The Aborigines lived a lifestyle that was very closely related to the environment. Any study of this way of life, therefore, has to take account of what the countryside was like before Europeans, arrived, and the changes which have occurred since then. What we know about the life of the Aborigines before Europeans came, and about how the countryside has changed through time, has been learned by
studying a variety of sources of information. These sources include historical descriptions, geological evidence, and archaeological investigation.
This book gives a general account of what is known as a result of these studies, as it applies to the western region of Melbourne.