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42-703: In 1975 the Relics office was transferred to the newly established Ministry for Conservation and underwent a name change to the Victoria Archaeological Survey (VAS) Changes to the legislation did away with the postilion of "Protector" which had unfortunate connotations with the "Protector of Aborigines". In 1983 the VAS was again transferred to a new government department under the Ministry for Planning and Environment. Briefly, between April and May 1990

84-564: A major bushfire that burned out about 127,000 ha (47%) of the Grampians National Park in January 2006. Soon afterwards the first signs of regeneration were already visible with, for example, regrowth of the eucalyptus trees. Many trees exhibit epicormic growth , where a mass of young shoots re-sprout along the whole length of the trunk to the base of the tree. Major flooding followed 5 years later in January 2011, forcing

126-487: A national park on 1 July 1984, the park was listed on the National Heritage List on 15 December 2006 for its outstanding natural beauty and being one of the richest Aboriginal rock art sites in south-eastern Australia. The Grampians feature a striking series of mountain ranges of sandstone . The Gariwerd area features about 90% of the rock art in the state. At the time of European colonisation,

168-417: A weather phenomenon that sometimes enables glider pilots to reach extreme altitudes of the order of 28,000 ft (8,500 m). This predominantly occurs during the months of May, June, September and October when strong westerly winds flow at right angles to the ridge, and produce a large-scale standing wave . The Grampians is a famous rock climbing destination, with the first routes being established in

210-549: Is located at a point roughly equidistant between the towns of Ararat and Stawell . The town is located towards the eastern side of the park and offers accommodation to the many tourists who visit the area. The Brambuk National Park and Cultural Centre in Halls Gap is owned and managed by Jardwadjali and Djab Wurrung people from five Aboriginal communities with historic links to the Gariwerd-Grampians ranges and

252-781: The Devonian period 425 - 415 million years ago. This sediment slowly accumulated to a depth of 7 kilometres (4.3 mi); this was later raised and tilted for its present form. A number of stratigraphic layers have been identified, such as the Silverband Formation, the Mount Difficult Subgroup and the Red Man Bluff Subgroup. The coarse grain and fine lamination of the Silverstone Formation, along with undulations at

294-936: The 1960s. Notable routes include The Wheel of Life (V15 / 35) and Groove Train (33) which attract world class climbers. Australian adventurer Jon Muir regards the Grampians, along with the Arapiles, as near perfect in their combination of access, climate and type of rock. In March 2019, 30% of climbing areas were closed by Parks Victoria due to cultural and ecological concerns, namely bolting, chalk marks, and making access paths through vegetation. It closed 70% of bouldering routes, and 50% of sport climbing. Parks Victoria were accused by climbers of exaggerating damage and acting heavy handedly by pitting them against traditional owners , of whom they are "natural allies". Jon Muir and renowned Australian mountaineer Tim Macartney-Snape have criticised Parks Victoria’s handling of

336-486: The Djab Wurrung language or Djargurd Wurrung language , to the east, he recorded "Erewurrr, country of the Grampians" – likely a mishearing of Gariwerd . Recorded variations on Gariwerd include Cowa , Gowah , and Gar – generic words for a pointed mountain. Dhauwurd Wurrung language speakers from the south-west coast of Victoria called the mountains Murraibuggum , while Wathawurrung (Wathaurong) speakers used

378-625: The Grampians , is a national park located in the Grampians region of Victoria , Australia. The Jardwadjali name for the mountain range itself is Gariwerd . The 167,219-hectare (413,210-acre) national park is situated between Stawell and Horsham on the Western Highway and Dunkeld on the Glenelg Highway , 260 kilometres (160 mi) west of Melbourne and 460 kilometres (290 mi) east of Adelaide . Proclaimed as

420-649: The Grampians had a number of indigenous names, one of which was Gariwerd in the western Kulin language of the Mukjarawaint , Jardwadjali , and Djab Wurrung people, who lived in the area and who shared 90 per cent of their vocabulary. According to historian Benjamin Wilkie, the name Gariwerd was first written down in 1841, taken from a Jardwadjali speaker by the Chief Protector of Aborigines , George Augustus Robinson , as Currewurt . From speakers of

