The nature of human influence on the landscape when they first arrived in Tasmania about 40,000 years ago remains speculative. We use pollen and charcoal records from Emerald Swamp and laymuna paywuta in Bass Strait, Tasmania to not only document the timing of Homo sapiens arrival in the region but also the first evidence of anthropogenic fire usage and terrestrial vegetation transformation upon arrival. The timing of human arrival in Tasmania is identified to be at least 41,000 years ago and people used fire to burn forested areas more than already open vegetation types. This provides a deeper understanding of Aboriginal land-use history in Tasmania, as they may have frequently used and managed forested landscapes more than previously thought. The pollen and charcoal records presented here include raw counts of pollen and charcoal, as well as sample depths and chronologies. Chronologies are based on the Bacon age-depth model, using the latest Southern Hemisphere calibration curve (ShCal20). Pollen records only include terrestrial taxa used in the study and are not inclusive of spores and aquatics.

Pollen processing follows standard protocol, which includes HCl, KOH, and acetolysis treatment. Charcoal samples were bleached with household bleach for ~16 hours, washed through a 125-um sieve, and counted manually under the stereoscope.