Playing with the The Devil's Marbles

Anne plays around with the Devil's Marbles

The Devil's Marbles, or Karlu Karlu as they are known by the lands traditional Aboriginal owners, are huge granite boulders scattered across a wide shallow valley. It is a remarkable landscape with some of the boulders resting atop others in a seemingly impossible arrangement. This site is a nationally and internationally recognised symbol of Australia's outback and it has great importance as a spiritual meeting place for the Aboriginal people of Central Australia. The boulders are located in a boundary area for both Warumungu and Kaytetye language groups, and Walpiri and Alyawarra language groups also have traditional associations with the area.



The Stone Marbles silloetted by moon light

The traditional Aboriginal owners of the area regard the marbles as having extraordinary powers and damage to them can have life threatening consequences for their custodians.

Many traditional dreaming stories intersect at or around Karlu Karlu and unlike many sacred aboriginal sites which are specifically male or female, men, women and children meet here.

Accounts of Aboriginals believing the site to be eggs of the mythical Rainbow Serpent are now believed to be incorrect. The dreaming stories are alive and well today and are passed on from generation to generation of Traditional Owners. However only a handful are considered suitable to tell to uninitiated visitors and it is therefore probable that we may never learn all their stories relating to this ancient landscape.



One story is of Arranji, the Devil man who while travelling through the area stopped to make a ritual hair belt. Twisting the hair into strings he dropped clusters of it on the ground and these turned into the Karlu Karlu. On his return journey to Ayleparrarntenhe Arranji is also believed to have spat on the ground, his spit forming more boulders.





Geologists however believe the mysterious shapes to be caused by erosion. The Marbles are made of granite and were surrounded by sandstone deep within the earth. Over time this layer is brought to the earths surface and the sandstone erodes quicker than the granite leaving little islands of the harder rock. The lack of pressure above ground allows the granite to expand and crack, falling apart in big square blocks. On the surface wind and water can now play its part in shaping these rocks in a process called spheroidal weathering. The extremes in temperature between night and day causes some of the boulders to crack and in some cases even split in half.



No matter what you believe, surrounded by these enormous sacred boulders you sense the peace and tranquility of the outback and it is hard not to get enchanted with the magic of the place. On Tuesday the 28th October 2008 ownership of Karlu Karlu/Devils Marbles was officially passed from the Parks and Wildlife Service of the Northern Territory back to the Traditional Owners at a ceremony held on the Reserve. The Reserve is now leased back to the Parks Service under a 99 year lease and the site is now managed by Rangers and Traditional Owners in joint partnership.







Gareth takes a photo of Phil playing amongst the stone marbles



The sun sets and leaves a magical purple light in the sky sillouetting the powerful shapes of the Devil's Marbles



This place has been one of our favourite places thus far and we highly recommend a visit here should you get the chance.