Sunbury earth rings

Last updated

Riddell Road Earth Ring RiddellsRoadEarthRing.jpg
Riddell Road Earth Ring

The Sunbury Earth Rings are historic Aboriginal sites located on the hills to the west of Jacksons Creek near Sunbury, Victoria, Australia. [1] .

Contents

They are located on the Traditional Lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people. The Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation (WWCHAC) is the Registered Aboriginal Party (RAP) appointed under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 (Vic.). It is responsible for managing and protecting Aboriginal cultural heritage in an area of 7,089.34 km2

The Sunbury Earth Rings are located within the Jacksons Creek biik wurrdha Regional Parklands and are viewable periodically by invitation of the WWCHAC.

Biik wurrdha means 'land of many' in Woi-wurrung language and is the Traditional Owners' name assigned for Jacksons Creek. It is understood by Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people today as a cultural landscape of many interrelated elements. [2] , [3]

Description and identification

Aboriginal earth (or rock) rings in Australia are only known to occur in Queensland, New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria. It is estimated that over 400 rings once existed in NSW and Queensland, but only a quarter remain today. Many rings were destroyed following European colonisation, and land development, and those that do remain are vulnerable and fragile. [4]

The Sunbury earth rings were formed by scraping off grass and topsoil, and piling it in a circular ridge around the outside. They measure between 10 – 25 m diameter. Three of the rings are in close proximity and two others several kilometres away. All are on gently sloping sites. They are somewhat different from the Bora Rings found in New South Wales and southeast Queensland, which tend to be located in hidden, flat sites, and in connected pairs. [5]

The Sunbury Earth Rings first came to public attention, and first were investigated and described in the early 1970s, when archaeologist Dr. David Frankel undertook a test excavation on one of the rings to determine their origin. Excavations revealed the remains of two small stone cairns, one in the centre and one on the edge of the circle, and a number of sharp stone plades or knives, which may have been used in ritual scarification or circumcision ceremonies. [6]

Interpretation

Recent archaeological investigations have reanalysed the stone artefacts and re-excavated one of Frankel's excavation trenches which crossed the earth mound on the outside of the Sunbury Ring G. [4]

Residue and use wear analysis showed that some of the tools may have been used for cutting animal skin, or possibly for ceremonial scarification. One tool had evidence for possible cutting of feathers.

OSL dating of the soil layers forming the raised edge of the ring indicate it was made between 590 and 1,400 years ago. [4]

Management and conservation

Some of the Rings have been put under the management of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation [7] and have also been included on the Register of the National Estate. [8] Several of the Sunbury Earth Rings are located and protected within the Jacksons Creek biik wurrdha Regional Parklands and in other open space reserves.

There are ongoing pressures on the sites from development. As a result of housing development along Reservoir Road, one ring in Fullwood Drive is now encircled by the back fences of adjoining houses, while another is subject to residential subdivision plans which will also see it surrounded by roads. A past proposal even considered incorporating one of the rings in the middle of a traffic round-about. The Canterbury Hills housing estate has submitted plans for residential development around the Riddells Road ring. [9] In October 2009, the Sunbury Maribyrnong Valley Green Wedge Defenders made a Submission to the Parliamentary, Legislative Council regarding their inquiry into the impact of the state government’s decision to change the Urban Growth Boundary, citing the Aboriginal ring as a significant element of the threatened Bundanoon woodlands and grasslands, which was being encroached upon by housing. [10] [11]

Views of the rings c2004

[11]

Geographical location

Map this section's coordinates using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wurundjeri</span> Aboriginal people who inhabited the Melbourne area before colonisation

The Wurundjeripeople are an Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the traditional owners of the Yarra River Valley, covering much of the present location of Melbourne. They continue to live in this area and throughout Australia. They were called the Yarra tribe by early European colonists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balwyn</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Balwyn is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Balwyn recorded a population of 13,495 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balwyn North</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Balwyn North, also known as North Balwyn, is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Boroondara and Whitehorse local government areas. Balwyn North recorded a population of 21,302 at the 2021 census. It contains the localities of Greythorn and Bellevue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawthorn East, Victoria</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Hawthorn East is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km (4.3 mi) east of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Hawthorn East recorded a population of 14,834 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kew East, Victoria</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Kew East, also known as East Kew, is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km (5.0 mi) east from the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Kew East recorded a population of 6,620 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunbury, Victoria</span> Suburb of City of Hume, Victoria, Australia

Sunbury is a satellite suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 38 kilometres (24 mi) north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hume local government area. Sunbury recorded a population of 38,851 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essendon, Victoria</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Essendon is an Inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km (5.0 mi) north-west of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Moonee Valley local government area. Essendon recorded a population of 21,240 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doncaster, Victoria</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Doncaster is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 15 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Manningham local government area. Doncaster recorded a population of 25,020 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kulin nation</span> Indigenous Australian ethnic group

The Kulin nation is an alliance of five Aboriginal nations in the south of Australia - up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys - which shares Culture and Language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doncaster East, Victoria</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Doncaster East is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 20 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Manningham local government area. Doncaster East recorded a population of 30,926 at the 2021 census.

