Tasmanian Archaeology
The mountains and valleys on the very stormy and rainy west-coast of Tasmania had isolated the two western tribes from the eastern Tasmanians for millennia before the arrival of the British in the 1820s.
The footage shows the stone tools and leftovers of meals (mostly of shellfish and other sea creatures) left on the beach by Tasmanian aborigines. Some of the refuse had been deposited in large piles accumulated over many thousands of years (kitchen midden) , some was discarded widely by the prehistoric diners. Even a brick of ochre was found and is shown in the video. Ochre was a holy colour (as it was in many ancient cultures all over the world) and was mined in only a few places in Tasmania, mostly in northwestern Tasmania. The colour was used for ceremonial body painting and colouring hair.
