Origin of Australia’s 1,400-year-old mysterious ‘earth rings’ finally revealed
Share:
Aboriginal people’s ancestors carefully cleared land and plants in the area, research finds. Mysterious ancient “earth rings” located on the outskirts of Melbourne were made by Australia’s Aboriginal Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people hundreds of years ago, a new study finally reveals.
![[Aerial view of Sunbury Ring G]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/20/07/Screenshot-2025-01-20-at-12.35.01%E2%80%AFPM.jpg)
The origin and purpose of these large rings rising out of hills in Australia’s Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country in the suburb of Sunbury have remained a mystery. Strange rings have been spotted in many parts of the world, including in England and Cambodia.
They are thought to have been created by ancient people living in these regions by digging out and clumping together earth forming a large circle, or circles, sometimes measuring hundreds of meters in diameter. Hundreds of such earth rings are believed to have once existed across Australia, many of which were destroyed following European colonisation.
The nearly hundred that remain across the continent now hold immense significance to different Aboriginal language groups reflecting on a history of occupation, colonisation, self-determination, adaptation, and resilience, researchers and elders of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung culture say.
For the Indigenous people, the concept of a country includes consideration of several elements including “land, water, sky, animals, plants, artefacts and cultural features, travel routes, traditions, ceremonies, beliefs, stories, historical events, contemporary associations and ancestors”.
