Excavated artefacts unearth rich Aboriginal history of land

Traditional landowners, Elders, Local Aboriginal Land Councils, Registered Aboriginal Parties and other Aboriginal community members are consulted during the excavation process of projects to learn about the cultural history of the land and the significance of artefacts discovered. 

Around 600 Aboriginal artefacts and items were uncovered during archaeological investigations for the Eurobadalla Regional Hospital Development on the cultural lands of Brinja Yuin, showing how Aboriginal people lived and worked on this land thousands of years ago. 

Brinja Yuin/Gadu Elder, Maureen Davis said the discovery of the artefacts shows clear evidence that her people lived and raised their families in the region, travelling along that section of the land, taking in the seacoast south of the Moruya River to the Wagonga River at Kianga and extending five miles inland. 

The collaboration between Health Infrastructure, the Cobowra Local Aboriginal Land Council and the local Aboriginal community allowed knowledge to be shared, any questions about the archaeological process to be answered and open discussions about what will happen next with the discovered items. 

In 2022, thousands of culturally significant Aboriginal stone artefacts were also discovered at the Griffith Base Hospital Redevelopment. The artefacts were presented to the Griffith Local Aboriginal Land Council after being unearthed during archaeological investigations as part of planning for the hospital redevelopment. 

Over 3,000 artefacts were discovered, mostly in gravels believed to have been brought to the health campus for landscaping activities in previous years. 

Health Infrastructure continues to work with local community groups and archaeologists on project sites to ensure history, especially relating to local Aboriginal groups, is preserved and passed down through generations.