Abstract:

The 200,000 square kilometre Nullarbor Plain is a largely and relatively inhospitable tract of semi-arid land on the southern coast of Australia. It is also one of the world's largest and probably oldest karst landscapes. It contains a substantial number of caves, some of them very large. The sheer size of the plain together with its lack of surface water have made it a powerful ecological, physical and psychological barrier to the dispersal of evolving plants and animals and to human trade, settlement and communications. Because the plain is otherwise easily perceived as featureless, the more obvious of the caves have played an unusually prominent part in human exploration and occupation of the region. Aboriginal prehistory of cave exploration and use extends over many millenia. Two themes are especially interesting: quarrying underground as one of the earliest, and the role of water and shade in an inhospitable environment as the most persistent. The advent of European, Afghan and other cultures on this part of the southern coastline during the last four centuries has diversified the relevant historic themes. Victorian British discovery and exploration is the first stage in modern recognition of the caves, although long after the region was first discovered. The next and perhaps most remarkable phase brings together developments in Australian aviation and the adaptation of a grounded mariner to the land and air. Eventually the action moves on to the development of organised speleology. Other sub-themes in human interactions with the caves in this large waterless area include what may turn out to be either art or vandalism. They also include attempted grand solutions to the problem of water, by improbable engineering, as well as adventures of tourism, recreation and science.