Burrup Peninsula

A peninsula in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, known for extensive Aboriginal rock art and the industrial port of Dampier.

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Murujuga: The Aboriginal cultural landscape encompassing the Burrup Peninsula and nearby Dampier Archipelago. This Indigenous name and cultural landscape frame the peninsula’s rock art and heritage.
Petroglyph: An image or design made by carving, pecking, or abrading rock. The peninsula’s rock-art record consists largely of images cut into stone.
Yaburara people: An Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the area around the Burrup Peninsula. Their country and history are inseparable from the peninsula’s cultural landscape.
Indigenous cultural heritage: Cultural places, practices, knowledge, and objects inherited and maintained by Indigenous peoples. Murujuga’s engravings are part of living Aboriginal heritage, not only archaeological remains.
Dampier Rock Art Complex: A concentration of Aboriginal petroglyphs on the Burrup Peninsula and nearby islands. Its engraved images are among the peninsula’s defining archaeological features.
Rock varnish: A thin, dark coating of clay minerals and manganese or iron oxides that forms on exposed rock surfaces. Contrasts between varnish and exposed stone help make many engravings visible.
Dampier Archipelago: A group of islands off the Pilbara coast of Western Australia, surrounding the Burrup Peninsula. The peninsula sits within a wider island landscape rich in archaeological sites.
Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972: A Western Australian law providing for the protection of Aboriginal heritage places and objects. The act has shaped decisions about development and heritage protection on the peninsula.
Dampier Port: A major industrial port in Western Australia serving iron ore and other resource industries. The port anchors the peninsula’s modern industrial role.
Industrial air pollution: Airborne substances released by industrial activity that can affect human health and the environment. Emissions from nearby industry are assessed for their potential effects on rock surfaces.