Seton rock shelter (350 59' S, 1370 03' E) is located in the southwest of Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Excavation of the late Pleistocene deposit in the rock shelter has provided a rich assemblage of mammal, bird and reptile remains dating from more than 16 000 BP to about 10 000 BP. Analysis of these remains shows that the late Pleistocene fauna of Kangaroo Island was more extensive than the depauperate island fauna of today. The disappearance of many species reflects a reduction in open vegetation probably due to a combination of climatic change, the separation of the island postglacially by rising sea level, and the disappearance of a human population within the last 5000 years. The deposit also provides evidence for the contemporaneity of man and one of the extinct Pleistocene kangaroos, Sthenurus cf. gilli, at 16 000 BP.

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An ochre mine still used by Warlpiri men in central Australia is described, and its relationship to trading networks, mythology and control over access is discussed. The paper also examines the methods of mining and processing the ochre, and describes some task-specific stone tools used in mining. Many similarities are apparent between this mine and two famous large ochre deposits, Parachilna and Wilga mia, neither of which is currently in use. It is of particular interest for three reasons: there are stone tools used specifically for quarrying the deposits; the entire mine is an underground chamber; and it provides ethnographic evidence on the complexities of the control of such valued resources.

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Excavations at a number of sites in Australia during recent years have allowed prehistorians to recognise two major stone working traditions: an early tradition of large tools and a late tradition of small tools. The large tools are core tools and flake scrapers; the small tools include a variety of functionally specialised forms such as points, chisel blades and microliths. The small tools gradually enriched a basic kit of maintenance tools (core tools and scrapers), the different types of small tool first appearing in the archaeological record at different times. This change was accompanied by an increasing use of exotic stone, some of which was transported for more than 100 km from its source. Another change through time occurred within the core tools and flake scrapers themselves, which slowly diminished in size and became more varied in form. There are regional variations in the core tool and scraper tradition too. One of these is the Kartan industry found at surface sites on Kangaroo Island and nearby parts of the South Australian mainland. Compared with other early industries, there is a much greater emphasis in the Kartan on heavy core tools than on flake tools. Given the general gradual diminution in size of tools through time, the Kartan is possibly an early stage in the development of the core tool and scraper tradition, most easily recognised in a part of coastal South Australia because of its isolation on Kangaroo Island. Another hint of antiquity is provided by the apparent association of Kartan core tools with large waisted tools reminiscent of the waisted blades found at early sites in New Guinea and as far afield as mainland Southeast Asia.