From Coast to Coast: Aboriginal Storylines and Trading Routes

While the conference at which this paper was presented, as part of the 'Australia on the Map' program, was a celebration of the first documented European contact with the Australian mainland, this presentation served to remind everyone that mainland Australia, as well as the coastline and nearby islands, had been well and truly 'mapped' by the time the first European explorers reached our shores. Thus it was fitting to acknowledge what had taken place within our shores prior to these voyages, and important to take the opportunity to celebrate both the Aboriginal footprint on the mainland as well as new footprints visiting from afar.