Kangaroo Head is the north-west tip of Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island and overlooksNepean Bay to the west,Investigator Strait to the north andBackstairs Passage to the east. It is the termination for a pair of coastlines - one extending fromCape Willoughby in the east via Backstairs Passage and the other extending from Strawbridge Point in the south via Nepean Bay.[1] It is described as ‘a bluff, rocky point marked by a conspicuous white cairn’ where the land behind ‘rises steeply to heights of 91 metres (299 feet) to 122 metres (400 feet)’.[2] Since 2002, it has been located within the gazetted locality ofKangaroo Head.[3]
Kangaroo Head was formed when the sea reached its present level 7,500 years ago after sea levels started to rise at the start of theHolocene.[4]The cliff line which includes Kangaroo Head consists of a grey metasandstone belonging to theKanmantoo group bedrock known as the Tananappa Formation.[5] The water adjoining Kangaroo Head drops to a depth of 13 metres (43 feet) at the base of its cliff face.[6]
As of 1999, the literature had not cited any archaeological discoveries specific toAboriginal use of land in the immediate vicinity of Kangaroo Head.[7]
Kangaroo Head was discovered and named by Matthew Flinders on 23 March 1802. This place was where Flinders first sightedMount Lofty, the tallest peak in theMount Lofty Ranges.[8]
As of 2014, the land adjoining Kangaroo Head is used forfarming. Farming activity at the locality had been underway prior to 1945 when most of the land had been reported as being cleared of native vegetation.[9]
^South Australia. Department of Marine and Harbors (1985),The Waters of South Australia a series of charts, sailing notes and coastal photographs, Dept. of Marine and Harbors, South Australia, pp. Chart 12,ISBN978-0-7243-7603-2
^South Australia. Department of Marine and Harbors (1985),The Waters of South Australia a series of charts, sailing notes and coastal photographs, Dept. of Marine and Harbors, South Australia, pp. Chart 13,ISBN978-0-7243-7603-2
^Flinders, Matthew (1966) [1814].A Voyage to Terra Australis: Undertaken for the Purpose of Completing the Discovery of that Vast Country, and Prosecuted in the Years 1801, 1802, and 1803, in His Majesty's Ship the Investigator. Adelaide: Libraries Board of South Australia. pp. 251–252.LCCN66070225.OCLC4565366.OL38607138M.WikidataQ133875246.
