Early astronomers? ... an aerial view of the Wurdi Youang stone arrangement, also known as the Mount Rothwell site. Source: The Daily Telegraph
GEELONG'S answer to Stonehenge a stone circle near the You Yangs is attracting worldwide interest from tour operators.
Japanese broadcasters have shown interest, according to the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative, while an English tour guide recently contacted the Geelong Advertiser seeking more information.
Tour guide Armyn Hennessy, who conducts tours of the original Stonehenge in the UK, said she wished to visit the Geelong site to be able to include it in her tour commentary.
Geelong Otway Tourism chief Roger Grant, who visited the You Yangs site last week, said the potential for tourism was exciting.
"At this stage, before it can be presented to the public, I think it just needs a huge amount of research," he said.
Mr Grant said he was really keen to work with the Wathaurong group to support that research, particularly a probe on what it was used for and how old it was
The stone circle, said to be older than Stonehenge, is an astronomical marker. Its two straighter sides point to where the sun rises on the shortest and longest days of the year. Stonehenge dates from about 2500 BC, and the earliest pyramid in Egypt was built from about 2630 BC, suggesting the local Aborigines could have been the world's first astronomers.
Known as Wurdi Youang, the site lies on Wathaurong Co-Operative land.
Read more about the Stone Circle at the Geelong Advertiser.
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