Ancient site · Rock art
Murujuga rock art
Also known as Burrup Peninsula
Murujuga, on the Burrup Peninsula of Western Australia, holds what is described as the world's largest collection of rock engravings: around a million petroglyphs at some 2,500 archaeological sites, alongside quarries and shell middens. Some carvings are thought to be more than 40,000 years old, and Aboriginal people kept adding to them over thousands of years, so the site spans the whole period of this atlas.
It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2025. Its traditional owners are Aboriginal nations including the Yaburara, and industrial development nearby remains a matter of debate.
- Dates
- engravings from c. 45,000 years ago onward
- Still standing
- Yes
- UNESCO World Heritage
- Yes
- Location
- 20.60° S, 116.80° E
How we know
The carvings have no writing; their great age is estimated from weathering of the rock and from dated sites nearby, and the oldest dates are still being refined.
Nearby sites
- Kutai yūpa inscriptions second half of the 4th century CE
- Budj Bim eel traps from at least c. 4600 BCE (6,600 years ago)
- Manunggul Cave (Tabon Caves) Manunggul Jar c. 890–710 BCE
- Kuk Swamp drainage from c. 7000 BCE (about 9,000 years ago)
- Óc Eo c. 2nd century BCE – 7th century CE
- Ban Chiang c. 2000 or 1500 BCE – c. 200 CE (start date disputed)