Report of the Southern Forests Archaeological Project

The Southern Forests Archaeological Project is an investigation into the late Pleistocene prehistory of Tasmania. It has involved the testing by excavation of thirteen cave and rockshelter sites in southcentral, southwest, west and north-central Tasmania (Fig. 1), all but the latter area being commonly subsumed under the umbrella title, Southwest Tasmania. The first fieldwork by the project began in 1987 and excavation seasons continued each year until 1992. This regional approach involved the skills of a number of archaeologists, most of whom are or have been staff or students in the School of Archaeology at La Trobe University. This chapter provides an historical background to the research and discusses the scope of this volume. ...