Hanging Rock is a sacred place used for ceremony and initiation by some members of the Kulin Nation.
Hanging Rock is located around the traditional boundaries of the Wurundjeri, Dja Dja Wurrung and Taungurung peoples who have all been its caretakers throughout history.
There have been multiple archaeological investigations at hanging rock. These digs have found stone tool deposits, some of which dates back at least 10,000 years. This proves that mob had been living and using Hanging Rock at least since the end of the last ice age. There is also a natural spring located at Hanging Rock which would have been a valuable resources for the mobs in the area.
Hanging Rock. Source: The Telegraph.
While there is no official documentation of how Hanging Rock was exactly used, due to the artefacts, location and the spring it is believed to have been a ceremonial ground for the Woiwurrung/Wurundjeri, Dja Dja Wurrung and Taungurung peoples that would have included initiation, trade and conflict resolution.
The shared use of Hanging Rock and the relationships between the three mobs is also seen in anthropologist Alfred William Howitt, and Woi Wurrung leader William Barak:
‘…The Kurning-willam [Gunnung Willam Balluk] who were also Woeworung [Woi Wurrung], and whose headman was called Ningulabul, but was named by the white men ‘Captain Turnbull’ ... On the northern side of Mt Macedon were the Gal-gal-bulluk part of the Jajaurung [Dja Dja Wurrung] tribe, whose headman was known by the white people as “King Bobby” … If the latter wished to bring people from further north, he sent “his word” to Bobby, who in his turn sent it on by the next near Headman…’
Sources
- Hanging Rock – History and Culture, Macedon Ranges Shire Council
- Hanging Rock Strategic Plan, Dept. of Environment, Land, Water and Planning