UNEARTHING PREHISTORIC CULTURAL LANDSCAPES - A VIEW FROM AUSTRALIA

The aim of this paper is to draw together current work in physical and cultural geography in pursuit of a more sophisticated analysis of pre historic cultural landscapes than has hitherto been possible. Contempo rary cultural geography offers insights into human perceptions of land scape that can usefully be broadened to include the prehistoric timesc ale. Physical geographers are increasingly able to discern hunter-gath erer impacts on the landscape but need to include social variables in their analysis. Examples from Australian prehistory are used here as t hey offer a perspective very different to those dominant in the northe rn hemisphere. They are related to themes in the recent literature on cultural landscapes. A discussion of the antiquity of the Aboriginal D reaming provides an example of attempts to integrate physical and soci o-cultural approaches. It is argued that even the earliest human trans formations of the physical landscape should be seen as the outcome of social processes. The implications of this approach for future researc h are discussed.