Originally referred to as Fraser Cave, it was important in the establishment of the antiquity and range of Aboriginal occupation in Tasmania during the Pleistocene.

[1] The cave was discovered in 1977 by geomorphology student, Kevin Keirnan and investigated by a team led by archeologists Don Ranson and Rhys Jones in the 1980s.

Excavations were undertaken in 1981 by Jones and Kiernan at the height of the protests over the proposed Franklin Dam construction.

over 250,000 fragments of bone and 75,000 stone artefacts were recovered from a relatively small excavation area comprising only 1% of the artefact-bearing deposit in the cave.

It was initially named "Fraser Cave" by Kieran, after the then prime minister, Malcolm Fraser, with the aim of drawing attention to the significance of the Tasmanian wilderness and Franklin River, which were under threat from a dam proposed by the Tasmanian Hydro-Electric Commission.