A working model of Moreton Island prehistory: MRAP Stage 1

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Abstract
The Moreton Region Archaeological Project (MRAP) was conceived in mid-1977 through a union of a lecturer new to Australia (HJH), a corpus of archaeological and historical information about the Brisbane area, and a small band of keen University of Queensland undergraduate archaeology students who had been meeting informally as a discussion group for the previous year. However, it was not until 1979 when MRAP received a generous input of funds from A.R.G.S. that the project really got off the ground. At this early stage, MRAP's aims were broad and general and not tied to any particular issue of inquiry in Australian archaeology. Essentially MRAP sought to characterise the archaeological record of the Moreton Region via the employment of systematic survey and excavation within three areal units: the subcoastal zone, the coastal strip, and the offshore islands (see Hall 1980a). This paper interprets the results of our investigations of the Moreton Island Component of the Offshore Islands Unit of MRAP - Stage I, and offers a working model of human settlement and subsistence.