The volanic eruption of Budj Bim (Mt. Eccles) around 30,000 years ago was witnessed by the Gunditjmara people and the subsequent lava flow formed rock over an area 18 kms long & 8 kms wide.
This easily worked, durable rock turned the people into stone masons and around 6,600 years ago allowed them to create one of the world's largest aquaculture systems.
A 6,600-year-old, highly
sophisticated aquaculture system developed by the Gunditjmara people will be
formally considered for a place on the Unescoworld heritage list
and, if successful, would become the first Australian site listed exclusively
for its Aboriginal cultural value.
Known as the Budj Bim
cultural landscape, the site in south-west Victoria is home to a long dormant
volcano, which was the source of the Tyrendarra lava flow.
The Gunditjmara people
used the volcanic rock to manage water flows from nearby Lake Condah to exploit
eels as a food source, constructing an advanced system of channels and weirs.
They manipulated water flows to trap and farm migrating eels and fish for food.
It is one of the oldest aquaculture systems in the world.
On Tuesday night in
Paris, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, which works for the
conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the world,
officially recommended world heritage status for Budj Bim. The nomination will
be formally considered by the world heritage committee in the final step in the
process in July.
The Budj Bim cultural
landscape is largely managed by the Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners
Aboriginal Corporation, who also protect the Gunditjmara-owned properties along
the lava flow. The project manager and also elder, Denis Rose, said the homes
challenge the idea that all Aboriginal people were hunter-gatherers.
“There are around 200
registered and recorded stone house sites, so people were living a sedentary
life,” Rose said. “The area had such a reliable water supply from Darlot Creek,
and the traditional name for that creek is Killara, which means ‘always there’.
It’s a very appropriate name because even during the dry this year, it was
still running.”
The Gunditjmara
traditional owners have led the process to have Budj Bim added to the world
heritage list, and Rose said the recognition would lead to the site being
better protected and managed.
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