140 AUSTRALIANTRAVELLER.COM
Ifyouknowwhattolookfor,you’llfindthemonabend
thatlookslikeamillionothers,onariverthatoften
strugglestoflow,behindatinytownthat’shadits
problems,onaroadthatbeelinesforthebackofBourke.
Manypeopleinthisnorth-westernNewSouthWales
town,andplentyofothersbesides,sincerelybelievethat
theBrewarrinaAboriginalFishTrapsareamongthe
oldest,ifnottheoldest,human-madestructuresonEarth.
Sofar,scienceisyettocategoricallyagreeordisagree
thatthishalf-kilometrenetworkofstonewallsand
holdingpondsacrosstheBarwonRiverhasbeeninuse
for40,000years:roughlyeight-times-and-changeolder
thanStonehenge.
Ngunnhu,astheNgembapeoplenamedthem,are
notgrandStonehenge-stylestructures,nortributesto
long-deadtyrantsorbygonedeities.No,theyaresimply
anunpretentioussnapshotofeverydaylifeasitwaslived
onthispartoftheMurray-Darlingformillenniabefore
settlement(theBarwonturnsintotheDarlingRiver 80
kilometresdownstream).
Brewarrinalocalsknowthesignificanceofwhatthey
havewithintheirrealm,thestorysurvivingdespitetheturmoilsoftherecentpast,buttheysimplydon’tfeel
theneedtobragaboutit.“Wenevercompetewith
people,withtribes,bysayingthatthefishtrapsarethe
oldestbecausetheOldPeopledidn’tlikeusdoingthat,”
saysBradleyHardyfromBrewarrinaAboriginal
CulturalMuseum.
Thetraps’U-shapeddesignissimpleyetshrewd;their
openingsfaceagainsttheriver’sflow,whichseems
counterintuitiveatfirstglance.“TheOldPeoplebuilt
themfacingdownstreamsimplybecausefishswim
upstream,”saysBradley.“Thespawningfishwereherded
inthroughthesmallopenings,whichwouldbequickly
shutoffwithrocks.Forabitoffunandsport,our
fishermenwouldstandattheentranceofthetrapsand
trytocatchthefishwiththeirhands.Iftheymissed,the
fishwouldmostlyjustgoinanyway.”
Ahalf-dozenofthestructuresarefullcircles,builtat
differentheightssotheycouldbeusedatvariouslevels
ofriverflow.Thesearepenstostorecaughtfish,an
ancientEsky,asitwere.“Iliketosaywehadeducation
beforeeducation,languagesbeforelanguagesandalso
refrigerationbeforerefrigeration,”saysBradley.The 100 | Behind the wheel
THE WHEEL
YOU NEVER KNOW what you might discover on a ROAD TRIP,
even the most innocuous looking ROADSIDE ATTRACTION can hold
MONUMENTAL SIGNIFICANCE, as you’ll see over the following pages.
We start with POSSIBLY THE OLDEST known man-made structure
on the planet, a road-side stop for STEVE MADGWICK.
BEHIND
71
ABOVE AND
OPPOSITE: Two
boys put the fish traps
to use in this photo taken
in the late 19 th century;
Visitors admire what
could possibly be the
oldest man-made
structure on Earth: the
Brewarrina fish traps
on the Barwon River.ROADSIDE WONDERS(^1) PHOTOGRAPHY: DESTINATION NSW / JONATHAN CAMI (FISH TRAP); BREWARRINA ABORIGINAL CULTURAL MUSEUM (OLD PHOTOGRAPH)