Murujuga is Australia’s 21st world heritage property, but only the second property listed exclusively for its Indigenous cultural values.
- Professor, Director of Centre for Rock Art Research + Management, The University of Western Australia
A review of studies of Parramatta demonstrates an extensive deep-time archive of Indigenous activity extending over 14,000 years.
Heritage is non-renewable — just like the mineral wealth of this country.
Submerged in the waters off Western Australia lies an ancient site home to Aboriginal people thousands of years ago, when sea levels were lower than they are today.
An image of a ship on a rock in Western Australia’s Dampier Archipelago depicts HMC Mermaid – the main vessel of Phillip Parker King, an unsung hero of Australian exploration.
Etchings over much earlier Aboriginal engravings show foreign whalers made contact with Australia’s remote northwest long before colonial settlement of the area.
They were looking to study rock art at a remote desert site but what they found showed people had been using the place almost since the first people arrived in Australia.
Rock art in the Dampier Archipelago and the Burrup Peninsula contains engravings of animals that are now extinct, such as thylacines and a fat-tailed species of kangaroos.
Murujuga, or the Burrup Peninsula, is home to over a million rock artworks. But as concern grows about the impact of industrial pollution on the art, the WA government continues to play down the area’s heritage value.
This week, The Australian reported that a hand stencil found in a controversial coal mining development in the Blue Mountains was a “fake”. The story has also been reported by the BBC and was picked up…
Contact Jo for
- General
- Media request
- Speaking request
- Consulting / Advising
- Research collaboration
- Research supervision
- Location: Perth, Australia
- Website
- BlueSky: @@jojomcd.bsky.social
- Facebook: jo.mcdonald.5
- LinkedIn: Jo McDonald
- Article Feed
- ORCID
- Joined
