1991, Orchiston 6 Glenie 1978).

Archaeology in the North: Proceedings of the 1993 Australian Archaeology Association Conference, North Australia Research Unit, pages 358--374