Mapping Tasmania's cultural landscapes: Using habitat suitability modelling of archaeological sites as a landscape history tool

Habitat suitability modelling reveals that Tasmanian Aboriginal people occupied diverse environments, particularly targeting coastal areas and drier, less steep habitats across central, northern, and eastern Tasmania. The western interior, including parts of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, was rarely used during the Holocene, suggesting low-density settlement in this region. This study leverages RandomForest and MaxEnt models to analyze archaeological site records from the Tasmanian Aboriginal Heritage Register, incorporating 31 predictor variables such as climate, topography, and resource proximity. The findings highlight the need for further archaeological surveys to validate these patterns, offering new insights into past human landscape use in Tasmania.

Jones, P. J., Williamson, G. J., Bowman, D. M. J. S., & Lefroy, E. C. (2019). Mapping Tasmania’s cultural landscapes: Using habitat suitability modelling of archaeological sites as a landscape history tool. Journal of Biogeography, 46(11), 2570–2582. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13684