The ancient settlement of Budj Bim, Australia.

It’s always been obvious to me that Australian aboriginal culture was very ancient, they provide an insight as to how our own ancient ancestors lived their lives. At Budj Bim, aboriginals went from hunter gathers to settlers living in villages of up to 200 dwellings and landscaping the terrain for aquaculture.

The Gunditjmara people lived in a volcanic region of Australia and they created a vast network of canals and ponds that were used to farm eels.

The site known as Budj Bim is recognised as the worlds oldest aquaculture and it dates back 6,600 years, the eels were harvested, smoked and then traded as a commodity. There are stone fish traps in other parts of Australia and around the world, but this place is more than that.


The site itself extends 75 kilometers around Lake Condah in southern Victoria. The remains from hundreds of stone circular dwellings have also been found, proving the Gunditjmara people lived in a number of small villages.


Archaeological excavations performed on the floor of some dwellings produced pottery and glass shards, this shows that the settlement was still in use upon the arrival of Europeans. As usual, much of the site has been destroyed by settlers.


First surveyed in the 1970’s, Budj Bim has now recently been nominated for World Heritage listing due to it’s cultural significance.
www.abc.net.au...

a reply to: weirdguy

Seems these days that discovery's that don't fit into the story we were told,are getting into main stream media,and scrutinized,hopefully we will see history and archeology displayed in it's true form,not by someone such as the Smithonian,and using common sense,their story's are far fetched,good on ya

a reply to: weirdguy

Great topic! This is the first I've ever heard of Budj Bim. Looking at the ruins,... it sure would have taken a strong leader, social bonds, a common understanding of the "greater good", planning and organization, and a decent understanding of botany, engineering, and architecture to create such a complex and precise development.

a reply to: weirdguy

Just marking your thread and dropping off a YT vid S&F

a reply to: weirdguy

Hmmmm

I live not very far from there at all. I've seen stone walls like you put in the pics, I always assumed it was the early settlers who built them.

I must go check this out for myself.

Thanks for sharing

It has me wondering about the pyramid shaped 'mountains' in the same area now. There are several of them............

originally posted by: markosity1973
a reply to: weirdguy

Hmmmm

I live not very far from there at all. I've seen stone walls like you put in the pics, I always assumed it was the early settlers who built them.

I must go check this out for myself.

Thanks for sharing

It has me wondering about the pyramid shaped 'mountains' in the same area now. There are several of them............

Im in Melbs and just thought the same thing.
Im gonna check it out this weekend, any chance of a heads up on the pyramid locations?

P.s great thread OP, S&F

originally posted by: Oldtimer2
a reply to: weirdguy

Seems these days that discovery's that don't fit into the story we were told,are getting into main stream media,and scrutinized,hopefully we will see history and archeology displayed in it's true form,not by someone such as the Smithonian,and using common sense,their story's are far fetched,good on ya

Your post makes me wonder what it is about this story that you think doesn't "fit into the story we were told?"

Harte

a reply to: IkNOwSTuff

I am fairly new down here, and saw them when I was on holiday Jan 16.

IIRC they are on the road between Warrnambool and Hamilton. They are definitely on the volcanic plateau and there are several of them scattered about. There are a lot of very fascinating things down here in the border region of Vic and SA.

PS This link might interest you - apparently there are others here in OZ too.

www.mysteriousaustralia.com...

a reply to: weirdguy

Great thread, I'm loving this.

Is the thinking that the site was occupied continuously over the years, or were the buildings where the pottery and glass were found thought to be later additions?

B x

originally posted by: beansidhe
a reply to: weirdguy

Great thread, I'm loving this.

Is the thinking that the site was occupied continuously over the years, or were the buildings where the pottery and glass were found thought to be later additions?

B x

The glass and pottery would be from European settler times, the aboriginal people are a stone age culture.

NTRODUCTION TO AUSTRALIA'S ABORIGINAL CULTURE Australia's Aboriginal culture probably represents the oldest surviving culture in the world, with the use of stone tool technology and painting with red ochre pigment dating back over 60,000 years. Australians never developed an "iron age", "bronze age", or pottery, and the terms "palaeolithic" (old stone age) and "neolithic" (new stone age) are not used in Australia, because stone technology did not progress in the same way as the rest of the world.

www.aboriginalculture.com.au...

a reply to: markosity1973

I found this quite interesting , thanks for the link

The Mysterious Gympie Pyramid. All the removable inscribed stones found by the Gilroys on the pyramid were removed for safekeeping and research. All other inscribed stones recovered in the Gympie, Tin Can Bay and Maryborough areas now in authors possession. IT seems strange that, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, conservative scholars in Australia cannot bring themselves to accept that maritime peoples of the ancient world were familiar with our shores not hundreds, but thousands of years before the age of Magellan. They feel embarrassed every time some ‘impossible’ pyramids,

