Chronology and explanation in western Victoria and south‐east South Australia

Archaeological evidence from western Victoria and southeast South Australia has been used to develop models of late Holocene change. In this paper we reassess some of the primary data, concentrating on radiocarbon dates available from over eighty sites in the area. A general methodological critique and discussion of each different site‐type exposes fundamental problems in establishing a basic sequence and demonstrating the nature of change. An argument is put forward that late Holocene developments in this area are the latest in a continuous series, and do not require the special explanation of ‘intensification‘.