The truth about Australia's 1,400-year-old 'mystery earth ring' finally discovered

The mystery of 1,400-year-old ‘earth rings’ found in Australia has been solved.

Located on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country in the suburb of Sunbury, the rings were the subject of a study which was published in the journal Australian Archaeology.

Earth rings in eastern Australia are understood to represent locations of ceremony and initiation for different Aboriginal language groups, LiveSciencereports via The Conversation.

Many earth rings were destroyed after Europeans colonised Australia. Only around 100 remain of the hundreds of earth rings that once existed in New South Wales and Queensland. A smaller number of rings still exist in Victoria.

The Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people are the Traditional Custodians of a large area in central-southern Victoria, and the landscape holds cultural significance. In 2022 they led a new archaeological excavation of one of the rings known as Sunbury Ring G.

The ring was first excavated in 1979 by archaeologist David Frankel. Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people led the dating and re-analysis of 166 stone artefacts found during Frankel’s excavations.

This earth ring located on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country in the suburb of Sunbury is not phenomena / David Mullins

Artefacts were pieced together, residues were studied and ring deposits were dated to estimate when the ring was made.

The results of the study reveal Woi-wurrung speaking people made the ring between 590 and 1,400 years ago. Not only did they spend time clearing land and plants to make the arrangement, they also lit campfires and made stone tools. Analysis of wear patterns and residues suggest some of the stone artefacts were used to create ‘feather adornments’ and to scar human skin for ceremony.

The researchers said the study “demonstrates the importance of further investigating and preserving these earth rings, as well as others known to occur across eastern Australia.

“This is especially important in the face of continued threats by land development and climate change which threaten the survival of earth rings.”

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