BY i'KOi'KSSOH SIK T. W. E. DAVIU, K.ll.K., ICTC, I43 



"cephalic, cymotrichous group, usually now spoken of as pre- 

 "Dravidians, surviving relics of whom elsewhere are possibly 

 "the 'Jungle Tribes' of the Deccan, the Veddas of Ceybn, 

 "and the Sakai of the Malay Peninsula; but the Australians 

 "have developed along various lines, perhaps independently of 

 "contact with other peoples." 



While, therefore, the original centre of dispersal of the 

 Tasmanian aborigines is still in doubt, that of the Australian 

 aborigines was probably in Asia, the home, too, of the dingo. 



In regard to future geological researches en the antiquity 

 of man within the Commonwealth, and particularly of the 

 Tasmanian aborigines, attention should, in the opinion of the 

 writer, be directed, inter alia, to the following: — 



1. Systematic exploration of the oldest and largest 

 kitchen middens, like those of Swanport, the Der- 

 went Estuary, Macquarie Harbour, Mussel Roe, etc. 



2. Search for aboriginal implements, etc. — 



(a) In the 1.5 feet (above high water) raised beach 

 deposits of the E., N., and W. coasts of Tas- 

 mania, and the islands of Bass Strait. 



(b) In the older dunes, like those of King Island, 

 Flinders Island, etc. Those of King Island 

 have already yielded interesting remains of 

 Nototherium and Zaylosaus hurrissoni. 



(c) In peat deposits, like those of Mowbray Swamp. 



(d) In cave deposits, like those of Mole Creek. 



(e) In older terraced river gravels, dating back into 

 the Pleistocene, including fluvio-glaciai "out- 

 wash-apron" deposits. 



(f) At aboriginal "quarries" for stone for their 

 stone implements, or at places where they dug 

 out lumps of haematite for poun'ding into raddle 

 for colouring their hair. 



(g) In any dredgings in Bass Strait or adjacent 

 estuaries, or in excavations for harbour works, 

 a very great desideratum for the dating of the 

 first coming into Tasmania of the Tasmanian 

 aborigines would be the zoning and correlation 

 of the Pleistocene glacial and inter-glacial de- 

 posits of Tasmania, with a view to making a 

 time scale for the Southern IIemisi)here fur com- 

 paring with the standard time scale of the 

 Northern Hemisphere. 



