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Cultural Sites and Relics
Aboriginal HeritageCurrent estimates are that Aborigines have lived in the Blue Mountains area for over 20,000 years. By any measure, the Aborigines of the region have a significant history and culture which is too often undervalued by the more recent settlers. Two tribal groups exist within the Region; the Gundungurra people of the upper Mountains, Megalong and Burragorang Valleys and the Dharug people of the lower Mountains and Cumberland Plain. Tribal Councils look after the interests of Aborigines of the area and endeavour to preserve the cultural heritage of their peoples. Aboriginal sites may be sacred sites or occupational sites. The former are places of special significance to Aboriginal religion but usually contain no artefacts. An example is the well known Three Sisters rock formation which is sacred to the Gundungurra people and is associated with the "Seven Sisters Dreaming". An occupational site is a place which contains evidence of Aboriginal activity. These sites include rock surfaces with axe grinding and spear grinding grooves, cave art sites, scarred trees and sites with archaeological relics including tools and weapons. Objects such as flaked stone tools and scrapers may appear to be "insignificant", but such simple tools were vital for the survival of the early Australians. They are also important in documenting Aboriginal society and the early history of Australia itself. The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) maintains a register of recorded Aboriginal sites but access to the database is restricted to reduce the risk of damage, either deliberate or accidental. Aboriginal sites are fragile and damage, particularly erosion, is easily caused by:
The Blue Mountains Conservation Society gained Geographical Names Board approval in 1997 for bushland west of Sorensen Bridge, Leura to be named "Digger Cooper Reserve". This is in honour of H.G. "Digger" Cooper, a member of the Gundungurra Tribe and a World War II veteran who died in 1978. This bushland is not an Aboriginal site in the sense described above. Protection of all Aboriginal relics throughout NSW is legislated under the National Parks and Wildlife Service Act, 1974. Among other things, the Act requires people to:
European Heritage European exploration of the Blue Mountains commenced not long after the first settlement was established at Port Jackson in 1788. While it is usually accepted that the explorers Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth were the first Europeans to complete a successful crossing of the Mountains (in 1813), many historians regard the earlier expeditions by John Wilson and Francis Barrallier as being equally important. The Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth crossing, however, was the stimulus for further exploration and settlement of the inland. None of the very early buildings which would have been constructed along the western road have survived. The oldest surviving building is the Woodford Academy which was originally an inn and which dates from about 1842. Other remaining sites of historic interest include homes, bridges, walking tracks and roads, many of which are classified by the National Trust. Some of these sites are privately owned but may be open for inspection on certain days of the year. Apart from the Woodford Academy, important European heritage sites include:
The Explorer’s Tree (Katoomba) and Caley’s Repulse (Linden) are important as reminders of early European exploration but neither are believed to have genuine links to those explorations.
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Deepening axe or spear grinding grooves.
Notify discoveries of Aboriginal relics to the National Parks
and Wildlife Service
National Parks and Wildlife Service
Heritage Centre, Govetts Leap Road, Blackheath, 2785
02-4787-8877