The Boonwurrung, also spelt Bunurong or Bun wurrung, are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River to Wilsons Promontory in the Australian state of Victoria. Their territory includes part of what is now the city and suburbs of Melbourne. They were called the Western Port or Port Philip tribe by the early settlers, and were in alliance with other tribes in the Kulin nation, having particularly strong ties to the Wurundjeri people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation</span> Registered Aboriginal Party representing the Wurundjeri people in Victoria, Australia

The Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation, previously the Wurundjeri Tribe Land and Compensation Cultural Heritage Council, is a Registered Aboriginal Party representing the Wurundjeri people, an Aboriginal Australian people of Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson Creek (Victoria)</span> River in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The Jackson Creek is a watercourse within the Port Phillip catchment, located in the outer northern suburbs of Melbourne, in the Australian state of Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount William stone axe quarry</span> Aboriginal Australian archaeological site in Central Victoria, Australia

The Mount William stone axe quarry is an Aboriginal Australian archaeological site in Central Victoria, Australia. It is located 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) northeast of Lancefield, off Powells Track, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of Romsey and 78 kilometres (48 mi) from Melbourne. Known as Wil-im-ee moor-ring, meaning "axe place" in the Woiwurrung language, the greenstone quarry was an important source of raw material for the manufacture of greenstone ground-edge axes, which were traded over a wide area of south-east Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aboriginal sites of Victoria</span>

Aboriginal sites of Victoria form an important record of human occupation for probably more than 40,000 years. They may be identified from archaeological remains, historical and ethnographic information or continuing oral traditions and encompass places where rituals and ceremonies were performed, occupation sites where people ate, slept and carried out their day to day chores, and ephemeral evidence of people passing through the landscape, such as a discarded axe head or isolated artefact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woiwurrung</span> Ethnic group

The Woiwurrung, also spelt Woi-wurrung, Woi Wurrung, Woiwurrong, Woiworung, and Wuywurung, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tachylite in Victorian archaeological sites</span> Glassy volcanic stone discovered in Victoria, Australia, archaeological sites

Tachylite is an unusual and relatively rare stone used in making flaked stone tools, and which is found in Aboriginal archaeological sites in Victoria, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Registered Aboriginal Party</span>

A Registered Aboriginal Party (RAP) is a recognised representative body of an Aboriginal Australian people per the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 (Vic.), whose function is to protect and manage the Aboriginal cultural heritage in the state of Victoria in Australia.

The Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation is a Registered Aboriginal Party and incorporated association representing the Bunurong community in the state of Victoria, Australia, particularly in matters relating to the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006.

The Jacksons Creek biik wurrdha Regional Parklands is a park system and series of nature reserves located in the northern outer area of Melbourne near Sunbury, in Victoria, Australia.

References

  1. ↑ Meyer Eidelson, The Melbourne Dreaming: A Guide to the Aboriginal Places of Melbourne, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, (1997; 2000). ISBN   0-85575-306-4
  2. ↑ Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation, Department of Land, Water and Planning, Hume City Council, Parks Victoria, Melbourne Water, Greater Western Water (September 2022). Jacksons Creek biik wurrdha Regional Parklands Plan 2022. Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ The biik wurrdha Cultural Values Study 2021
  4. 1 2 3 Spry, Caroline; et al. (7 January 2025). "New braided knowledge understandings of an Aboriginal earth ring and biik wurrdha (Jacksons Creek, Sunbury) on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, southeastern Australia". Australian Archeology. 1 (24) – via tandfonline.
  5. ↑ Bowdler, Sandra, 1999, A study of Indigenous ceremonial ("Bora") sites in eastern Australia, Centre for Archaeology, University of Western Australia, paper delivered at "Heritage Landscapes: Understanding Place &Communities" conference, Southern Cross University, Lismore, November 1999 Archived 2012-04-14 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Frankel, David 1982 Earth rings at Sunbury, Victoria. Archaeology in Oceania 17:83-89. Frankel, David 1991 remains to be Seen (Longman Cheshire). David Frankel, 2017 Between the Murray and the Sea (Sydney University Press)
  7. ↑ Port Phillip CMA Indigenous Owned Properties
  8. ↑ Register of the National Estate Registered Indigenous Place ID 5573, 25/03/1986) Place File No 2/13/007/0018
  9. ↑ Bad Developers
  10. ↑ Sunbury Maribyrnong Valley Green Wedge
  11. 1 2 "Wurundjeri ceremonial grounds at Sunbury". YouTube . 24 July 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.