462-499: The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs had responsibility for state archaeological functions, but responsibility for these functions was then transferred to the Minister for Conservation and Environment. VAS also took responsibility for Maritime and historic archaeology which was tested through the results of a court determination that the definition of archaeological relics included historic relics. Over 60 publications were prepared under

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504-651: The archaeology of the Philippines. Ultimately, Coutts' vision of a research-driven archaeological survey of Victoria became increasingly separate from the changing visions of a public service organisation, particularly after the election of the Cain Labor government in Victoria in 1982. In particular, the Aboriginal community in Victoria were concerned about lack of consultation about their heritage, which VAS

546-664: The dreaming of the creator, Bunjil , and buledji Brambimbula , the two brothers Bram, who were responsible for the creation and naming of many landscape features in western Victoria. Grampians National Park (Gariwerd) is one of the richest Indigenous rock art sites in south-eastern Australia and was listed on the National Heritage List for its natural beauty as well as its past and continuing Aboriginal cultural associations. Motifs painted in numerous caves include depictions of humans, human hands, animal tracks and birds. Notable rock art sites include: The rock art

588-495: The dual naming of geographical features, and that has been subsequently adopted in the park, based on Jardwadjali and Djab Wurrung names for rock art sites and landscape features, with the Australian National Heritage List referring to "Grampians National Park (Gariwerd)". This area is a distinct physiographic section of the larger Western Victorian Highlands province, which, in turn, is part of

630-717: The first director of the VAS Peter Coutts including many large scale surveys and excavation reports. One of the innovations of the VAS, was the 'Summer Schools in Archaeology', which allowed students and members of the general public to participate in research-drive archaeological surveys and excavations. These were conducted from the mid-1970s to about 1980, and covered projects such as surveys and excavations of Aboriginal sites at Yambuk (1976-7), Kulki-Kulki near Swan Hill (1977), Keilor (1977-8), Hattah Kulkyn National Park, Nyah Forest, and Mallacoota, and excavations at

672-504: The first settlement site at Corinella . In February 1992 it was transferred back to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and underwent another name change, to the Heritage Services Branch of Aboriginal Affairs Victoria . The Aboriginal, and maritime and historic functions were split in 1993 when maritime archaeology and historical archaeology became the responsibility of the department of Planning. This distinction

714-645: The larger East Australian Cordillera physiographic division — commonly known as the Great Dividing Range — a series of mountain ranges , plateaus and rolling hills forming out of the Wimmera plains just to the west of the Grampians, staying close to the east Australian coastline and extending 4,000 km (2,500 miles) to the north to Dauan Island in the Torres Strait off the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula . The general form that

756-517: The length of the park. It was officially opened on 12 November 2021. The most popular walking area for day trippers is the Wonderland area near Halls Gap . In summer the ranges can get very hot and dry. Winter and spring are the best times for walking. The Wonderland area is also host to "The Grand Canyon" on the "Wonderland Loop" on one of the tracks to the "Pinnacle". In spring, the Grampians wildflowers are an attraction. Colloquially known as

798-616: The means to quickly bring the results of the work to the public, Coutts developed an in-house publications capacity within the AARO and VAS which produced the series Records of the Victorian Archaeological Survey, the VAS Occasional Reports series and other related publications. Although not particularly polished and often not peer reviewed, Coutts' reports at least brought critical information into

840-414: The middle of the nineteenth century. According to Wilkie, the extension of railways to nearby Stawell, Ararat and Dunkeld were an important factor in the mountains' increasing popularity in the early twentieth century; growing car ownership and the construction of tourist roads in the ranges during the 1920s were also significant. Mount William is known within the gliding community for the "Grampians Wave",

