The Marree Man, or Stuart's Giant, as it was named in anonymous press releases (after John McDouall Stuart), is a geoglyph discovered by air on 26 June 1998. The geoglyph appears to depict an indigenous Australian man, most likely of the Pitjantjatjara tribe, hunting birds or wallabies with a throwing stick. It lies on a plateau at Finnis Springs 60 km west of the township of Marree in central Australia. The figure is 4.2 km high with a circumference of 15–28 km. It is the largest known geoglyph in the world and is estimated to have taken between four and eight weeks to create, but despite this its origins are extremely mysterious, with not a single witness to any part of the massive operation. Maree Man South Australia, 28 June 1998. ... John McDouall Stuart (7 September 1815 – 5 June 1866) was the most accomplished and most famous of all Australias inland explorers and led the first expedition to traverse the continent from south to north successfully. ... A geoglyph is a drawing on the ground, or a large motif, (generally greater than 4 metres) or design produced on the ground, either by arranging clasts (stones, stone fragments, gravel or earth) to create a positive geoglyph (stone arrangement/alignment, petroform, earth mound) or by removing patinated clasts to... June 26 is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 188 days remaining. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Pitjantjatjara is the name of both an Aboriginal people (or Anangu) of the Central Australian desert and their language. ... Ancient aboriginal rock painting of a wallaby in Kakadu National Park in Northern Australia. ... Marree ( 29°38′ S 138°03′ E) is a small town located in the north of South Australia. ...

It is located just outside of the 200,000 square kilometre Woomera Prohibited Area. Woomera Prohibited Area is a weapons testing range located in central South Australia. ...

The artwork

The Marree Man is the largest manmade artwork in the world. The geoglyph depicts a man holding either a throwing stick once used to disperse small flocks of birds, or a boomerang (but see Plaque section below). Image File history File links Marree_man_greyscale_outline. ... Hunting spear and knife, from Mesa Verde National Park. ... A typical wooden returning boomerang A boomerang is a simple wooden implement used for various purposes. ...

The lines of the figure were 20–30 cm in depth at the time of discovery and up to 35 metres in width. It was made with a 2.5 metre wide, eight-tine plough which was attached to a tractor, with the lines needing as many as 14 passes. The tractor would have had to have travelled an estimated 400 km and used up more than 300 litres of fuel. [1] It has been suggested that Mouldboard Plough be merged into this article or section. ...

A local pilot in the region, Brad Thompson, stated that the image had probably been defined by earthmoving machinery going over the lines of the figure at least sixteen times.

To select a suitable site, aerial photography or satellite imagery would have been needed. Using a computer, the figure could have been superimposed over the photograph and adjusted to fit the geography with the corresponding latitude and longtitude coordinates mapped out. Some surveying skills would have been needed to plot the outline, and then with the aid of a hand-held global positioning system stakes could have been placed every hundred metres or so. [2] The Georgian terrace of Royal Crescent (Bath, England) from a hot air balloon Dulles Airport in Reston, Virginia, from an airplane Intersection of E42 and E451 as seen from a Lufthansa Boeing 747 soon after takeoff from Frankfurt International Airport Moreton Island in Queensland, Australia Aerial photography is the taking... Satellite imagery consists of photographs of Earth or other planets made from artificial satellites. ... Surveyor at work with a leveling instrument. ...

The image is gradually eroding through natural processes, but because the climate is extremely dry and barren in the region, the image is still visible. While there is a layer of white chalk material slightly below the red soil, the figure was not defined to this depth. This has led to questions as to why the creators would not have dug a little deeper and made the image both more visible and more permanent.

Discovery

Trec Smith, a charter pilot flying between Marree and Coober Pedy in the remote north of South Australia spotted the figure from the air on 26 June 1998. The discovery of the geoglyph fascinated Australians due to its size and the mystery surrounding how it came to be there. At the time of the discovery there was only one track entering and one track exiting the site and no footprints or tyre marks were discernable. Image File history File links Australia_Marree_Man. ... An abandoned movie space ship prop in downtown Coober Pedy Location of Coober Pedy in South Australia (red) Coober Pedy (), population 3,500, is a small town in South Australia, 846 kilometres north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. ... Emblems: Hairy Nosed Wombat (faunal); Leafy Seadragon (marine); Piping Shrike (bird: unofficial); Sturts Desert Pea (floral); Opal (gemstone) Motto: United for the Common Wealth Slogan or Nickname: Festival State Other Australian states and territories Capital Adelaide Government Const. ... June 26 is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 188 days remaining. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

Shane Anderson from the William Creek Hotel, located 200 km north-west of the town of Marree claimed the hotel received an anonymous fax describing the location of the artwork, but they ignored it, dismissing the fax as a joke. William Creek (), Australia is located halfway on the Oodnadatta Track, 204 kilometres north of Marree and 168 kilometres east of Coober Pedy in South Australia. ...

