ABSTRACT
Interestingly, this stranded population on Flinders Island proved to be viable for 4,000 years or more after the post-glacial sea-level rise first severed the Furneaux region from mainland Tasmania about 9,500 or more years ago. Sim is currently investigating explanations for the demise of the Flinders Island group. Preliminary results suggest that the mid-holocene extinction of the Flinders Island Aboriginal population is indirectly related to other marked changes in the mid-to late-holocene archaeological record on mainland Tasmania. The changes evident in mainland Tasmania indicate a late-holocene expansion of coastal sites into the higher-energy coastal regions of western Tasmania (Stockton 1981), and also reflect swimming and diving activity in the marine resources being exploited from this time on (Bowdler 1988). I believe that it is highly probable that these changes were a direct response to a broad climatic shift in southeast Australia some time around 4,000 years ago (Sim 1994).
