The Barragup Mungah – A site so well known that there's nothing left to learn?
Dublin Core
Title
The Barragup Mungah – A site so well known that there's nothing left to learn?
Description
The Barragup mungah, is situated on Gnaala Karla Boojas land, it is a well-researched site and oral history from
both traditional owners and settler communities. Traditional owners and Western academics emphasise the
importance of the site to indigenous people for fishing, social and ceremonial activities.
Survey maps from the early nineteenth century of the region, and photographs that may be of the
mungah, indicate the general location of the mungah. Despite all this information and research, the mungahs
exact location on the Waangaamaap Bilya or Serpentine River is still in doubt. Ethnohistorical data which
include indigenous and Western oral history, newly digitised early maps of the region and extensive fieldwork,
may have relocated the mungah. In addition, it has raised the intriguing possibility of there being more than one
mungah at Barragup.
With low visibility and thick mud in parts of the river, side scan sonar was used as a screening tool to
help identify potential locations. The sonar also indicated possible site formation processes that may prove
useful in detecting fish traps in riverine environments.
Future work will be directed by the Gnaala Karla Booja people.
both traditional owners and settler communities. Traditional owners and Western academics emphasise the
importance of the site to indigenous people for fishing, social and ceremonial activities.
Survey maps from the early nineteenth century of the region, and photographs that may be of the
mungah, indicate the general location of the mungah. Despite all this information and research, the mungahs
exact location on the Waangaamaap Bilya or Serpentine River is still in doubt. Ethnohistorical data which
include indigenous and Western oral history, newly digitised early maps of the region and extensive fieldwork,
may have relocated the mungah. In addition, it has raised the intriguing possibility of there being more than one
mungah at Barragup.
With low visibility and thick mud in parts of the river, side scan sonar was used as a screening tool to
help identify potential locations. The sonar also indicated possible site formation processes that may prove
useful in detecting fish traps in riverine environments.
Future work will be directed by the Gnaala Karla Booja people.
Creator
Kevin Edwards
Ian McCann
Publisher
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology
Date
2023
Language
English
Bibliographic Citation
McCann, Ian and Kevin Edwards. 2023. “The Barragup Munga – A site so well known that there's nothing left to learn? Edited by Jennifer Craig, Jay Mok, T. Kurt Knoerl, Paul Montgomery, and Bill Jeffrey. In Proceedings of Fifth Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage: Gwangju, The Republic of Korea, November 13-18 2023. The Museum of Underwater Archaeology. URL: https://apconf.omeka.net/exhibits/show/apconfproceedings/item/2008
Files
Citation
Kevin Edwards and Ian McCann, “The Barragup Mungah – A site so well known that there's nothing left to learn?,” Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage Proceedings, accessed January 15, 2026, https://apconf.omeka.net/items/show/2008.