Anonymous press releases

Several anonymous press releases appeared following the discovery, which led to suggestion that the Marree man was created by people from the United States. The releases quoted measurements in miles, yards and inches, instead of the metric system usually used in Australia. They also said "your State of SA", "Queensland Barrier Reef" and mentioned Aborigines "from the local reservations", reservations being a term more commonly associated with the North American Indians. The press releases also mentioned the Great Serpent in Ohio, which is not well known outside of the United States. However, it has been conjectured that these features of the press releases may have been red herrings inserted to provide the illusion of American authorship. A mile is a unit of length, usually used to measure distance, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, United States customary units and Norwegian/Swedish mil. ... A yard (abbreviation: yd) is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial and U.S. customary unit of length. ... The International System of Units (symbol: SI) (for the French phrase Syst me International dUnit s) is the most widely used system of units. ... Emblems: Hairy Nosed Wombat (faunal); Leafy Seadragon (marine); Piping Shrike (bird: unofficial); Sturts Desert Pea (floral); Opal (gemstone) Motto: United for the Common Wealth Slogan or Nickname: Festival State Other Australian states and territories Capital Adelaide Government Const. ... Emblems: Faunal - Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus); Floral - Cooktown orchid (Dendrobium bigibbum); Bird - Brolga (Grus rubicunda); Aquatic - Barrier Reef Anemonefish (Amphiprion akindynos); Gem - Sapphire; Colour - Maroon Motto: Audax at Fidelis (Bold but Faithful) Slogan or Nickname: Sunshine State, Smart State Other Australian states and territories Capital Brisbane Government Const. ... Satellite image of part of the Great Barrier Reef adjacent to the Queensland coastal areas of Proserpine and Mackay. ... BIA map of reservations in the United States Tribal sovereignty: Map of the United States, with non-reservation land highlighted. ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... The Serpent Mound is a 1,330 feet long and three feet high effigy mound located on a plateau in the Brush Creek Valley of Adams County, Ohio. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Red herring (disambiguation). ...

At the site in a small pit was found what appeared to be a satellite photo of the figure, a jar containing a small flag of the United States, and a note which referred to the Branch Davidian cult who were infamous for being attacked in the Waco raid in 1993. These were the only manmade items found at the site when it was discovered. Later, the police did eventually find four wheel drive and truck tracks, along with some used toilet paper. Satellite imagery consists of photographs of Earth or other planets made from artificial satellites. ... The Branch Davidians are a religious group originating from a schism in the 1950s from the Shepherds Rod, themselves former members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who were excommunicated during the 1930s. ... Waco is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. ...

Artist Christopher Headley says that he sent two letters, one to Colonel Tom Meade, the head of the US Air Force located at the joint Australian defence facility at Nurrungar, to ask about the possibility of making a permanent commemoration of the American presence in Australia. This could have inspired the idea of creating a geoglyph among locals. His original idea was to have a toy spaceman launched by an anvil. Aircraft of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing and coalition counterparts stationed together at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, in southwest Asia, fly over the desert. ... This article is about the Australian village. ...

Plaque

In January 1999, officials were told about a plaque buried 5 metres south of the nose of the figure, by way of a fax which was received via a hotel in Oxford, England. The fax also said that the plaque was intended to have been dug up by a "prominent US media figure" shortly before the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Similar clues were said to be buried near the Cerne Abbas giant near Dorset and the Long Man of Wilmington, Sussex, in England. The plaque has a 3 cm long by 2 cm wide American flag and an imprint of the Olympic rings. It reads: A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, is a plate of metal attached to a wall or other vertical surface and bearing text in memory of an important figure or event. ... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... (Redirected from 2000 Olympics) Categories: 2000 Summer Olympics ... The Cerne Abbas giant is a hill figure of a giant naked man on a hillside near the village of Cerne Abbas to the north of Dorchester in Dorset, England. ... For other uses, see Dorset (disambiguation). ... The Long Man of Wilmington The Long Man of Wilmington is one of the two chalk carvings of human figures in England, located on the steep slopes of Windover Hill at Sussex, six miles north-west of Eastbourne. ... Sussex is a traditional county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ... Flag ratio: 7:12; nicknames: Stars and Stripes, Old Glory The flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars... Among the recognizable Olympic symbols: The Olympic flag: A white flag with the Olympic Rings on it in five colours. ...

In honour of the land they once knew. His attainments in these pursuits are extraordinary; a constant source of wonderment and admiration. [3]

The quote on the plaque buried at the figure comes from a book, "The Red Centre", by H.H. Finlayson, in a section describing the hunting of wallabies with throwing sticks and with photographs of hunters without loin cloths and with other details like the "Marree Man" [4]. In the book it can be deduced that the subject is a hunter from the Pitjantjatjara tribe [5]. Ancient aboriginal rock painting of a wallaby in Kakadu National Park in Northern Australia. ... A loincloth is one-piece garment, sometimes kept in place by a belt, that is used: in Pharaonic Egypt, any man was worthily dressed in a loincloth (and headdress), even a gods image for worship; here Amun-Ra in societies where no other clothing is needed or wanted as...

