History and cultural significance

The Murujuga petroglyphs were created over an almost incomprehensible span of time. The earliest images were made when sea levels were approximately 130 metres lower than today and the coastline lay 50–100 km further out — a reality documented in the rock art itself, which includes coastal scenes and animals from now-submerged landscapes. As sea levels rose following the Last Glacial Maximum, the landscape transformed around the artists and their descendants, who continued the tradition without interruption. The result is a layered visual archive of environmental change, species diversity, spiritual life, and cultural continuity without parallel anywhere in the world.

The imagery includes human faces considered among the oldest known in any rock art tradition, the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger, last documented on the Australian mainland ~3,000 years ago but depicted in multiple Murujuga engravings), coastal scenes, and ceremonial imagery whose full spiritual meaning is held by the traditional custodians. A major conservation controversy surrounds the Woodside Petroleum LNG plant established on the peninsula in the 1980s: researchers have argued its nitrogen oxide emissions accelerate desert varnish erosion. The Australian government commissioned independent research as part of the 2023 UNESCO nomination; the debate continues.