Late Pleistocene bone deposits from a cave in the Florentine Valley, Tasmania

Abstract

A limestone shelter cave in the Florentine Valley, south-central Tasmania, has yielded vertebrate remains. Two of the three sites excavated have yielded evidence of the presence of elements of the Pleistocene megafauna. The morphology and stratigraphy of the cave is described. Pleistocene deposits are shown to consist of two units. A lower unit laid down by water with an admixture of roof fall and an upper unit of angular limestone detritus derived from physical weathering within the cave entrance. C-14 dating indicates a late Pleistocene age for material collected from one of the sites. Its stratigraphic relationship to the other sites is discussed.