Australian_Geographic_-_February_2016_

28 Australian Geographic

G

OLD NUGGETS HAVE been found nationwide but were

particularly abundant in Victoria, the source of the world’s

largest nugget, the Welcome Stranger. Since the first gold rushes

in the 1850s, major nuggets have always been big news, and they

spurred a Victorian rush that, by 1910, resulted in the discovery of about

1200 nuggets, each weighing more than 620g. Large specimens are still

found today, such as the Normandy Nugget, discovered in 1995 and

held at The Perth Mint. It is the second-largest nugget still in existence.

Golden glory

Mining heritage

Most of the world’s largest gold nuggets

have come from Australia. Here are some of

the biggest and most famous examples.

Welcome Stranger

Date: 5 February 1869

Place: Moliagul, VIC

Weight: 72kg

Length: 60cm

The Welcome

9 June 1858

Ballarat, VIC

68.2kg

53cm

The Hand of Faith

26 September 1980

Kingower, VIC

27.2kg

45cm

Normandy Nugget

1995 (month unknown)

Kalgoorlie, WA

25.5kg

27cm

Latrobe Nugget

1 May 1853

Mount McIvor, VIC

717g

11cm

The Kum Tow

17 April 1871

Kangderaar, VIC

22.5kg

36.5cm

The Poseidon

18 December 1906

Ta r n a g u l l a , V I C

29.6kg

39cm

AUSTRALIA’S BIGGEST rock-art study could set a new limit

on the date for when people first arrived in Australia. There

are tens of thousands of artworks in Western Australia’s

Kimberley region, and they may be 50,000 years old, but

they have never been comprehensively dated. “Theoreti-

cally, people started producing art as soon as they landed,”

says Peter Veth, an archaeologist at the University of WA.

Many researchers are collaborating on the project, led by

the Kimberley Foundation Australia. They have been analys-

ing different art styles, including engravings, portrayals of

animals, Gwion figures and Wanjina spirits. Nine techniques

are being used to determine when the art was created, and

the results will be cross-referenced against each other.

Many of the techniques involve analysing material around

the art, such as mineral crusts or ancient wasp nests.

The first detailed study of Kimberley rock art may

provide a new date for when Aboriginal people arrived.

Clues in the Kimberley

Value:

IN EXCESS OF

$1.25 MILLION

ILLUSTRATION: ANTHONY CALVERT; ART: GRAHAME WALSH/ KIMBERLEY FOUNDATION AUSTRALIA

Wanjina art at

Manning Creek, WA.