Tnorala, Gosses Bluff
A baby's carrier that fell from the Milky Way and made a ring of hills.
Key facts
- People and tradition
- Western Arrernte people, Central Australia
- Region
- Australia
- When
- Dreaming story, still told today
Tnorala is a sacred site. Visitors are asked to respect the wishes of its custodians, including restrictions on where they may walk.
The story
West of Alice Springs, a ring of red cliffs about 5 km across rises from the plain. The Western Arrernte people call it Tnorala. In their Dreaming story, a group of women were dancing in the sky as stars in the Milky Way. One of them put her baby down in a wooden carrier called a turna, and it toppled over the edge and fell to Earth. It struck the ground and drove the rocks up into the ring we see today.
The baby's parents, the evening star and the morning star, still search for their child as they move across the sky. Tnorala is a sacred site, cared for by its traditional custodians.
What science says
Tnorala is the eroded centre of an impact crater about 142 million years old, made when an asteroid or comet struck. The original crater was about 22 km across; the ring of hills is the uplifted core, left standing as softer rock around it wore away. The story's picture of something falling from the sky and pushing up the rocks is strikingly close to the scientific one. Researchers note that it is not possible to know how old the story is, or whether it has absorbed ideas from scientists working there, and they emphasise that it is the custodians' story to tell.
Did you know?
The evening star and morning star are both the planet Venus, seen at different times.
Tnorala is a conservation reserve, jointly managed with its traditional owners.