Wurdi Youang is an Aboriginal stone arrangement located off the Little River – Ripley Road at Mount Rothwell, near Little River, Victoria.[1] The site was acquired by the Indigenous Land Corporation on 14 January 2000 and transferred to the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative on 17 August 2006.[2]
The stone arrangement takes the form of an irregular egg-shape or ovoid about 50 m in diameter with its major axis aligning east-west.[3] It is composed of about 100 basalt stones, ranging from small rocks about 20 cm in diameter to standing stones about 1m high with an estimated total mass of about 23 tonnes.[4] There are three prominent waist-high stones, at its western end, which is the highest point of the ring. The purpose, use, and age of the arrangement are not known.[5] The purpose of the site may be ceremonial in nature as with many other stone arrangements in southeastern Australia.[6]
The site is recorded on the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Register, the Victorian Heritage Register (H1107), and the City of Greater Geelong Planning Scheme Geritage Overlay (HO294).[7]
A series of stones, located to the west of the arrangement's western apex, are claimed to mark the positions of the setting sun at the equinoxes and solstices.[8] A survey study shows that these alignments are accurate to within a few degrees. Additionally, the straight sides of the arrangement, which diverge from its eastern apex, also indicate the setting position of the sun at the solstices to within a few degrees and at the equinoxes the sun sets over the three prominent stones at the apex.[3]
It has been suggested by scientists studying the arrangements that it could be as old as 11,000 years (based on carbon dating at nearby sites[9]), which would make it the oldest astronomical observatory in the world.[10]