Kutikina Cave and late Pleistocene Tasmania

Record summary

Kutikina Cave and nearby southwest Tasmanian sites are important for investigating Aboriginal occupation during the Last Glacial period, when Tasmania was connected to mainland Australia. Earlier work reported occupation more than 20,000 years ago, while later conservation, dating, and Indigenous heritage discussions have revisited the sequence. The lead supports comparison of cold-climate adaptation, mobility, and glacial landscapes across Oceania. Uncertainty involves old excavations, limited surviving deposits, changing radiocarbon calibration, and the relationship between archaeological layers and regional environmental change.