4 minute read
Marree Man
The Mysterious Marree Man
By Louise Clarke
I wonder what went through charter pilot Trec Smith’s mind went he came across the enormous figure of a man etched into a remote and empty plateau on the banks of Kati Thanda - Lake Eyre, in northern South Australia while on his way to the opal mining town of Coober Pedy.
Only recognisable from the air, the colossal geoglyph measures 4.2 kilometres from head to toe making it the largest in the world and represents the tall, naked, perfectly proportioned figure of an Indigenous hunter ready to launch a stick at unseen prey. ‘Marree Man’, as the figure has become known had seemingly appeared overnight in June 1998 and to date; the origin of this staggering land glyph remains a mystery. Despite the planning, precision and sheer hubris required creating it, nobody has ever come forward to claim authorship of this work and apparently no-one witnessed its creation. By the time we went to inspect the site ourselves via air charter in late 2015, the Marree Man had almost been completely reclaimed by the surrounding desert. We stopped for lunch at the far-flung William Creek Hotel and as the plane was being refuelled, we spoke to Trevor Wright about the mysterious Marree Man. Apparently around the time of its creation, local pub owners received anonymous press releases referring to ‘Stuart’s Giant’, suggesting the glyph was created by people from the United States. A small memorial tablet was found 5 meters south of the figure’s nose which bore an American flag and an imprint of the Olympic rings. Upon it, the inscribed words read, “In honour of the land they once knew. His attainments in these pursuits are extraordinary; a constant source of wonderment and admiration.” Very interestingly, by December 1998 it had been noted that the outline of the Marree Man matched perfectly, in reverse, the outline of the Artemision Zeus bronze found at the bottom of the Adriatic Sea in 1928. In the end South Australian artist Bardius Goldberg was considered the most likely perpetrator because he had told friends he had been commissioned - and was paid $10 000 - to create an artwork visible from space.
Unfortunately Goldberg died in 2002 and he took the truth of the matter with him to the grave. Regardless of origin, the Marree Man sparked huge local and international interest and sorely needed tourists to the town whose only other drawcard was the occasional flooding of Kati Thanda salt lake in the area. Naturally, when the figure began to fade, the locals became concerned and hatched a plan to preserve it. Another pub owner from the Marree Hotel, Phil Turner, bought his business on the strength of the attraction. He too got carried away by the mystery and intrigue and resolved to work with other local interested parties to preserve the Marree Man, using a GPS and a grader. Apparently, during the planning of this operation, Turner was sent an anonymous email containing a half a dozen grid coordinates and a cryptic message to the tune of “This may be what you are looking for.” They then used them to retrace the Man. The restoration cost him $6400 and he claims to have improved on the original geoglyph by adding drainage lines to catch the rain and promote plant growth. It’s incredible that not a single witness can attest to the creation of the world’s largest geoglyph. As we boarded the planes for our return trip I considered it almost typical of Australian humour to be the greatest Aussie hoax of all time! Regardless, the site is most certainly worth the trip. From above Australia’s largest salt Lake Kati Thanda, the earth below unfolds as an ever shifting palette of colour and form extending as far as the eye can see. It is a wonder to behold! The lake is the lowest point on Mainland Australia and when it accumulates water once every few years, hundreds upon thousands of birds such as pelicans and banded stilts are drawn to the lake from as far afield as the coast of South Australia and Papua New Guinea. In the golden afternoon light as we soared high above the staggering expanse of beauty below I found myself once again contemplating who indeed created any of it. Life itself is an incredible mystery, one we couldn’t possibly hope to decipher, particularly in these strange times. But we can marvel at the beauty!
Louise Clarke www.earthwalker.online https://mamaafrica.store
Image Credit: Louise Clarke, NASA, Google Maps
