Ayers Rock National Park
Uluru (Ayers Rock)
Ayers Rock National Park is located in Central Australia and contains 2 unique rock formations, Uluru (Ayers Rock) is the most recognizable and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) located approximately 50km from Uluru is less well known, yet equally interesting. As well as containing some amazing geology, Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park has a rich Aboriginal Culture and is one of the few World Heritage Sites which is listed for both it's natural, and cultural assets.
Uluru is the aboriginal name for Ayers Rock and has been the official name since 1985 when the Australian Government famously handed back the ownership of the area to the Anangu, the traditional Aboriginal owners (who then leased it back to the Government to run as a National Park). It is approximately 10km around it's base and 348 meters high, although not a high mountain in any stretch of the imagination, it is impressive because as far as the eye can see, the land surrounding Uluru is completely flat and makes an amazing contrast. Like an iceberg on a still ocean, it is estimated that Uluru continues underground for approximately 6km.
Kata Tjuta is located approximately 50km from Uluru and literally traslates to mean "many heads", the Anangu, believe that the domes of Kata Tjuta represent the heads of the their ancestors. Some people say that Kata Tjuta is more sacred than Uluru.
Both contained within the Ayers Rock National Park, Kata Tjuta and Uluru were formed approximately 500 million year ago as sediment washed down from a huge mountain range estimated to be higher the current Himalayas. Both are sedimentary rocks with recognizable sedimentary layers, Uluru is made from grains of sand fairly consistent in size and shape, and the layers which built up over time in the sediments are currently standing vertical, if you look closely you can recognize vertical bands in the rock. Kata Tjuta is a conglomerate, and is made from many different sized rounded boulders, cemented together with gravel and sand, Kata Tjuta has been lifted and tilted to an angle of approximately 15% and the domes have formed as cracks in the giant sheet of rock have eroded.
Both Uluru and Kata Tjuta are red in color because the rock they are made of contain high levels of iron, as the iron is exposed to the air it oxidizes (rusts) and turns red, both formations are covered in a thin layer of rust. The natural color of Uluru is grey, and this can be seen when up close to the rock in areas where the rust layer has recently fallen off.
Aboriginal Culture.
Rock Art - Ayers Rock
The Anangu are the aboriginal people who live in the area of Uluru, they speak 2 main languages, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara. It is estimated that Aboriginal people have lived continuously in the area of Uluru for between 20000 and 40000 years. When you visit Uluru it is not surprising why a place like this would be so important to anyone living in the deserts of central Australia, as Uluru is a provider of life. Supported by the infrequent rain runoff, a relatively lush ring of vegetation surrounds the rock and provides the most basic elements in supporting life, shelter in it's many caves and overhanging rock formations, permanent water, plant life providing bush tucker and animal life also providing food, not to mention fire wood for warmth and cooking.
Tjukurpa is term used by Anangu to describe their law and religion, this is also often referred to as Dreamtime, although Anangu point out that this is not an appropriate term as it implies something which is imagined and not real. Aboriginal religion and law is complex and made more difficult for non Aboriginal people to understand because much of it based on secrecy, the information which non Aboriginal people are provided is often the simple stories designed for children.
Aboriginal people believe that prior to the creation of the word, the world was a flat and featureless landscape, yet the potential for life has always been present, at some point ancestors of the current living aboriginal people rose from the earth, often from waterholes (thus there spiritual significance) and traveled over the land creating the landscape as they went, the ancestor were often strange and large creatures resembling existing animals, although often many times bigger, as they traveled across the country they sang the landscape into existence and often interacted with other ancestors along the way, sometimes in a friendly and sometimes in a hostile way, some of the ancestors traveled the length of the country, some only a short distance. When the creation period was over, the ancestors often re-entered the earth through water holes or were turned into geological features such as mountains, hills, rock and islands.
The creation stories are used as a precedent today to determine the law, behavior and religious activities. Religious ceremonies often recreate the creation stories and include the songs and dances used by the ancestors, these songs and dances being passed from generation to generation, the accuracy of these recreations is vital as an incorrect dance or song can literally un create the world, and stories of punishment including death for the incorrect rendition are common.
Interestingly, many songlines will cross the country yet the entire story will not be known by any one individual, individuals will know the intimate details of what happened within their boundaries and perhaps details of neighboring regions, but not the entire journey, there are many pieces of the puzzle and collectively they make a complete story. Typically the more senior you were in a clan, the more information you were told about a particular story, until you were the custodian of the story and responsible for passing it down to the next generation.
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Addional information is available from the official Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park website produced by the Australian government
