Lake Mungo
Yehilianiz Rivera Zayas
Embedded Files
Campbell, S. (2012, October 18). Discover the Magic of
Lake Mungo. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from Snowys
Blog website:https://www.snowys.com.au/blog/the-magic-of
History of Lake Mungo
History of Lake Mungo
Lake Mungo has been around for as long as anyone can remember, the history of the lake is rich and complicated in the best way. Lake Mungo has been the site of many great findings that make understanding Australia’s complex history a marvel. Some of the discoveries that make Lake Mungo an important site is the discovery of Mungo Woman and Mungo Man, some of the oldest human remains that have ever been found. Mungo Woman and Mungo Man have also given insight into the burial rituals performed by the First People of Australia. There are so many findings associated with Lake Mungo, which give perspective to the world that thrived before modern humans adapted and changed the environment around them.
The knowledge of Australian history was not understood to its fullest capacity up until the discovery of the advent radiocarbon dating. In the 20th century, Willard Libby first realized that he could use Carbon-14 to discover more information about dating, this came about during the time that atomic bombs were being produced and tested. In the year 1949, Willard Libby and James Arnold discovered a way to date organic materials that could range from 10 years old to 10 thousand years old. They achieved this by measuring time preserved within Carbon atoms and comparing decaying Carbon-12 isotopes to stable Carbon-14 isotopes. Scientists and archeologists then used this information to test samples gathered from Lake Mungo which revealed information about the ancestors of the Muthii Muthii, Ngyiampaa, and Paakantji peoples and how they survived around Lake Mungo for over 40,000 years (Griffiths, Russell, & Roberts, 2017).
Archeologist John Mulvaney (seen on the right in 1974)
Shawcross, W. (1998). Archaeological Excavations at
Mungo. Archaeology in Oceania, 33(3), 183–200. Retrieved
from
https://www.jstor.org/stable/40386904#metadata_info_tab
_contents
Hitchcock, D. (2020, July 13). Mungo Man.
Retrieved December 4, 2022, from
www.donsmaps.com website:
https://www.donsmaps.com/mungo.hml
Mungo Lady & Mungo Man
Mungo Lady & Mungo Man
Lake Mungo has held many treasures in Australia which have helped reveal an abundance of information about the past. One of the most impressive treasures which Lake Mungo held were the remains of Mungo Man and Mungo Lady. But who was Mungo Man and Mungo Lady? Mungo Man was a man who died an estimated 42,000 years ago and was around 50 years old at the time of his death (Hitchcock 2005). Mungo Lady was a woman who was about 18 years old and was found about 40,000 years old as well.
What about them makes them so important? Mungo Man
and Mungo Lady revealed trends of ritual burials that
were practiced in Australia and they were among the
oldest remains of humans found which represent ritual
burials (Keneally 2018). The remains of Mungo Lady were
found by a geologist from the University of Melbourne in
1969. 5 years later, 400 meters from where Mungo Lady
was found, Mungo Man was discovered by the same
professor, Jim Bowler (Bowler 2005). What is so amazing
about Mungo Woman and Mungo Man is the controversy
that they have caused historians and anthropologists
around the world, there is constant debate regarding the
topic and many discussions which cause experts to
believe differently regarding Mungo Woman and Mungo
Man. The remains of Mungo Woman were returned to
Lake Mungo in 1992, and the remains of Mungo Man
were returned to his original country in 2017 (Lawrence
2006).
Bowler, J. (2014, February 14). Mungo Lady and Mungo Man.
Retrieved December 4, 2022, from Outback Geo Adventures
website: https://www.mungonationalparktours.com/blog/mungo-lady-
and-mungo-man
Hitchcock, D. (2020, July 13). Mungo Man.
Retrieved December 4, 2022, from
www.donsmaps.com website:
https://www.donsmaps.com/mungo.html
Tribes of Lake Mungo
Tribes of Lake Mungo
If we want to talk about Lake Mungo we must also talk about the Aboriginal Tribes who lived on the land thousands of years ago. The western part of the lake was home to the Paakantyi people. “Paaka” meaning river and “Nyti” meaning we belong to, altogether is translated to “We are the river people” in the Gurnu language which is native to the Paakantyi people living on the West side of the lake. The Mutthi Mutthi people live in the Southern part of Lake Mungo. Finally, the Ngyiampaa people lived on the northern side of the lake. (Richard Czeiger, 2009)
The discovery of Mungo Lady and Mungo man opened many doors for people around the world because it proved that Australia had been home to early humans long before people actually thought. The discovery also showed another side to spiritual practices which had not been previously thought about in Australia. As the bodies of Mungo Lady and Mungo Man demonstrated, there were a number of practices that would occur at the time of death of an individual. The bodies of Mungo Lady and Mungo Man were burned and their skulls were smashed into pieces. Mungo Man was laid to rest on his side with Red Ochre thrown over his body. (NSW Government, 2022)
Red Ochre is a pigment that cannot be found in the Lake Mungo area which shows that there were trades made in order to acquire it. The burial practices that were done on Mungo Lady and Mungo Man were tedious and said to have only been done on people who were high up such as a King or a chief of a tribe. (NSW Government, 2022)
Burial Practices
Burial Practices
NSW Government. (2022, April 12). Transcript of Burial customs. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from education.nsw.gov.au website: https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-andlearning/curriculum/hsie/virtual-excursions- -stages-4-6/transcript-of-burial-customs
Page updated
Report abuse