Impact of European Settlement on Aboriginal Society in Western Victoria

Abstract

It is the object of this paper to come to grips with some of the problems of documenting the initial changes that occurred in Aboriginal society upon contact with our own. The Western District of Victoria was chosen as our area o study for several reasons. Firstly, it is believed (Yezdani 1970) that until the arrival of Europeans the ecology of the area had remained essentially the same for 10,000 years, so we have some control over a normally elusive factor important in the interpretation of archaeological evidence. Secondly, a great deal of ethnographic evidence concerning post-contact Aboriginal culture is available for this region. Finally, this area offers an abundance of well preserved, attractive sites for investigation.