EVENT: Archaeology Seminar Series

For Research Week at UWA, Traditional Owners from Murujuga (Burrup Peninsula) are visiting UWA to learn about university research and to co-present findings from the first 13 months of an ARC Linkage project, Murujuga: Dynamics of the Dreaming. This project is a partnership between Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, Rio Tinto, and UWA, and addresses the need to investigate the age of the world-famous rock art galleries of Murujuga and to document what they mean to the Aboriginal community of the region. Field teams have recorded rock art from the earliest stages of Aboriginal occupation in the Pilbara and across the Archipelago, to understand this early creativity. Teams are excavating occupation sites including stone structures and open occupation deposits associated with rock art. Also documented are ancient landforms, and we are creating 3D digital imagery of art and structures for virtual displays in museums and using Oculus Rift for experiencing the landscape remotely. The public lecture will present the findings of archaeological surveys and excavations, including the earliest evidence found here so far – occupation from c.21,000 years ago.