The following information is derived from the Aboriginal
Mounds mini-poster; one of a set of
15 Aboriginal heritage mini-posters produced by Aboriginal Affairs Victoria.
The mini-poster can be downloaded by clicking
the poster thumbnail 
Aboriginal mounds are places where Aboriginal people lived over long periods of time. Mounds often contain charcoal, burnt clay or stone heat retainers from cooking ovens, animal bones, shells, stone tools and, sometimes, Aboriginal burials.
Ploughed mound
Usually near rivers, lakes or swamps but occasionally some distance from water. Mounds often occur on floodplains and the banks of watercourses. They are also found on dunes and sometimes among rock outcrops on higher ground.
Ninety nine occupation mounds have been found in the Corangamite region. On the map below, the top four sites are in Wada Wurrung country. The bottom-right cluster in the upper Curdies River catchment are on Djargurd Wurrung land. The bottom site is at the boundary between Gulidjan and Gudabanud territory, at a place where tall closed forest gives way to more open forests and woodlands. The Gudabanud would have preferred to camp on the coast and lower slopes of the Otway ranges, rather than in the tall wet forests. The Gulidjan were predominantly a plains people. The site is probably a Gudabanud encampment. As more detailed information becomes available this map will be updated to show the location of other sites.
Check whether the mound has the typical characteristics of an Aboriginal mound. If it does, record its location and write a brief description of its condition. Note whether it is under threat of disturbance.
Please help to preserve Aboriginal cultural places by reporting their presence to Aboriginal Affairs Victoria.
Aboriginal people often cooked their food in earth ovens. To do this, they heated stones or burnt clay lumps and placed them in a pit. The food – a kangaroo or tubers for example – was placed on top of the heat retainers and the pit was filled in. Once the food was cooked, it was removed, and all the cooking debris, such as stone, clay and ash, was swept out. Over time, the debris from cooking and other domestic activities combined with natural sediments to form a mound.
Aboriginal people usually built shelters or huts from bark or wood. Heaped earth was sometimes used as a foundation, or to strengthen and insulate the walls of these structures. Fires were frequently built in front of, or near, the shelters. Artifacts such as stone tools were often made close by. It is likely that the debris produced by these activities, as well as the wood and bark from the eventual collapse of the shelters, helped the build up of mounds.
Mounds created by Europeans in more recent times can be mistaken for Aboriginal mounds. In particular, the common farming practice of piling and burning tree stumps is likely to produce a mound which contains burnt clay, burnt stone and charcoal.
Europeans also burnt timber to make charcoal for use in metal smelting. Mounds resulting from this practice usually contain large quantities of charcoal, often in large chunks.
Mounds can also form naturally. Low rises can occur where a clay ground surface has cracked and swollen. Hummocks occur where sand has been trapped by vegetation. Mounds may form near rivers and creeks where sediment is washed up over tree branches or small shrubs. These mounds will not contain burnt materials, and will usually not contain stone tools, shells or animal bones.
Mounds provide valuable information about past Aboriginal settlement and lifestyles. Most known mound sites are less than 3000 years old. The relatively common occurrence of mounds in some parts of Victoria (particularly the Western District and Murray Valley) after this date, may represent a change in the way Aboriginal people in these areas cooked and made camp.
Mounds provide Aboriginal people today with an important link to their culture and their past. Mounds which contain Aboriginal burials are particularly significant.
Because mounds are part of the landscape, they cannot be preserved in museums. The loose, soft soil often found in mounds attracts burrowing animals, particularly rabbits, which severely disturb these sites. Ripping of rabbit warrens, as well as ploughing and laser leveling of agricultural land, has destroyed many mounds.
Aboriginal Affairs Victoria records the location, dimensions, and condition of Aboriginal mounds so that we will have a permanent record of this important part of the heritage of all Australians. Management works, such as the eradication of rabbits and erosion control, are carried out so that Aboriginal mounds can be preserved for future generations.
All Aboriginal cultural places in Victoria are protected by law. Aboriginal Artifacts are also protected. It is illegal to disturb or destroy an Aboriginal place. Artifacts should not be removed from sites.
The presence of an Aboriginal mound on private land will not affect ownership, and in general will not stop existing land uses from continuing.
Please preserve Aboriginal mounds by conducting environmental, agricultural and other activities in a manner that does not impact on them. Such areas are likely to cover a very small area relative to the size of most properties and avoiding disturbance should therefore have little effect on productivity. The presence of such a place will greatly enhance the value of an appropriately implemented environmental project and is likely to be assist applicants seeking funds for environmental projects.