Possible creators

• American servicemen of the U.S. Army based at the Australian Space Research Institute at Woomera, possibly to leave a lasting memento of their time in Australia. The base was scheduled to close down by the end of the 20th Century.
• Australian servicemen, although the Australian Defence Force reported that their personnel were no closer than 200 kilometres to the figure during the time it was created. A unit of three vehicles, one of them carrying a bulldozer were spotted by a couple travelling along the Oodnadatta Track on June 1st.[6]
• Workers from the Olympic Dam mine at Roxby Downs (approximately 60 km north of Woomera). These workers would have access to the heavy earthmoving equipment required to create a geoglyph with such precision.
• Bardius Goldberg, a Northern Territory artist who lived at Alice Springs, who has been said to have been given $10,000 at the time of the Marree Man's discovery. [7]
• Land artist Christopher Headley from Melbourne, who is possibly the only person in Australia who does land art, although usually much smaller.
• Robin Cooke, a sculptor who has built a large sculpture park at Alberrie Creek, 30 km west of Marree. [8]
• Locals of Marree, for the benefit of tourism

The United States Army is the largest branch of the United States armed forces and has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... The Australian Space Research Institute (ASRI) came about in the early 1990s as the result of a merger between the AUSROC Launch Vehicle Development Group at Monash University in Melbourne and the Australian Space Engineering Research Association (ASERA). ... Woomera Launchpad in the 60s Woomera (31°09′ S 136°48′ E) is a town in South Australia, 488 km north of Adelaide, along the Stuart Highway. ... The Australian Defence Force numbers about 53,000 full-time active duty personnel plus another 20,700 reservists. ... Lake Eyre South from Oodnadatta Track The Oodnadatta Track (28°54′S 136°21′E), Australia is an unsealed 406 kilometre track between Marree and Oodnadatta crossing the Tirari Desert in South Australia. ... Olympic Dam (30°27′ S 136°53′ E) is a Australian mining centre in South Australia - located some 550km NNW of Adelaide the capital city of South Australia. ... Location of Roxby Downs in South Australia (red) Roxby Downs (30°33′S 136°54′E) is a small mining town in outback South Australia, 550 kilometres north of Adelaide. ...

Mixed reaction

Much of the public and media reaction to the discovery of the figure was of a positive nature. The Advertiser, the State's only daily newspaper, called for the figure to be made permanent by excavating the outline down to the white chalk layer. However the site was closed shortly after discovery when some members of the Dieri tribe, whose lands lie east of Marree [9] complained of harm and exploitation of the Dreamtime. It was called "environmental vandalism" by the Environment minister, Dorothy Kotz, and "graffiti" by the South Australian chief of Aboriginal affairs. While the site has been closed by the South Australian government, joy flights are still allowed over the site, which falls under Federal Government jurisdiction. The Advertiser is the only local daily newspaper published in Adelaide, South Australia. ... The word Dreamtime has several meanings: Dreamtime is the mythology of Australian Aborigines. ... Representation of the Rainbow serpent, the Waugal The Dreamtime is the central, unifying theme in Australian Aboriginal mythology. ... Environmental vandalism is a term used by some environmentalists to describe the egregious or blatant destruction of delicate ecosystems, especially in violation of environmental protection laws. ... Graffiti is the unofficial application of graphics on publicly viewable surfaces. ... The form of the Government of South Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then. ...

Authenticity of the figure

While the figure is shown nude, if the picture were copied from a 19th-century photograph it has been said that it may have had a loin cloth, and there was also some suggestion that the size of the genitals have been exaggerated. There was also initially some question as to whether the figure is holding a throwing stick or a boomerang, but these issues seem to have been resolved following discovery of the plaque and the origin of the plaque quote and likely source photographs of similar nude hunters. The hand which is not throwing has the correct posture in the normal Aboriginal technique for throwing [10]. The initiation scars placed on the chest have also been said to have been placed perfectly. The figure appears to be an amalgam of the body of a man photographed in the distinctive throwing stance and the head of another man wearing a headband and chignon. A loincloth is one-piece garment, sometimes kept in place by a belt, that is used: in societies where there is no more advanced clothing as an undergarment to express soberness Mohandas Gandhi wore a dhoti, a Hindu loincloth, as a way of identifying with the poorest Indians, even though... For other uses, see Initiation (disambiguation). ... A hard plastic headband A headband is an article of clothing that is designed to be worn on or around a persons head. ... A chignon is a temporary swelling left on a babys head after a Ventouse has been used to deliver the baby. ...

External links

Coordinates: -29.519173° 137.461731° Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.
• Audio Interviews with Brad Thompson, Marree-based pilot: [11] [12] [13]
• New Clues to Marree Man Mystery