Caveat Excavator: A Sea Bird Midden on Steep Head Island, North West Tasmania

During an archaeological search of Steep Head, a small island 3 km to the west of Hunter Island in the Hunter Group in north west Tasmania, we made a systematic search for any trace of shell midden in order to see whether this islet had been used by Tasmanian Aborigines in the past or whether it was beyond their capacity to reach (see Jones, Allen and Stockton, this volume). Because it was probable that any Aboriginal visits would have been fleeting, and the resultant debris limited to the odd meal, we were looking carefully for any trace of shells.