Archaeological evidence suggests that the interior of the Australian
continent was first occupied during the Mid-Holocene. It is agreed that
the general climate of Australia during this time was warmer and wetter,
but the absence of reliable palaeoclimatic proxies in the arid interior
makes precise localized reconstructions difficult. In addition, the main
determinants of the patterns of human settlement of the interior is not
well known. This study presents a thorough review of palaeoenvironmental
proxy data and archaeological data of Mid-Holocene Australia coupled
with hydrological and palaeoclimatological modeling approaches to
determine what most strongly influenced the patterns of human occupation
of the interior. This paper is the first to employ a reconstructive
groundwater table depth model to determine if permanent and accessible
subsurface water influenced the locations of human settlement. Results
show that most of the Australian continent experienced wetter conditions
during the Mid-Holocene which corresponds with an enhanced Northern
Australian Monsoon. This study determines that groundwater table depth
and elevation were the predominant determinants of human settlement
patterns of the Australian interior.