Estimating theAboriginal Population in Early ColonialAustralia: The Role of Chickenpox Reconsidered

N oel B utlin radically altered the debate about the pre‐colonial A boriginal population when he provided a set of hypothetical demographic scenarios, which nonetheless were both grounded in economic theory or human ecological considerations and broadly consistent with what we know about the historical record. This research builds on B utlin's legacy by exploring how his scenarios are consistent with both the medical understandings of the infectiousness and mortality of various diseases and the history of settlement. Another contribution from this paper is to highlight the possible role of chickenpox in the A boriginal depopulation in the early colonial period.