Abstract dark blue pattern with curved and geometric lines and shapes, resembling stylised waves or leaves, on a matching dark blue background.

Archaeology

mubaya – speak an unknown language

yuridyuwa – sit near (to sit near anyone)

berewalgal – people from a distant place

Aboriginal people have always lived in Sydney. Following the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, the British encountered Aboriginal people around the coves and bays of Port Jackson. The Aboriginal communities here were both generous and combative towards the colonisers. Many places around the harbour remained important hunting, fishing and camping grounds long after Europeans settlement, and continue to be culturally significant today.

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Archaeology, Essays, People, Places, War
  • Moore Park Engraving

    Moore Park Engraving

    Author: Paul Irish and Tamika Goward On a slab of sandstone just outside Centennial Park there were once some Aboriginal engravings. Rock engravings were produced when Aboriginal people carved them…

  • St Mary’s Cathedral Hatchet

    St Mary’s Cathedral Hatchet

    Author: Paul Irish and Tamika Goward An Aboriginal stone axe head, also called a ‘ground-edge hatchet’, was found in a road cutting behind St Mary’s Cathedral in 1876. The hatchet…

  • Sheas Creek (Alexandra Canal) Alexandria

    Sheas Creek (Alexandra Canal) Alexandria

    Author: Paul Irish and Tamika Goward At Beaconsfield in the 1890s, workers on the Alexandra Canal began cutting through the sediments of Shea’s Creek and made some remarkable discoveries. The…