There is evidence to suggest that the South Molle Island stone quarry, in the
Whitsunday Islands, central Queensland coast, has been used by the indigenous
inhabitants of the region from at least 9,000 BP to the present. Distribution of
stone from the quarry extends for at least 170km along the coast, from Abbott
Point in the north to the Repulse Islands in the south. A comprehensive
technological characterisation of the quarry has demonstrated that a range of
manufacturing behaviours was conducted on-site, including the initial extraction
of the raw material, through to the final stages of artefact retouch. The
systematic production of backed artefacts is included among this suite of
technological practice. This research has demonstrated that the antiquity of
backed artefacts and the timing of high production rates of backed artefact
manufacture occurs earlier in the Whitsunday region than elsewhere in southern
Australia. In the Whitsunday Islands backed artefact production has been shown
to be present from the start of the Holocene and to have been a key technological
element in the early Holocene. A new understanding of backing technologies in
Australia can be developed in light of this recognition of regional variation. A
risk-oriented model of Holocene technological change in the Whitsunday region
is presented here, as well as a discussion of the implications for wider coastal and
island technological systems throughout the Holocene
