ANCIENT SITES
STONE CONSTRUCTIONS.
First Nation Peoples of the Great Southern Land now known as Australia built stone houses, walls and other permanent structures. This information is known by First Nation Peoples, and was documented in the 1800's by people such as James Dawson, Charles Sturt, and Dr. James Fraser. You can learn more about this on the STONE CONSTRUCTIONS page.
BURRUP PENINSULA - MURUJUGA
Pictured above, the stone terrace walls near Climbing Men Valley at Murujuga in Western Australia are estimated to be between 20,000 and 30,000 years old. They show no signs of agricultural use.1
Murujuga is the responsibility of the Ngarluma Yindijibarndi, Wong-goo-tt-oo and Yaburara Mardudhunera peoples, who are the Sovereign owners and custodians of the land which was originally inhabited by the Yaburara peoples. Yaburara peoples were deliberately murdered, in what are known in the 'Flying Foam Massacres', in 1868. Murujuga is an ancient treasure of unique ecological, archaeological and spiritual significance. The petroglyphs, rock carvings and extensive stone arrangements are amongst the world's oldest, and most important. They are located on the Burrup Peninsula, in the Dampier Archipelago on the northern coast of Western Australia.2
Murujuga is well documented on the AUSTRALIA ROCK ART website.
1 Alex Leach, 'A preliminary Study of the Connection Between Climing Men Valley and Deep Gorge (Pattersons Valley) With Associated Terraces', 2011, Murujuga Friends of Australian Rock Art Website, accessed March 2014: http://www.rockart.net.au/reports.html
2 Burrup Peninsula Rock Art, available from rockart.net.au website: http://www.rockart.net.au/Burrup.htm