Old World rock inscription or ther relic is found in Australia to refute their outdated arguments. Their embarrassment must be growing, not only from the vast amount of relics described in this book, but also from all the other evidence coming to light worldwide, through the activities of dedicated cultural diffusionists like the Gilroys! New Zealand also goes ignored. This book shows how wrong they are. The fact is, there is enough evidence of ancient civilisation contacts with Australia and its island neighbours to rival, even surpass the pre-Columbian discovery and colonisation of the Americas [which of course includes the Uru migrations there from Australia/New Zealand!]. For many years before I met my wife Heather [1972] I had struggled on alone, writing newspaper articles, and sometimes doing radio interviews about Australia’s “hidden history”, trying to make Australians aware of their unknown past, of Stone-Age races which had preceded our Aborigines to this continent before the Dutch mariners or Lieutenant James Cook RN.

www.mysteriousaustralia.com...

a reply to: markosity1973

Settlers drained the lake, so much of the site is in woodlands now.
I haven't heard about the pyramids down there, sounds very interesting.

a reply to: markosity1973

Hi, no, I realised that but I was wondering if the site was in continual use or if some parts were newer additions. Cheers for the link.

a reply to: beansidhe

It was in continuous use, but also developed more over time.
The whole area was subject to lava flows, the last being 7000 years ago. Sediment from the bottom of man made canals have tested to 6600 years ago. The dwellings come grouped together, some have 12 or so structures, other places have 200 individual structures.

a reply to: weirdguy

Thanks for that.
It's a fascinating site, I hope it gains Heritage status. I would have to put 'eel farmer' up there in the top 5 jobs I never want to have, though...

originally posted by: the2ofusr1
a reply to: markosity1973

I found this quite interesting , thanks for the link

The Mysterious Gympie Pyramid. All the removable inscribed stones found by the Gilroys on the pyramid were removed for safekeeping and research. All other inscribed stones recovered in the Gympie, Tin Can Bay and Maryborough areas now in authors possession. IT seems strange that, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, conservative scholars in Australia cannot bring themselves to accept that maritime peoples of the ancient world were familiar with our shores not hundreds, but thousands of years before the age of Magellan. They feel embarrassed every time some ‘impossible’ pyramids,

Old World rock inscription or ther relic is found in Australia to refute their outdated arguments. Their embarrassment must be growing, not only from the vast amount of relics described in this book, but also from all the other evidence coming to light worldwide, through the activities of dedicated cultural diffusionists like the Gilroys! New Zealand also goes ignored. This book shows how wrong they are. The fact is, there is enough evidence of ancient civilisation contacts with Australia and its island neighbours to rival, even surpass the pre-Columbian discovery and colonisation of the Americas [which of course includes the Uru migrations there from Australia/New Zealand!]. For many years before I met my wife Heather [1972] I had struggled on alone, writing newspaper articles, and sometimes doing radio interviews about Australia’s “hidden history”, trying to make Australians aware of their unknown past, of Stone-Age races which had preceded our Aborigines to this continent before the Dutch mariners or Lieutenant James Cook RN.

www.mysteriousaustralia.com...

Research suggests a more banal answer, that it was part of a retaining wall built by an Italian farmer to stop erosion on a natural mesa on his property.
Significant work on the origin was undertaken by a Gympie historian, Dr. Elaine Brown, during the 1990s and early 2000s in which she proposes that the terraced structure was constructed by a Swiss horticulturist in the late 1880s

en.wikipedia.org...

The basic rule is that anytime someone says "Rex Gilroy" whatever follows is nonsense

As a direct descendent of Gunditjmara im pretty damn proud to read a thread about my heritage, if your in the SW Victoria area and looking for ancient sites check out Mt. Eccles as well as Lake Condah but please do with respect of our ancients and the significance of sacred sites... or the murrups might get you!

a reply to: KingBillysNephew

Please do tell, what is a murrup?
It has taken far to long for the story of the ancient peoples of austrailia to be told to the outside world.
I hope someday to make it down under and would love to explore some of the ancient sites.

great thread, I had no idea...

I knew the aboriginals were an ancient people, but had no idea they had a long term settlement.

I will add this to the list of places I need to research.

originally posted by: punkinworks10
a reply to: KingBillysNephew

Please do tell, what is a murrup?

Woiwurrung language, Murrup = Spirit