Ancestral Rings

Digs & Discoveries July/August 2025

Photo: Near Map 2024, prepared by Zara Lasky-Davison, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation
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Archaeologists have questioned who made five raised rings in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria. Some have proposed that the 65-foot-wide rings, located in what is now the Melbourne suburb of Sunbury, resulted from postcolonial military or agricultural activity. Scholars now believe the rings were constructed by Ancestors of Woi-wurrung-speaking people, who are the Traditional Custodians of a large swath of the south-central region of Victoria. Such raised rings have a deep history, b

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