882-715: The mountains as the Gulielmean , Gulielman , and the Blue Gulielmean Mountains . Later in 1836, Mitchell settled on Grampians , and the Grampians National Park took that name in 1984. After a two-year consultation process, the park was renamed Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park in 1991, but that proved controversial and was reversed after the election of the Kennett government in 1992. The 1998 Geographic Place Names Act reinstated

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924-747: The name Tolotmutgo . In 1836, the explorer and Surveyor General of New South Wales Sir Thomas Mitchell named Gariwerd after the Grampian Mountains in his native Scotland . According to Wilkie, Mitchell first referred to Gariwerd as the Coast Mountains and, in July 1836, called them the Gulielmian Mountains after William IV of the United Kingdom ( Gulielmi IV Regis) . Members of his expedition referred to

966-456: The park and are easily accessible via a well-developed road network. Due to being an exposed peak in the west of Victoria, Mount William features especially cool maximum temperatures throughout the year. Winter cloud cover is profound; with an extraordinary 26 days of precipitation in July, constituting an annual total of 216 days—quite possibly the highest figure of any site in mainland Australia. Snowfalls are both frequent and heavy throughout

1008-593: The park area, but in Black Range Scenic Reserve near Stawell . It is the only known rock art depiction of Bunjil , the creator -being in Aboriginal Australian mythology . Dual naming of features has been adopted in the park based on Jardwadjali and Djab Wurrung names for rock art sites and landscape features, including: Gariwerd and the Grampians National Park has been a popular destination for recreation and tourism since

1050-615: The period of contact between the Maori and the European settlers, typically sealers and whalers. Coutts also pioneered the archaeology of standing structures, what would become to be called buildings archaeology. It is clear from his published works that his research interests in historical archaeology were very broad, with a particular interest in the archaeology of buildings. In 1972 the Archaeological and Aboriginal Relics Office

1092-699: The public realm, establishing the basis for archaeological research in Victoria for following decades. Coutts undertook numerous archaeological survey and research projects, including extensive investigations of Aboriginal mound sites in the Western District, mounds along the Murray River, rock shelters at Gariwerd fish traps at Lake Condah and undertook historic archaeological work on European settlement sites as Sullivans Cove and Corinella and Captain Mills cottage. Coutts has also contributed to

1134-411: The ranges take is: from the west, a series of low-angled sandstone ridges running roughly north–south. The eastern sides of the ridges, where the sedimentary layers have faulted, are steep and beyond the vertical in place - notably at Hollow Mountain near Dadswells Bridge at the northern end of the ranges. The rock material that composes the high peaks is sandstone which was laid down from rivers during

1176-643: The research were published in a Masters thesis and later by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. After concluding his research at ANU, Coutts enrolled as a postgraduate student at the University of Otago , New Zealand under the supervision of Charles Higham. As a pioneer in the field of historical archaeology he made a significant contribution to the development of historical archaeology in New Zealand. His Ph.D. research focused on

1218-533: The rudiments of archaeology and record or excavate archaeological sites. The first was a small affair in January 1975 and nine others were run between 1975 and 1982. These were an important training ground for avocational and student archaeologists from all over Australia. In company with the Summer Schools was an accreditation scheme where participants studied archaeology, were examined and certified to undertake aspects of archaeological work unsupervised. At

1260-422: The situation, with Muir saying, “The climbers haven’t really been taken into the equation”, and Macartney-Snape saying, “It’s really the way it has been managed. It’s a blight on Australian administration of natural land.” In 2015 Parks Victoria started building the 164 km Grampians Peaks Trail . The trail, which takes inspiration from popular Tasmanian trails, is designed to take 13 days to walk and crosses

1302-469: The surface, is thought to have been an estuarine backwater before becoming preserved around 400 million years ago. The Southern Ocean reached the base of the northern and western edges of the mountain range about 40 million years ago, the deposition from the range forming the sea floor which is now Little Desert National Park . The highest peak is Mount William at 1,167 metres (3,829 ft). Numerous waterfalls, such as Mackenzie Falls, are found in

