34 



This hypothesis raises at once another question- I 

 liave above mentioned that the main relics of the Eolithic- 

 Archseolithic industry in Europe are found in beds of 

 prae-glacial and glacial age. Under the assumption of the 

 synchronism of the ice age they must, therefore, not only 

 geologically but also absolutely be much older than 

 those of Tasmania. Australia could therefore, not be con- 

 sidered as the cradle of mankind as some European scien- 

 tists take her to be, but rather a kind of reservation m 

 which the remains of those primitive tribes that inhabited 

 Europe previous and during the ice age were preserved, 

 thanks to her isolation from the main mass of the Euro- 

 pean-Asiatic Continent immediately after the termination 

 of the ice age. 



There are, however, a few objections to this hypothe- 

 sis; the main is the assumption of the synchronism of the 

 ice age- We have generally good geological reasons to 

 assume that the diluvial ice age was synchronous all over 

 the earth, but we have, so far, no absolute proof for this 

 theory. Now, were we to assume that Tasmania and 

 Europe were simultaneously populated by tribes using 

 Eolithic-Archaeolithic implements, it is evident that tho 

 glaciation of Tasmania must have commenced and ter- 

 minated much earlier than that of Europe. The first im- 

 migration of human beings into Tasmania would then 

 have taken place at a much more remote period than 

 above assumed. 



There remains another consideration which, in my 

 opinion, is the weightiest of all. I have mentioned above 

 that all the shell heaps and camping ground came into ex- 

 istence when Tasmania had already acquired its present 

 physical features, in other words, its present shape. Now, 

 supposing we were to assume that Tasmania was not only 

 once connected with the mainland, but actually forms the 

 last western remnant of a continent that once stretched 

 far towards East, the habitability of Tasmania would at 

 once take another aspect. We could assume, that although 

 the western highlands were covered under ice, the more 

 eastern parts were of a more temperate climate in which 

 a, primitive race could thrive. 



When those last revolutions took place, which shaped 

 the outlines of our present continents, the remainder of 

 this race, which survived, was driven westwards, and 

 settled in the country that had now become free of the 

 bounds of ice, and which was formerly inaccessible to 

 them. This hypothesis dispenses with the necessity of 

 assuming that the glacial period existed in Tasmania at 

 a much earlier date than in Europe, because it allows of 

 an inhabitable region simultaneously with the glaciation 

 of the other part. If we assume that in this region dwelt 



