Cultural versus natural explanations for lacunae in Aboriginal occupation deposits in northern Australia

Regional archaeologies in Europe, Africa and Australia have pointed to sign ificant changes in human occupation patterns corresponding with periods of major climatic change. The construction of such regional sequences and mode ls of changing demography and landscape use rely on the identification of c ontinuities and hiatuses in occupation sequences and the determination of w hether gaps in the record are the result of sediment removal due to the ope ration of geomorphological processes or alternatively record periods of sit e abandonment. This paper highlights the need for methodological refinement in addressing this issue. (C) 1999 INQUA/Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.