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1344-500: The surrounding plains. Grampians National Park is home to one of Australia's longest running food and wine festivals, Grampians Grape Escape , held over the first weekend of May in Halls Gap every year. Launched in 1992, the Grampians Grape Escape is a hallmark event for Victoria and provides food and wine offerings by more than 100 local artisan producers, live music and family entertainment. Lightning caused

1386-406: The time no university in Victoria offering courses in Aboriginal archaeology so this was an attempt to develop a community of researchers in the archaeology of Victoria. The development of the archaeology course at La Trobe University from 1976 effectively put paid to this scheme although the two ran in parallel for a few years. Coutts had a passionate devotion to the publication of his work. Lacking

1428-580: The year. Daily maximum temperatures can struggle above the single digits even in summer, and on such days the afternoon and mid-day readings can be near to 0 °C (32 °F) in extreme cases such as in December 2022. The peak can be classed as a cold and moist Mediterranean climate ( Köppen Csb ) on account of the low summer rainfall − in February averaging only 34 millimetres (1.3 in) of rainfall. The Silverband Formation (see Geology above)

1470-465: The ‘garden of Victoria’, the Grampians is home to 975 native plant species (including more than 75 orchid species), representing one third of the total Victorian flora, and many of these species are only found in the Grampians, including the Grampians pincushion lily (Borya mirabilis), one of the rarest native lilies in Australia. Halls Gap / Budja Budja is the largest service town in the area and

1512-542: Was a priority for the AARO and later the Victorian Archaeological Survey. To do this he decided to undertake a field survey of a section across Victoria from south to north based on the 1:100,000 map sheet series. Selected sites were to be excavated to provide a chronology of Aboriginal settlement. Lacking the staff to undertake this work, Coutts initiated the Archaeological Summer School program. These were field camps where anyone could pay to learn

1554-427: Was created by Jardwadjali and Djab Wurrung peoples, and while Aboriginal communities continue to pass on knowledge and cultural traditions, much Indigenous knowledge has also been lost since European settlement of the area from 1840. The significance of the right hand prints at Gulgurn Manja is now unknown. One of the most significant Aboriginal cultural sites in south-eastern Australia is Bunjil's Shelter , not within

1596-527: Was established in Victoria under the provisions of the Archaeological and Aboriginal Relics Preservation Act (1972) and in April 1973 Peter Coutts was appointed as its director. Faced with little knowledge of the Aboriginal archaeology of Victoria, apart from previous work at Keilor and Green Gully and his own work at Wilsons Promontory, Coutts decided that improving the knowledge of Aboriginal heritage

1638-600: Was formalised in the Heritage Act 1995, which included provision for these archaeological places. Peter Coutts Peter John Frazer Coutts was an Australian archaeologist who was first director of the Victoria Archaeological Survey (VAS), the precursor to the Heritage Branch of Aboriginal Affairs Victoria . Peter Coutts was educated at the University of Melbourne in electrical engineering but

1680-550: Was later a post-graduate student in the School of General Studies at the Australian National University . In 1964 to 1967 he undertook research on Aboriginal settlement at Wilsons Promontory (Vic) in which he excavated several test pits in shell middens from which several radiocarbon dates were obtained. His work is interesting in its pioneering use of computers to analyse data from the sites. The results of

1722-471: Was managing. Peter Coutts felt that research was losing out to management and in 1984 he took a year's leave to complete projects, resigning in 1985. He has not been active in archaeology since then. He has, however, published several papers and three books on Irish Quakers, including one (The Watsons of Kilconnor, County Carlow, 1650–Present) on the history of his mother's family. Gariwerd The Grampians National Park commonly referred to as

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1764-459: Was the source of sandstone paving slabs used for the construction of a nearby Cobb & Co station in 1873. The surface of one paver contained 23 impressions, the tracks of a four-legged animal around 850 millimetres (33 in) in length, which have been described as the oldest trace of a vertebrate walking on land. To the Jardwadjali and Djab wurrung peoples, Gariwerd was central to

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